I do like the song of Achilles but Madeline Miller does kind of turn Patroclus into kind of a slight wimp who’s not good at fighting when in the Iliad yes hector kills him but before that he’s able to be good enough at fighting to convince people that he is Achilles.
There’s nothing wrong with not being a fighter obviously but like idk if Patroclus can canonically throw a spear hard enough and accurately enough to kill a demigod in one shot then I don’t think he’s actually more of a medical tent guy.
Madeline Miller clearly did this on purpose. She probably knows more about the source material than I do considering she actually reads Greek. But idk dude I guess I’ve got different preferences.
If you ask me I think that Patroclus is just weak in comparison to Achilles and Achilles is Achilles alright he’s the main character and also a demigod and also insane. Patroclus’ only weakness was being a regular man who was also super good at throwing spears. I really don’t think that Achilles would’ve suggested that Patroclus take his place on the battlefield if he didn’t think he could handle it.
Whatever their relationship, friends or lovers, these two had been fighting and training together since they were children in most versions of the story. Achilles probably knew Patroclus’ style and Patroclus probably knew Achilles’ style and Achilles was like ugh I lost my sex slave/girlfriend and I don’t wanna go out and deal with Agamemnon anymore but Patroclus seems to think it’s important I go back out there. Hey Patroclus you know how I operate and you know how to kick ass you go out there and make sure you come back alive (possible sexual tension) and Patroclus is like anything for you man I will do it (possible sexual tension) and then Patroclus kills a demigod and then immediately afterwards dies via Hector
What I do respect about Miller’s version is that she addresses the age old debate about who was the top or bottom in the relationship by having them not do penetrative or thigh sex but instead just touch each other. Who was the top? Irrelevant. They don’t do that.
YES
More for my “Patroclus=Ram” crossover Tron hc
Canonically a damn good fighter for an actuarial calculator
Likely not equipped to do penetrative sex; programs seem to just do circuit-touching a lotta the time
Checks out
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