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"The Achaeans will fall
among the ships of Achilles and he shall send his comrade
Patroclus into the fight, and him shall
Hector slay before the face of
Troy. And in wrath for Patroclus shall
Achilles slay Hector. Then from that time forth shall I
cause a driving back of the Trojans from the ships
until the Achaeans shall take Troy. But until that hour neither do I
refrain my wrath, nor will I suffer any other of
the immortals to aid the Achaeans, until
Achilles' desire be fulfilled, as I
promised on the day when Thetis clasped my knees,
beseeching me to do honour to Achilles."
[Zeus. Homer,
Iliad
15.60]
"... suppose that
Patroclus had been brought to his tent without his
arms and had recovered—as has happened in the
case of thousands,—while the arms he had had
(which, as the poet relates, had been given to
Peleus by the gods, as a dowry with
Thetis) were in the hands of Hector, —then all the base men of
those days would have been free to abuse Menoetius'
son for loss of arms." [Plato,
Laws
944a]
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Patroclus 1 is best known for being Achilles'
most loyal friend, and for having accompanied him
to the Trojan War.
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Role of Patroclus 1
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Patroclus 1 had in any case to go to war if he
was to comply with The Oath of
Tyndareus, which he
swore along with the other
SUITORS OF HELEN.
For when Helen was about
to be given in marriage, many princes came from all
Hellas to win her hand, and among them was
Patroclus 1 from Phthia, a city of Phthiotis in
southern Thessaly. Patroclus 1 contributed ten
ships to the Achaean fleet [see also
ACHAEAN LEADERS],
and fought bravely. But above all, Patroclus 1 is
remembered for his death and its consequences.
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Las killed by Patroclus 1
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It is told that Patroclus 1 killed Las, the
founder of a town called Las near Gythium in
Laconia, when he was on his way to ask the hand of
Helen of
Tyndareus. It has also
been said that Las was killed by Achilles,
but some considered it unlikely because Achilles
is not counted among the
SUITORS OF HELEN.
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Another murder sends him into exile
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On another occsasion, at the city of Opus in the
district called Opuntian Locris, Patroclus 1,
during a quarrel over a game of dice, killed the
boy Clitonymus, the son of Amphidamas 3, and being
obliged to escape, he and his father sought
protection in the house of
Peleus where he lived for
a time, becoming Achilles'
favourite.
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Zeus reveals the will of
Heaven
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When Achilles
joined the Achaean army with his regiment of
Myrmidons, Phoenix 2 and Patroclus 1 were his
closest companions. Phoenix 2, son of King Amyntor
1 of Ormenium, a city near Mount Pelion in
Magnesia, had once been blinded by his own father,
but his sight was restored by the Centaur
Chiron. Phoenix 2, who
was an old man at the time of the
Trojan War, died on
his way back from Troy,
being buried by
Neoptolemus, Achilles'
son. But Patroclus 1 was fated to die at Troy,
and his death redirected Achilles'
wrath against the Trojans:
"Hector is going to give his enemies no
rest until Achilles comes to life again beside his
ships on the day when at the sterns of the ships
they shall be fighting in grimmest stress about
Patroclus fallen. That is decreed by
Heaven." [Zeus to
Hera. Homer,
Iliad
8.475]
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Patroclus 1 in the Achaean camp
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It was Patroclus 1, who following Achilles'
instructions, gave the girl
Briseis to the envoys of
Agamemnon, who had
come to Achilles'
tent to claim her, and later, while Achilles'
wrath was still strong, and envoys were sent by
Agamemnon to offer him
the seven tripods, the seven women, the seven
cities, and many other gifts, should he put his
wrath aside, it was Patroclus 1 who entertained
Achilles
and the envoys when they met, mingling the drinks,
preparing the cups, making the fire blaze, roasting
the meat, dealing the bread, and offering
sacrifices to the gods. At this time Achilles
found consolation in Diomede 3, a girl from Lesbos,
and Patroclus 1 slept with Iphis 3, a girl whom
Achilles
gave him when he captured the fortress of Scyros
(for there are those who think that the story of
Achilles
disguised as a girl in Scyros is nonsense).
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Idle troops
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While Achilles'
mind and heart were still controlled by his wrath,
the Myrmidons, including Patroclus 1, did not
participate in the fight. Therefore the Achaeans
suffered heavy losses, and the Trojans were able to
threaten the Achaean ships. These defeats added
pleasure to wrath in Achilles'
heart, and so it had to be, for
Zeus had promised to
Achilles' mother Thetis
to honour her son, which he fulfilled by causing
trouble to the Achaean army.
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Achilles
starts to change his mind
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However, when Achilles
thought he had seen Machaon from Tricca (a city in
western Thessaly), the son of
Asclepius, wounded and
being carried by Nestor,
he started to pity the Achaeans, and sent Patroclus
1 to find out whether the wounded man was indeed
Machaon, the healer who cured the wound that the
arrow of Pandarus 1 had inflicted on
Menelaus, and who later
would heal the wound of
Philoctetes, the
archer whom the army had left in
Lemnos.
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Nestor reminds him of
his duties
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Nestor thoroughly
informed Patroclus 1 of the distress of the army
and the many wounded, among which were
Diomedes 2,
Odysseus,
Agamemnon, and
Eurypylus 1. He also reminded him of his duties;
for Nestor had visited
Peleus' house when
Patroclus 1 lived there, and had heard what
Patroclus 1's father had told his son when war
approached:
"My child, in
birth is Achilles nobler than you, but you are the
elder though he is also by far the stronger man.
Yet do speak to him a word of wisdom and give him
counsel, and direct him, and he will obey you to
his advantage." [Menoetius 2 to Patroclus 1.
Homer,
Iliad
11.785]
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Nestor asks him
influence his friend
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Nestor, who wished
Patroclus 1 to persuade Achilles
of fighting again, added:
"Those were
your old father's words, which you have forgotten.
Yet it is not too late for you to talk to
Achilles in this manner ... A good thing is
the persuasion of a friend."
[Nestor to Patroclus 1.
Homer,
Iliad
11.790]
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Suggestive words
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And he also uttered a tempting suggestion:
"But if
Achilles is secretly deterred by some
prophecy or word from
Zeus that Thetis has disclosed to him,
let him at least allow you to go to battle with the Myrmidon
force behind you ... Let him give you his own
armour to fight in, in hope that the Trojans may
take you for him and break off the battle. That
would give our weary forces time to
recuperate."
[Nestor to Patroclus 1.
Homer,
Iliad
11.795]
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Patroclus 1 meets Eurypylus 1
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These words moved Patroclus 1's heart, and as he
was running back he met Eurypylus 1, leader of the
Ormenians, wounded in the thigh and limping out of
the battle, and Eurypylus 1 alarmed him even more,
for he said:
"Patroclus,
there is no salvation for the Achaeans now."
[Eurypylus 1 to Patroclus 1. Homer,
Iliad
11.825]
Having made him lie down, Patroclus 1 cut from
his thigh the arrow with a knife, washed the wound,
and put on it a bitter root, which, staying all
pains, made the wound dry and the blood cease.
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Achilles
gives up the worst of his wrath
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But as he was taking care of Eurypylus 1, the
Trojans attacked even harder ... So he hasty left
with the idea of coming to Achilles
and urge him to fight. And having met him, he bade
him with tears in his eyes to fight or let him
fight in his stead and with his armour, just as
Nestor had suggested. By
then even Achilles had
understood that no state of mind lasts forever:
"In no wise
was I to be filled with ceaseless wrath at heart."
[Achilles to
Patroclus 1. Homer,
Iliad
16.60]
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Achilles'
advice
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And giving him his armour, Achilles
sent his friend to the battle at the front of the
Myrmidons, advising him just to remove the Trojans
from the Achaean ships, and under no circumstances
go in their pursuit.
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Those killed by Patroclus 1
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To drive the horses, Patroclus 1 chose Automedon
from Scyros, Achilles'
squire and charioteer, and went into battle. The
terrified Trojans believed that Achilles
was fighting again, and Patroclus 1 killed many
among them:
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Lycians killed
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Patroclus 1 killed the Lycians
Amphoterus 2, Epaltes, Erymas 2, Evippus
2, Ipheus, Echius 2, Pyris, Polymelus 1,
son of Argeas, and Tlepolemus 2, son of
Damastor 1. He also killed King Sarpedon 1
of Lycia, whom
Zeus had granted
life for three generations, and
Thrasymelus, squire of Sarpedon 1.
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Cebriones
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The son of Priam
1 who became
Hector 1's
charioteer after Archeptolemus' death.
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Erylaus
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Father by Clite 4 of Meilanion 2,
another Trojan warrior who was slain by
Antiphus 6, a companion of
Odysseus
himself killed by the Cyclops
Polyphemus
2 during his return from Troy.
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Perimus
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Son of Megas.
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Pyraechmes 1
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Leader of the Paeonians.
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Sthenelaus 2
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Son of Ithaemenes 1.
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Thestor 3
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Son of Enops 2, from near the Satnioeis
river in the Troad.
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Other Trojans killed by
Patroclus 1
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Adrastus 5, Areilycus 2, Autonous 2,
Echeclus 3, Elasus 1, Epistor, Melanippus
8, Mulius 2, Pronous 3, Pylartes 2.
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Death and loss of arms
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The will of Heaven is impossible to curb. For as
the Trojans were being defeated, Patroclus 1,
disobeying Achilles'
advice, committed the fatal error of going in
pursuit of the Trojans and Lycians. So in the
middle of the battle,
Apollo came behind him
and stroke his back with the flat of his hand,
knocking off his helmet. Then the god undid his
corslet, and when he was defenceless, Euphorbus
came from behind and struck him with a spear
between the shoulders, and as Patroclus 1 crept
wounded, Hector 1 killed
him with a short spear-cast, and took the armour
that Patroclus 1 had worn.
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Euphorbus
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This Euphorbus, the first to hit Patroclus 1
after the god, was son of Panthous and Phrontis 2.
Panthous, one of the Elders of the city of Troy
and Apollo's priest, was
son of Othrys. Polydamas, a Trojan leader who was
commander in the same company as
Hector 1 and wished to
render Helen back to the
Achaeans, was also son of Panthous. And so was
Hyperenor 4, whom
Menelaus slew. Panthous
himself was killed at Troy.
It is said about Euphorbus that he became
Pythagoras, the celebrated sage and mathematician,
in a later life.
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Menelaus removing
Patroclus 1's body from the
battlefield
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The body of Patroclus 1
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There was a big fight for the body of Patroclus
1, which was finally retrieved from the field by
Menelaus and Meriones,
a Cretan leader and squire of King Idomeneus 1 of
Crete, while the AIANTES
(Ajax 1 and
Ajax 2) protected their
retreat. After Patroclus 1's death, Achilles
returned to the fight, and slew
Hector 1, and later
Paris slew him.
When Achilles
was dead, the Achaeans mourned for seventeen days,
and then they burned his body, putting the ashes in
a golden two-handled urn that
Hephaestus wrought.
This urn, which was the gift of
Dionysus 2 to Thetis,
was given by her to the Achaeans, and they mingled
Achilles'
ashes in it with those of Patroclus 1. They were
both buried in the White Island, which is in the
Black Sea near the mouths of the Danube.
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The soul of Patroclus 1
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Leonymus affirms that he indeed saw the soul of
Patroclus 1 in the White Island.
Leonymus was a general from the city of Crotona
in southern Italy, which was at war with the
Italian Locri. Being related to the Opuntians of
Hellas, they believed that
Ajax 2 helped them in
battle, and so they always left a place empty for
him in their lines. On a certain occasion, Leonymus
attacked the enemy at that point, and was
mysteriously wounded. He came to
Delphi to inquire about
his wound, and the oracle instructed him to sail to
the White Island where Ajax
2 would cure his wound. Having returned healed,
Leonymus declared that he had seen Patroclus 1,
Achilles,
and the AIANTES, among others.
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