Do you have any hcs about Achilles/briseis/patroclus? Their dynamic and feelings and thought process, all that. Please be extensive about them I love reading Iliad hcs and discussions :>
this^^ isn't really like a hc, i guess, it's an actual fact askdhaskdh
but i think Achilles is incredibly proud... i mean, i think he's very independent and self-serving.
which isn't always a bad thing. i think Achilles hates to rely on others- he likes to be in charge of his own life, he lives on his own terms.
so when Agamemnon comes in and starts demanding all these things from him, he is, understandably, outraged and irritated by it.
i personally don't think that Achilles has (had?) much of a political stance on the war. i think he enjoys fighting, not necessarily because he takes joy in bloodshed (though i think that might be part of it), but because he likes challenges.
so, for him, taking part in the war is just another challenge, another exercise. i don't think he takes it all that seriously.
UNTIL Patroclus goes ahead and dies.
and that really marks a change in Achilles.
the man who was blessed by the gods, Achilles the Invincible, gets hurt where i don't think he realised he could get hurt. and he goes on that rampage and goes wild.
Achilles doesn't really have much emotional control. i don't think he shies away from his feelings, and i don't think he is ever ashamed of them. he wears his heart on his sleeve.
honestly, i've always been a bit unsure whether Achilles truly loved, or even liked Briseis. but, in my personal opinion, i'm going to say he didn't. at least, it was probably just a fling.
in Book IX of the Iliad, Achilles laments,
"...but from me alone of the Achaens has [Agamemnon] taken and kept my wife, the darling of my heart... But why must the Argives wage was against the Trojans? ... Was it not for fair-haired Helen's sake? [Does Agamemnon and Menelaus] alone of mortal men love their wives...? Nay, for [whoever] is a true man and sound of mind, loves his own [wife] and cherishes her, even as I too loved [Briseis] with all my heart, though she was but the captive of my spear." (Homer's Iliad. IX. 335-344)
Achilles compares Agamemnon taking Briseis from him as being on par with Paris taking Helen, which seems like a pretty convincing display of affection. he also calls her his wife (even though they're not officially married).
BUT!! in Book XIX, after Patroclus has died, Achilles changes his mind about Briseis. He complains to Agamemnon,
"[Agamemnon], [why did we fight at that] time with grief [in our hearts] we raged in soul-devouring strife for the sake of a girl? Would that amid the ships Artemis had slain her with an arrow on the day when I took her from out the spoil after I had laid waste Lyrnessus!" (Homer's Iliad. XIX. 55-60)
Achilles blames the fighting over Briseis as the reason why so many Achaens lost their lives, including Patroclus. he even goes as far as to say that he they all would've been better off if Artemis had killed Briseis. that doesn't really sound like love to me.
to me, it seems that Achilles only ever really viewed her as a prize. evidence of his conquest. and that makes sense to me because i think Achilles was a proud man. he'd enjoy putting his victories on display, and it's part of the reason why he gets so outraged when Agamemnon takes his war prize from him.
did Briseis like Achilles? again, i'm not so sure.
Achilles ravaged her town, killed her brothers and her husband, and then took her as his slave. i cannot imagine that she "truly" loved Achilles... but Patroclus? now there's a different story.
in the previous point, i said that Briseis might've actually loved Patroclus.
going back to Book XIX, when Briseis sees Patroclus' dead body, she throws herself over it and weeps bitterly, saying,
“Patroclus, dearest to my hapless heart, alive I left thee when I went from the hut, and now I find thee dead... My husband... I beheld mangled with the sharp bronze before our city, and my three brethren whom mine own mother bare, brethren beloved, all these met their day of doom. But thou, when swift Achilles slew my husband, and laid waste the city of godlike Mynes, wouldst not even suffer me to weep, but saidest that thou wouldst make me the wedded wife of Achilles, and that he would bear me in his ships to Phthia, and make me a marriage-feast among the Myrmidons. Wherefore I wail for thee in thy death and know no ceasing, for thou was ever kind.” (Homer's Iliad. XIX. 288-300)
so, Patroclus actually promised Briseis that he was going to help her gain a legal status as Achilles' wife.
Patroclus had absolutely no obligation to do such a thing, but he said that he would do it nonetheless.
Briseis describes Patroclus as "ever kind", so Patroclus must have been a genuinely nice guy.
i've always imagined Patroclus as a kind man. a little bit of a goofball, but really nice, and generous, and noble.
in fact, i think he was the only thing keeping Achilles in-check.
did Achilles love Patroclus? undoubtedly. you don't go on a rampage killing everyone in sight, and then dragging your enemy's corpse around their city just for the fun of it. that's passionate revenge. a heart that is seriously broken.
even so, netflix's Troy: Fall of a City does portray Patroclus, Achilles, and Briseis in a polygamic relationship, if you were curious! (it's only like 5 minutes of one episode though)
