Editing Patroclus (section)

== Mythology ==
=== Early days ===
[[File:Casa degli Amorini Dorati. Fresco. 03.jpg|thumb|A fresco in [[Pompeii]] depicting [[Achilles]] seated between [[Briseis]] and Patroclus in the marquee|215x215px]]
During his childhood, Patroclus had accidentally 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miate |first=Liana |year=2022 |title=Patroclus |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Patroclus/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>'''<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Schlunk |first=Robin R. |date=1976 |title=The Theme of the Suppliant-Exile in the Iliad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/293625 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=97 |issue=3 |pages=199–209 |doi=10.2307/293625|jstor=293625 }}</ref>''' Peleus named Patroclus Achilles's "squire", as they both grew up together and became close friends.<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |chapter-url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:23.54-23.92 |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |chapter=online text |at=23.83–92}}</ref> Patroclus acted as a male role model for Achilles, being both kinder than him as well as wiser regarding counsel.<ref name=Nestors_advice group=lower-alpha/><ref>{{cite book |title=Patroklos, Achilleus, and Peleus: Fathers and Sons in the Iliad |last=Finlay |first=Robert |publisher=The Classical World |year=1980 |pages=267–273}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" />

According to [[Photius I of Constantinople|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.<ref>[[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius]], ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm#190 codex 190].</ref>

=== Trojan War ===
[[Image:Akhilleus Patroklos Antikensammlung Berlin F2278.jpg|thumb|245x245px|A cup depicting [[Achilles]] bandaging Patroclus's arm, by the [[Sosias Painter]].|left]]
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 [[Trojan War|Trojans]] back from their ships.<ref name=Lattimore2011>{{cite book |title=The Iliad of Homer |last=Lattimore |first=Richmond |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2011 |location=Chicago}}</ref>{{rp|pages=353 book 16, lines 64–87}}

Patroclus defied Achilles's order and pursued the Trojans back to the gates of [[Troy]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology |year=1849 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek02smitgoog |last=Smith |first=William |publisher=Little |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek02smitgoog/page/n162 140]}}</ref> Patroclus killed many Trojans and Trojan allies, including a son of Zeus, [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]].<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{rp|pages=p. 363, book 16, line 460}} While fighting, Patroclus's wits were removed by [[Apollo]], after which the spear of [[Euphorbus|Euphorbos]] hit Patroclus.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Allan |first=William |date=2005 |title=Arms and the Man: Euphorbus, Hector, and the Death of Patroclus |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cq/bmi001 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=2 |doi=10.1093/cq/bmi001 |issn=0009-8388 |via=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> [[Hector]] then kills Patroclus by stabbing him in the stomach with a spear.<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{rp|pages=p. 373, book 16, lines 804–822}}

[[File:Patroclus corpse MAN Firenze.jpg|thumb|285x285px|right|[[Menelaus]] and [[Meriones (mythology)|Meriones]] lift the body of Patroclus while [[Odysseus]] and others look on (Etruscan relief, 2nd century BC)]]
Achilles retrieved his body, which had been stripped of armor by Hector and protected on the battlefield by [[Menelaus]] and [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Golden Age |last=Bulfinch |first=Thomas |publisher=Bracken Books |year=1985 |location=London |page=272}}</ref> Achilles did not allow the burial of Patroclus's body until the ghost of Patroclus appeared and demanded his burial in order to pass into [[Greek Underworld|Hades]].<ref name="Lattimore2011" />{{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.<ref name="IliadMartin">{{cite book |title=The Iliad of Homer |last=Martin |first=Richard |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=2011 |location=Chicago, IL}}</ref>{{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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chisholm |first=Hugh |date=1911 |title=Achilles |journal=Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=11th}}</ref>