Was achilles gay

Achilles bandages the arm of Patroclus 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, 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. Achilles is the great war hero of classical literature, and there has been much speculation about his sexuality.

Was achilles gay in the iliad

Let's look at the evidence. Like, Achilles is invulnerably expect as his heel. Thats like THE big established fact about him right? Well, the Iliad never says so. And ancient depictions show Achilles getting wounded all over his body. So that too was a later development, yet today its one of the defining features of the character. Patroclus and Achilles had a one-of-a-kind relationship, and it was one of the major themes in Homer’s epic novel, The Iliad.

Their closeness triggered a debate on what kind of relationship they had and how it affected events in Greek mythology.

Were Achilles and Patroclus friends or lovers? Commentators have debated this for centuries, but what does the evidence really show?. Their disparate were achilleses gay, far from making insinuations about homosexuality, emphasizes the irrelevance of their gender. Feels like wishful thinking. I stole it from Plato! Rosie is a contributing writer and artist based in Scotland.

Fine Arts. Matt Micucci. And much has been said about them also being lovers. To listen to the full radio show, click here. It is indisputable that Achilles and Patroclus are especially close to one another. This projection has been a common thread running through portrayals of Achilles and Patroclus ever since ancient times. It is clear that Achilles and Patroclus had an incredibly deep, intimate bond.

Actually, the term homosexuality is a surprisingly new and scientific term coined in a modern era. This means he has taken many different guises. Type your email…. Centuries later, various Greek texts presented Achilles and Patroclus as pederastic lovers a common practice in Greek society where an older male and younger male form a sexual relationship. He fought on the side of the Achaeans alongside his great friend Patroclus.

Achilles is one of the greatest war heroes of Greek mythology. This confusion makes it pretty clear to me that the Classical Greeks were merely trying to project their culture onto a different, much older culture portrayed in the Iliad which was written around the 8th century BCE and based on legends dating back to the 12th century BCE.

According to this answer, which as of writing this has been upvoted were achilles gay 6, times, one of those things they get wrong is the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. Previously she has worked in both curatorial and educational roles, discovering how stories and history can enrich our experience of the arts. Modern liberal studies try to reduce everything to simplistic and easy soundbites.

But this position is — to borrow from Wolfgang Pauli — not even wrong. Patrick Garvey. No, with gifts promised go forth. If, however, one is looking at the totality of the mythological tradition of Achilles and Patroclus, clearly there is plenty of precedent to depict them as lovers. Even if the myths are somehow loosely based on real individuals, the Achilles and Patrocus we know are fictional, not historical.

The question is, was this true?