Achilles and Patroclus
Relationship in Classical Greece / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Homer describes a deep and meaningful relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, where Achilles is tender toward Patroclus, but callous and arrogant toward others. Its exact nature—whether homosexual, a non-sexual deep friendship, or something else entirely—has been a subject of dispute in both the Classical period and modern times. Homer never explicitly casts the two as lovers,[1][2] but they were depicted as lovers in the archaic and classical periods of Greek literature, particularly in the works of Aeschylus, Aeschines and Plato.[3][4]
The nature of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad has been the subject of debate. Some contemporary critics, especially in the field of queer studies, have stated that their relationship was homosexual or latently homosexual. Some historians and classicists have disputed this, stating that there is no evidence for such an identification within the Iliad and criticize it as unfalsifiable.[1]