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{{Short description|Greek mythological character}}{{Other uses|Patroclus (mythology)|Patroclus (disambiguation)}}File:Wall painting - Briseis taken away from Achilles - Pompeii (VI 8 5) - Napoli MAN 9105 - 03 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Patroclus on an antique fresco from the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii, 1st century AD (Naples National Archaeological MuseumNaples National Archaeological MuseumIn Greek mythology, Patroclus (generally pronounced {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|k|l|ə|s}}; ) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and an important character in Homer's Iliad. Born in Opus, Patroclus was the son of the Argonaut Menoetius. When he was a child, he was exiled from his hometown and was adopted by Peleus, king of Phthia. There, he was raised alongside Peleus' son, Achilles, of whom he was a childhood friend and close wartime companion. When the tide of the war turned against the Achaeans, Patroclus, disguised as Achilles and defying his orders to retreat in time, led the Myrmidons in battle against the Trojans and was eventually killed by the Trojan prince, Hector. Enraged by Patroclus' death, Achilles ended his refusal to fight, resulting in significant Greek victories.

Name

The Latinized name Patroclus derives from the Ancient Greek Pátroklos (), meaning "glory of his father," from (patḗr, "father" stem pátr–) and (kléos, "glory"). A variation of the name with the same components in different order is (wikt:Κλεόπατρος#Ancient_Greek|Kleópatros), while the feminine form of the name is Cleopatra.There are at least three pronunciations of the name 'Patroclus' in English.Carey (1816) Practical English Prosody and Versification, p. 125 fn Because the penultimate syllable is light in Latin prose (pă′.trŏ.clŭs), the antepenult was stressed in Latin and would normally be stressed in English as well, for {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|t|.|r|ə|.|k|l|ə|s}} (analogous to 'Sophocles').Bechtel (1908) Pronunciation However, this pronunciation is seldom encountered: for metrical convenience, Alexander Pope had made the 'o' long, and thus stressed, in his translation of Homer, following a convention of Greek and Latin verse, and that pronunciation – of Latin pa.trō′.clus – has stuck, for English {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|.|k|l|ə|s}}.{{dict.com|Patroclus}} Moreover, because in prose, a penultimate Greco-Latin short o (omicron) would only be stressed in a closed syllable, the penult has sometimes been misanalysed as being closed (*pă.trŏc′.lŭs), which would change the English o to a short vowel: {{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|t|r|ɒ|k|.|l|ə|s}}.DICTIONARY,weblinkweblink dead, March 22, 2020, Patroclus, Lexico UK English Dictionary, Oxford University Press,

Description and family

In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Patroclus was illustrated as "… handsome and powerfully built. His eyes were gray. He was modest, dependable, wise, a man richly endowed."Dares Phrygius, History of the Fall of Troy 13 Patroclus was the son of Menoetius (hence called Menoetiades , meaning "son of Menoetius")Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Menoetius by either PhilomelaEustathius on Homer, p. 1498; Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 4.343 and 17.134; Hyginus, Fabulae 97BOOK, Tzetzes, John, Allegories of the Iliad, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, 2015, 978-0-674-96785-4, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, 33, Prologue 430; pp. 41, Prologue 525, Goldwyn, Adam, Kokkini, Dimitra, or Polymele, Sthenele,Scholia on Homer, Iliad 16.14; on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.46; Periopis,Apollodorus, 3.13.8 mentions the three possible mothers of Patroclus: (1) Polymele, daughter of Peleus (according to Philocrates), (2) Sthenele, daughter of Acastus and lastly (3) Periopis, daughter of Pheres or lastly Damocrateia.Pythaenetos, quoting the scholiast on Pindar, Olympian Odes 9.107 His only sibling was Myrto, mother of Eucleia by Heracles.Plutarch, Aristides 20.6 Homer also references Menoetius as the individual who gave Patroclus to Peleus.Homer, Iliad 23.85 ff. Menoetius was the son of Actor,Homer, Iliad 11.785, 16.14. king of Opus in Locris, by Aegina, daughter of Asopus. Patroclus was Achilles' first cousin once removed through their paternal family connection to Aegina, as Achilles was the son of Peleus and grandson of Aeacus, son of Aegina by Zeus.{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%;|+Comparative table of Patroclus' family! rowspan="3" |Relation! rowspan="3" |Names! colspan="11" |Sources! colspan="3" |Homer!Pindar!Apollonius! rowspan="2" |Philocrates! rowspan="2" |Apollodorus! rowspan="2" |Plutarch! rowspan="2" |Hyginus! rowspan="2" |Eustathius! rowspan="2" |Tzetzes!Iliad!Sch. Il.!Sch. Ody.!Scholia!Scholia

Parents|Menoetius|✓||||||||||

|Menoetius and Sthenele||✓|||✓||✓||||

date=December 2021}}|||✓||||||✓|✓|✓

|Menoetius and Polymele||||||✓|✓|||||Menoetius and Damocrateia||||✓||||||||Menoetius and Periopis|||||||✓|||||Sibling|Myrto||||||||✓|||

Mythology

Early days

File:Casa degli Amorini Dorati. Fresco. 03.jpg|thumb|A fresco in Pompeii depicting Achilles seated between 215x215pxDuring his childhood, Patroclus had accidentally or in anger killed his playmate Clysonymus over a game of dice. As a result, he was exiled from his home, Opus, with Menoetius sending him to Peleus, king of Phthia and father of Achilles.WEB, Miate, Liana, 2022, Patroclus,weblink 2024-04-22, World History Encyclopedia, en, JOURNAL, Schlunk, Robin R., 1976, The Theme of the Suppliant-Exile in the Iliad,weblink The American Journal of Philology, 97, 3, 199–209, 10.2307/293625, 293625, Peleus named Patroclus Achilles' "squire", as they both grew up together and became close friends.BOOK, Homer, Homer, Iliad, Iliad,weblink Perseus Digital Library, online text, 23.83–92, Patroclus acted as a male role model for Achilles, being both kinder than him as well as wiser regarding counsel.BOOK, Patroklos, Achilleus, and Peleus: Fathers and Sons in the Iliad, Finlay, Robert, The Classical World, 1980, 267–273, Patroclus' early life, including his flight to the house of Peleus, is narrated later in the Iliad, when his ghost appears to Achilles reminding him about his past and giving him advice about his burial.According to Photius, Ptolemy Hephaestion (probably referring to Ptolemy Chennus) wrote that Patroclus was also loved by the sea god Poseidon, who taught him the art of riding horses.Photius, Bibliotheca codex 190.

Trojan War

According to the Iliad, when the tide of the Trojan War had turned against the Greeks and the Trojans were threatening their ships, Patroclus convinced Achilles to let him lead the Myrmidons into combat. Achilles consented, giving Patroclus the armor Achilles had received from his father in order for Patroclus to impersonate Achilles. Achilles then told Patroclus to return after beating the Trojans back from their ships.BOOK, The Iliad of Homer, Lattimore, Richmond, The University of Chicago Press, 2011, Chicago, {{rp|pages=353 book 16, lines 64–87}}Patroclus defied Achilles' order and pursued the Trojans back to the gates of Troy.BOOK, Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1849,weblink Smith, William, Little, Boston, 140, Patroclus killed many Trojans and Trojan allies, including a son of Zeus, Sarpedon.{{rp|pages=p. 363, book 16, line 460}} While fighting, Patroclus' wits were removed by Apollo, after which the spear of Euphorbos hit Patroclus.JOURNAL, Allan, William, 2005, Arms and the Man: Euphorbus, Hector, and the Death of Patroclus,weblink The Classical Quarterly, 55, 1, 2, 10.1093/cq/bmi001, 0009-8388, Cambridge University Press, Hector then kills Patroclus by stabbing him in the stomach with a spear.{{rp|pages=p. 373, book 16, lines 804–822}}File:Patroclus corpse MAN Firenze.jpg|thumb|285x285px|right|Menelaus and Meriones lift the body of Patroclus while OdysseusOdysseusAchilles retrieved his body, which had been stripped of armor by Hector and protected on the battlefield by Menelaus and Ajax.BOOK, The Golden Age, Bulfinch, Thomas, Bracken Books, 1985, London, 272, Achilles did not allow the burial of Patroclus' body until the ghost of Patroclus appeared and demanded his burial in order to pass into Hades.{{rp|pages=p. 474, book 23, lines 69–71}}Patroclus was then cremated on a funeral pyre, which was covered in the hair of his sorrowful companions. As the cutting of hair was a sign of grief while also acting as a sign of the separation of the living and the dead, this points to how well-liked Patroclus had been.BOOK, The Iliad of Homer, Martin, Richard, The University of Chicago Press, 2011, Chicago, IL, {{rp|page=561}} The ashes of Achilles were said to have been buried in a golden urn along with those of Patroclus by the Hellespont.JOURNAL, Chisholm, Hugh, 1911, Achilles, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th,

Relationship with Achilles

Although there is no explicit sexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in the Homeric tradition, a few later Greek authors wrote about what they saw as implied in the text regarding their relationship. Aeschylus and Phaedrus, for example, state there was a clear relationship between them. Aeschylus refers to Achilles as the erastes, while Phaedrus refers to Achilles as the eromenos of the relationship.