Patroclus is the friend and wartime companion of Achilles. We can see no character development in Patroclus. Patroclus’s death is the most significant incident that works as the main reason of Greek victory. Patroclus has been used as a tool to demonstrate the variety or the change of Achilles’s character. But Patroclus has not been given importance by Homer. He always remains around Achilles and always shows obedience to him. When Agamemnon’s ambassador arrives the silently work together to serve the guests-that shows the relationship the have with each other. Achilles permits Patroclus to fight for the Greeks in order to save them. Achilles tells him to fight only to take back the ships and returns and he allows Patroclus to put on Achilles’s armor and also to common the myrmidons. But Patroclus disobeys it and he kills a lot of Trojans. Thus he takes pleasure in killing men that works as the reason of his death. Patroclus is killed by Hector with the help of Apollo. After his death, Achilles becomes furious than ever as he understands his own lacking as Patroclus’s protector. Patroclus’s death works as a turning point. In another word, Homer has portrayed this character as an instrument to join Achilles in the Greek army again. He is the victim of Zeus’s plan to fulfil the promise which Zeus has given to sea nymph Thetis. However, his killer, Trojan prince Hector, even tries to mutilate his corpse. So Patroclus is the only person whom Achilles loves so dearly and he was more than his war companion and more than his friend indeed.
Character analysis of Patroclus
