Sexual life in ancient Greece : with thirty-two full-page plates

History OF GREEK LOVE

in arms, farewell, son of A®acus, and thou, son of Mencetius.”

It is clear from the Odyssey (xxiv, 78; cf. iu, 109; Xl, 467; xxiv, 15) that, after the death of Patroclus, Antilochus took his place with Achilles, meaning, of course, that Homer is unable to imagine the chief hero of his poem without a favourite. From this passage we further learn that Achilles, Patroclus, and Antilochus were buried in a common grave, as the three were often named together in life.

The bond of friendship between Achilles and Patroclus was referred to by the great tragic writer fEschylus as based on sensuality, and this author was still near enough to the age of the Homeric epos to understand its underlying spirit perfectly. A drama of AXschylus that is not preserved was called the Myrmidons (frag. in TGF., 42 ff.; cf. Ath., xiii, 6014, 602e) and its subject was as follows : Achilles, grievously offended by Agamemnon, in his animosity abstains from fighting, and consoles himself in his tent with the joys of love. The Chorus consisted of the Myrmidons, the vassals of Achilles, who finally persuade him to let them take part in the battle under the leadership of Patroclus. The piece ends with the death of the latter and the wild sorrow of Achilles.

This is confirmed by Lucian (Amores, 54; cf. Plut., Amat., 5, De adul. et amico, 19 ; Xen., Sympos., 8, 31; Aéschines, i, 142; Martial, xi, 44, 9), who says: “‘ Patroclus also, the favourite of Achilles, did not merely sit opposite to him listening to his lyre, but the driving-power of this friendship also was lust.”

It may be mentioned that Phedrus (Plato, Sympos., 179e ff.), in his speech on Eros, reverses the situation, making Patroclus the lover, and Achilles, as the younger and handsomer, the loved one.

But still further proofs could be brought to show that it is false to assert that the Homeric epos

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