Patroclus

There, he was raised alongside Peleus' son, Achilles, a childhood friend, who became a close wartime companion.

Enraged by Patroclus's death, Achilles ended his refusal to fight, resulting in significant Greek victories.

[14] Menoetius was the son of Actor,[15] king of Opus in Locris, by Aegina, daughter of Asopus.

As a result, he was exiled from his home, Opus, with Menoetius sending him to Peleus, king of Phthia and father of Achilles.

[a][19] Patroclus's 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.

[21]: 353 book 16, lines 64–87 Patroclus defied Achilles's order and pursued the Trojans back to the gates of Troy.

373, book 16, lines 804–822 Achilles retrieved his body, which had been stripped of armor by Hector and protected on the battlefield by Menelaus and Ajax.

474, book 23, lines 69–71 Patroclus was then cremated on a funeral pyre, which was covered in the hair of his sorrowful companions.

"[27] According to Ledbetter (1993),[29] there is a train of thought that Patroclus could have been a representation of the compassionate side of Achilles, who was known for his rage, mentioned in the first line of Homer's Iliad.

[29] However, as Patroclus is explicitly stated to be the elder of the two characters,[30] this is not evidence of their ages or social relation to each other.

[31] Hooker claims that without the death of Patroclus, an event that weighed heavily upon him, Achilles's following act of compliance to fight would have disrupted the balance of the Iliad.

"[33] While Homer's Iliad never explicitly stated that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this concept was propounded by some later authors.

[34][35][b] Aeschines asserts that there was no need to explicitly state the relationship as a romantic one,[35] for such "is manifest to such of his hearers as are educated men.

"[36] In later Greek writings, such as Plato's Symposium, the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is discussed as a model of romantic love.