the central tension of Achilles is that he's both a man AND a god at the same time and the Iliad is of course about his Wrath. the Greeks insulted him so he punished them in the manner of a god, ie brutally, disproportionately, violently. Zeus agreed to make it happen for him but there was a cost and the cost was Patroclus.
if we conceive of Patroclus as the human side of Achilles then Zeus said OK, if you want to get angry like a god, you can get angry like a god. but u gotta give up your humanity. i'm gonna kill the human in you and you can't ever get him back.
















