First Place Library Literacy Award for Presentation

STUDENT: Micah Cameron

PROJECT ADVISOR: Dr. Kara Stone

ABSTRACT

The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus has been the subject of extensive literary criticism; however, little attention has been paid to the difference in age between the two as depicted in the Iliad and how this relates to other interpretations of their relationship as portrayed, for example, in Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles and Plato’s Symposium. Historical and literary scholars have long held that Plato was correct in his claim that Patroclus was “much older” than Achilles. However, what does the Iliad actually say about the ages of Achilles and Patroclus? To answer this question, I examined all relevant passages in the Iliad that infer or directly discuss the ages of one or both characters using several translations, and I also used Greek dictionaries to examine the text in its original form in an attempt to remove any hint of translator bias from what Homer intended. What I discovered was that the Iliad has very little to say about the ages of any characters, and although Patroclus probably was the elder of the two, there was likely very little difference in age between him and Achilles. In an effort to see what led Plato to make his erroneous claim, my research indicated that Plato was not basing his assertion on evidence, but was rather imposing 5th century B.C.E. Athenian norms on Achilles and Patroclus to make the homoerotic component of their relationship more palatable to the upper class.

ZOOM ROOM #1:In War and Peace: Examining Relationships in Literature, History, and Cultural Studies