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Patroclus, or Patroklos

In Greek myth, the friend, squire, and eromenos of the Greek warrior Achilles.   They first met as boys when Patroclus' father, Menoetius, brought him to the court of Achilles' father, King Peleus, to protect Patroclus from vengeance after he had killed another boy in a fight over a dice game.   Patroclus was granted protection and absolution for the crime, and became Achilles' squire and then his lover.   During the Trojan War, Patroclus took Achilles' place in battle when the hero refused to help the Greeks after a quarrel with Agamemnon over the division of spoils.   Patroclus was killed by the Trojan prince Hector, who stripped Achilles' armor from the boy as a trophy.   Achilles then came after Hector in a vengeful rage and killed him, stripping the prince naked and dragging his corpse around the walls of Troy.   After Achilles was killed by a poisoned arrow shot by Hector's brother Paris, Achilles was reunited with his friend and lover in the Elysian Fields, the paradise of the ancient Greeks.

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