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babyrdie · 3 months ago

Note

so peleus is the son of aeacus,

and aeacus is mentos of opus' half brother.

is this consistent in all myths or does it apply only for some versions?

i'm asking because now i'm interested in that age gap between patroclus and achilles.

Okay, let's take a look at their family tree. It's gonna be long because the Patroclus part messes everything up lol. Also, I may have forgotten/not known something!

First, we have the River Asopus. We have the possible parents for him:

[...]According to the myths there were born to Oceanus and Tethys a number of children who gave their names to rivers, and among their number were Peneius and Asopus. [...]

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.72.1. Translation by C.H.Oldfather. [1st century BC]

[...] The Asopus river was a son of Ocean and Tethys, or, as Acusilaus says, of Pero and Poseidon, or, according to some, of Zeus and Eurynome. [...]

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.6. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

[...] While he was king, Asopus, said to be the son of Celusa and Poseidon, discovered for him the water of the river which the present inhabitants call after him Asopus [...]

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.12.4. Translation by W.H.S. Jones. [2nd century AD]

There is also a fragment attributed to Acusilaus of Argos which says Asopus is the son of Poseidon and Pero. Acusilaus is believed to be from 6th century BC. This makes Poseidon and Pero apparently the oldest version we have explicitly recorded (i.e. with the name "Asopus" explicitly. Also, the oldest written source isn’t necessarily the oldest version). However, I personally prefer to consider the parents to be Oceanus and Thetys because often the river gods (potamoi) were considered their children, similar to the Oceanid-nymphs. Diodorus Siculus gave a similar explanation.

This Asopus married Metope, a Naiad-nymph daughter of the River Ladon, who was the son of Oceanus and Thetys. Metope gave him two sons and several daughters, who were kidnapped by gods. One of the daughters, Aegina, was kidnapped by Zeus. There are countless sources about Aegina's kidnapping, so I won't worry about recording them here as it’s a very strong constant.

And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers [...] Ladon [...]

Hesiod, Theogony, 334-345. Translation by H.G. Evelyn-White. [7th century BC]

[...] but Asopus made his home in Phlius, where he married Metopê, the daughter of Ladon, to whom were born two sons, Pelasgus and Ismenus, and twelve daughters, Corcyra and Salamis, also Aegina, Peirenê, ad Cleonê, then Thebê, Tanagra, Thespeia, and Asopis, also Sinopê, and finally Ornia and Chalcis.

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.72.1. Translation by C.H.Oldfather. [1st century BC]

[...] Him Metope, herself a daughter of the river Ladon, married and bore two sons, Ismenus and Pelagon, and twenty daughters, of whom one, Aegina, was carried off by Zeus. [...]

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.6. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

Asopus tried to save his daughter from Zeus, but Zeus stopped him. He carried Aegina with him to another place, where he had a son with her named Aeacus (I personally interpreted it as rape), something that is also attested in several sources and therefore I won’t list it here. Wikipedia says that in one version Aeacus is actually the son of Zeus and Europa, which makes him the full brother of Radamanthus and Minos (remembering that Aeacus, Radamanthus and Minos are the judges of the dead), but I couldn't find the exact source for this, and in any case the most common version is still Aegina and Zeus. And of course, by logic Aeacus is the half-brother of all of Zeus's children. Anyway, the region where they were was renamed after the nymph and became known as Aegina, and Aeacus became the king. He then married Endeis and had with her Telamon and Peleus (depending on the version, Telamon isn't Peleus' brother. In fact, if you notice, there is nothing in The Iliad that indicates Ajax and Achilles as cousins, as is the case in later sources, Aeacus is described as the father of Peleus but not of Telamon. But either way, Telamon and Peleus as brothers became the most popular version, so I'm considering it. Pseudo-Apollodorus has a non-brother version mentioned, though), whose parents vary in the sources.

[...] Peleus and Telamon, sons of Aeacus and Endeis, daughter of Chiron, from the island of Aigina. [...]

Hyginus, Fabulae, 14.2. Translation by Mary Grant.

[...] And Aeacus married Endeis, daughter of Sciron, by whom he had two sons, Peleus and Telamon. [...]

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.16. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

[...] Well, then, Sciron was a son-in‑law of Cychreus, father-in‑law of Aeacus, and grandfather of Peleus and Telamon, who were the sons of Endeïs, daughter of Sciron and Chariclo. [...]

Plutarch, Life of Theseus, 10.3. Translation by Bernadotte Perrin.

However, I’ll consider Endeis as the daughter of Chiron and Chariclo, since it’s possible that the Sciron version is a rationalization of the Chiron version (which is why, coincidentally, Plutarch says that Endeis' mother by Sciron is Chariclo, commonly Chiron's nymph wife). According to a scholia of Pindar's Nemean Ode, Chiron is the father of Endeis (here, but in Greek). Supposedly there is a scholia of Euripides' play Andromache and Homer's Iliad that comment on this, but I couldn't find that part online. Anyway, the important thing is that here I’m considering Endeis as the daughter of Chiron and Chariclo. Chiron is consistently the son of the titan Cronus and the Oceanid-nymph Philyra and therefore I won’t provide sources, as there would be too many. A scholia of Pindar's Pythian Ode gives as possible parents of Chariclo the Olympian god Apollo, the Titan Perses or the Titan Oceanus (here, but in Greek). Personally, I consider the father to be Oceanus, as it seems to make more sense that a nymph would be his daughter. But that's just my personal opinion.

Aeacus also had Phocus after raping the Nereid-nymph Psamathe, who tried to escape by turning into a seal (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.6; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.72.6; Hesiod, Theogony, 1003; Pindar, Nemean Ode, 5.1; Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 38; Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.29.9). Phocus is the half-brother of Telamon and Peleus, who was killed by both or one of them, either intentionally or accidentally (from what I've noticed, it's more common for both to be involved and for it to be intentional). This is why Telamon and Peleus fled Aegina, the former settling in Salamis and the latter in Phthia. (Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.29; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.12.6; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 1.90; Euripides, Andromache, 642; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.72.6; Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 38; Hyginus, Fabulae, 14.2; Ioannis Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem, 175bis)

There is more than one version of how Peleus became king of Phthia (the kingship of Phthia varies according to the versions) since he isn’t a native of there, but one of them is that the king of Phthia, Eurytion, welcomed him and gave his daughter Antigone (not the Antigone from Oedipus myths. The same name isn’t always the same character) as his wife. Thus, Peleus would be a legitimate heir by marriage. This Antigone gave him as a daughter Polydora, who married Borus, son of Perieres, but had a son named Menesthius with the River Spercheus.

[...] The first battalion was led by Menesthius bright in bronze, son of Spercheus River swelled by the rains of Zeus and born by the lovely Polydora, Peleus' daughter, when a girl and the god of a tireless river bedded down. But they called him the son of Borus, Perieres' son who showered the girl with countless bridal gifts, his wedded bride. in the sight of all the world.[...]

Homer, The Iliad, 16.204-210. Translation by Robert Fagles.

Scholiast on Homer, Il. xvi. 175: ...whereas Hesiod and the rest call her (Peleus' daughter) Polydora.

Hesiod, Catalogues of Women, frag 60. Translation by H.G. Evelyn-White.

Peleus fled to Phthia to the court of Eurytion, son of Actor, and was purified by him, and he received from him his daughter Antigone and the third part of the country. And a daughter Polydora was born to him, who was wedded by Borus, son of Perieres.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.13.1. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

[...] Peleus, according to Pherekydes, was purified by Eurytus, the son of Actor, whose daughter Antigone he took. [...]

Ioannis Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem, 175bis.

Eurytion has more than one attributed father, with the most commonly attributed father being Irus (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 1.71-76; Hyginus, Fabulae, 14.2; Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses, 38). Furthermore, it isn’t possible to be certain that this Actor is the same Patroclus’ grandfather, since they could simply have the same name. According to Apollonius, Actor is still related to Eurytion, but he isn’tt the father but the grandfather (Irus's father). Hyginus says Eurytion is the son of Irus and Demonassa, thus giving a name to the mother of Irus's son. In the Orphic Argonautica, he’s still the son of Irus (?, Orphic Argonautica, 179). Anyway, I'm going to assume that Eurytion's father is Irus simply because that seems to be the most popular version, and I'm going to assume that Demonassa is the mother because Hyginus is the only one who mentions the name of the woman with whom Irus had the child. The Binzatine scholiast Tzetzes calls the character Eurytus, but it appears to be the same because all the details he describes fit into Eurytion, and he says he uses Pherecydes as his source. If this version of the marriage is from Pherecydes of Syros, then it dates to the 6th century BC and perhaps Pseudo-Apollodorus was using the same source as Tzetzes. Hesiod and Homer don't explicitly state that Polydora's mother is Antigone, but like Pseudo-Apollodorus, I'm going to assume that it is because she’s the previous marriage to Thetis that Peleus had.

Pseudo-Apollodorus says that after Antigone's death (she killed herself by hanging), Peleus married Polydora, daughter of Perieres.

Peleus married Polydora, daughter of Perieres, by whom he had a putative son Menesthius, though in fact Menesthius was the son of the river Sperchius.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.13.4. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

However, this seems to be a confusion that Pseudo-Apollodorus made. Not only does his wife have the same name as his daughter, but she also has the same description, since Menesthius is usually Peleus' grandson and not his putative son (see Homer, for example, who says that Polydora, daughter of Peleus, had Menesthius by the river Sperchius). Furthermore, the husband of Peleus' daughter Polydora is Borus, who is listed as the son of Perieres, who here is Polydora's father. In my opinion, this really does seem to be a case of Pseudo-Apollodorus getting confused. Therefore, I’m not considering Polydora, daughter of Perieres, as the second wife and I’lll consider Thetis to be the second wife.

Another pre-Thetis daughter attributed to Peleus is Polymele, one of the possible mothers of Patroclus. Pseudo-Apollodorus attributes this version to a man named Philocrates.

Achilles was also accompanied by Patroclus, son of Menoetius [...] as Philocrates says, she was Polymele, daughter of Peleus. [...]

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.13.8. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

Apparently Eustathius (Homer's scholiast) gave a version where Actor and not Eurytion was the host (Diodorus Siculus also gives a version where Actor is the host, see 4.72.6), but says the daughter's name was Polymele, not Antigone. I couldn't find that specific part in the scholia, but that's not surprising because as I don't know Greek I'm very limited in what I can find and what I can't. This doesn't seem to be exactly the same version as Diodorus, since Diodorus says that Peleus inherited Phthia because Actor had no children. The Byzantine Tzetzes said “Others say that Peleus had Polymele, the daughter of Actor, as a wife before Thetis. Her brother was Irus, whose son Eurytion, one of the Argonauts, Peleus unintentionally killed in a hunt.” (Ad Lycophronem, 175bis), thus making Polymele the sister of Eurytion, both sons of Actor, and having married Peleus. Anyway, as a character, Polymele does not seem to be a strong constant as a daughter and she also doesn’t have the level of detail of Antigone as a wife, so I prefer the version in which the woman Peleus married was Antigone and he had with her only Polydora.

Later, Peleus marries/rapes Thetis, the Nereid-nymph daughter of Nereus and Doris (and sister of Psamathe, by the way. I have seen Thetis written as the daughter of Chiron in a Byzantine source, but this is clearly a more unusual version and in terms of genealogy Thetis should be seen as the daughter of Nereus, which is precisely what makes her a Nereid. Plus, according to Euripides' Helen, Psamathe later married and had two children with the sea god Proteus). In some versions, Peleus and Thetis had a lot of children, whom Thetis killed in an attempt to make them immortal. The last son, Achilles, was saved by Peleus. This doesn’t seem to be a very late development of the myth, since one of the fragments attributed to Hesiod already contains this version and Hesiod is from Archaic Greece.

Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, Arg. iv. 816: The author of the Aegimius says in the second book that Thetis used to throw the children she had by Peleus into a cauldron of water, because she wished to learn where they were mortal . . . And that after many had perished Peleus was annoyed, and prevented her from throwing Achilles into the cauldron.

Hesiod, The Aegimus, frag 2. Translation by H.G. Evelyn-White. [7h century BC]

[...] the Pelasgian Typhon, out of seven sons consumed in the flame alone escaping the fiery ashes.

Lycophron, Alexandra, 179. Translation by A.W. Mair. [3rd century BC]

[...] Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus; six were born; when she had Achilles, Peleus noticed and tore him from the flames with only a burnt ankle-bone and confided him to Chiron. The latter exhumed the body of the giant Damysos who was buried at Pallene — Damysos was the fastest of all the giants — removed the ankle-bone and incorporated it into Achilles' foot using drugs. This ankle-bone fell when Achilles was pursued by Apollo and it was thus that Achilles, fallen, was killed. It is said, on the other hand, that he was called Podarkes by the Poet, because, it is said, Thetis gave the newborn child the wings of Arce and Podarkes means that his feet had the wings of Arce. And Arce was the daughter of Thaumas and her sister was Iris; both had wings, but, during the struggle of the gods against the Titans, Arce flew out of the camp of the gods and joined the Titans. After the victory Zeus removed her wings before throwing her into Tartarus and, when he came to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, he brought these wings as a gift for Thetis. [...]

Photius, Bibliotheca, 190.46. Translation by John Henry Freese. [9th century AD]

The third version is attributed to Ptolemy Hephaestion, who was probably from Roman Greece. Most of the versions of the myth offered by him aren’t found anywhere else, including this one (the name and date I have given are different because they refer to the author of Bibliotheca, the Byzantine Photius. But Photius is reviewing Ptolemy's book, so the version still belongs to Ptolemy). Furthermore, in Alexandra it’s written somewhat enigmatically because they’re the prophecies of the Trojan prophetess Cassandra, but this "Pelasgian Typhon" is Achilles, not a literal monster. She calls him that probably because of his position as one of the main people responsible for the fall of Troy. The Byzantine scholia of Lycophron, Ioannis Tzetzes, says the following:

[...] this Lycophron either does not know where he found or is fabricating this, he says that Thetis bore seven male children from Peleus and she threw six of them into the fire and killed them as unworthy of herself, but she was watched and prevented when it came to Achilles. Pindar (J VIII 60) says that Poseidon and Apollo quarreled over the marriage of Thetis, but they were prevented by Themis according to some historians, and by Prometheus according to Aeschylus; for he says "or — father's" (Prom. 766). Apollodorus (III 168) says that only Zeus and Poseidon quarreled over the marriage of Thetis, and that Thetis, having been raised by Hera, did not want to be with Zeus, which angered Zeus and he married her to a mortal. By the advice of Chiron, Peleus managed to hold her while she transformed herself into various forms and he mated with her in the form of a cuttlefish (85 5) and the wedding of Peleus took place in Pelion and the gods gave gifts, Poseidon gave the horses Xanthus and Balius, Hephaestus a sword, and the others different things. Thetis, having given birth to the one previously called Liguron according to Apollodorus, later renamed Achilles because he was given to Chiron and raised separately from common food, she would throw him into the fire in the evening, and in the day she would anoint him with ambrosia wanting to make him immortal. But when Peleus saw her throwing him into the fire and cried out, she retreated to the Nereids, and Peleus gave the child to Chiron to be raised. And this is what Apollodorus says. Agamestor of Pharsalus says that Achilles was first called Pyrisous in the Epithalamium of Thetis, then he was named Achilles in such a way, as his words will show: "She named the child Pyrisous, but Peleus called him Achilles, because he took him lying in the dust, in the fire, he wiped off the burning lip without a word from another". Euripides (Andr. 1265) says once that Peleus mated with Thetis in Sepia and others (sch.r ib.) agree with him. "Fepsalo" means fire, which one avoids touching and approaching "spodoumenon" elsewhere means being beaten, now it means being burned "Mounon" instead of "monon" ionically "exalyxanta" means escaped "spodon" elsewhere means the dripping, now it means fire and burning.

Ioannis Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem, 178. [12th century AD]

However, I personally believe Thetis and Peleus' only child is Achilles because I think it makes more sense with the prophecy. Like, why would the prophecy wait for Thetis to kill several children and only start taking effect on the one that survived? If they were children of unspecified gender, I could assume that they were all girls and the prophecy specifically concerned a son, but it’s specified that all the babies were boys. Also, this would also make you think a lot about the chronology, since a baby takes months to be born and Thetis supposedly had several babies, which would result in years before Achilles was born. So I tend to disregard this version, even though it does exist.

Now let's move on to the part of Patroclus. Patroclus is often the son of Menoetius, who is often the son of Actor. This was already present in The Iliad. In other sources, Aegina and Actor had Menoetius. This is said in a scholia of the Iliade (here, but in Greek) and in a Pindar’s Olympian Ode. By this logic, Menoetius is Aeacus' half-brother on his mother's side.

[...] Locrus gave him a city and a people to govern, and strangers came to him from Argos and Thebes, from Arcadia and Pisa. But among the settlers he chiefly honored the son of Actor [70] and Aegina, Menoetius, whose son went with the Atreidae to the plain of Teuthras, and stood alone beside Achilles, when Telephus turned to flight the mighty Danaans, and attacked their ships beside the sea, to reveal to a man of understanding the powerful mind of Patroclus.

Pindar, Olympian Ode, 9.50. Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien.

Note that Homer has Patroclus called a prince, which may indicate that before his banishment he was a prince in Opus. All the other characters who are called a prince at some point (e.g. Achilles, Hector, Sarpedon, Odysseus, Menelaus, etc.) actually have a royal connection, so I don't see why Patroclus would be an exception. Also, Achilles isn't the only one to call him a prince, a god (Apollo) also calls him that.

[…] and Achilles slapped his thighs and urged Patroclus, "To arms — Patroclus, prince and master horseman! […]”

Homer, The Iliad, 15.151-152. Translation by Robert Fagles. [Achilles’ line]

[…] And moved now to his depths, the famous runner cried, "No, no, my prince, Patroclus, what are you saying? […]”

Homer, The Iliad, 16.56-57. Translation by Robert Fagles. [Achilles’ line]

[…] Then at Patrodus' fourth assault like something superhuman. the god shrieked down his winging words of terror: "Back Patroclus— Prince. go back! It is not the will of fate that the proud Trojans' citadel fall before your spear, not even before Achilles — far greater man than you!"

Homer, The Iliad, 16.824-828. Translation by Robert Fagles. [Apollo’s line]

However, the version given by Pindar is that Patroclus' family was a noble family of Opus, not necessarily royalty. It was just that the king of Opus was very fond of Menoetius, whose family was not native to Opus (Patroclus is a native of Opus but his ancestors weren’t, according to Pindar). Also, Strabo says “However, Menoetius was not king of the Opuntians, but Aias the Locrian, whose native land, as they say, was Narycus” (Strabo, Geography, 9.4.2). So it's up to you to decide whether you prefer him to be a prince as in the Homeric tradition or a nobleman, as in the post-Homeric tradition.

As for Actor, it’s difficult to be certain about him. In mythology, there is an Actor who is the son of Myrmidon, a demigod of Zeus and Eurymedousa, with Psidice, daughter of Aeolus and Enarete. However, there is no way to be 100% sure if this Actor is exactly the same character who is the father of Menoetius.

[...] Pisidice had Antiphus and Actor by Myrmidon.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 1.7.3. Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

[...] Eurymedusa, the daughter of Achelaus, being changed into an ant, of whom Myrmidon [...]

Clement of Alexandria, Regonitions, 10.22. Translation by Rev. Thomas Smith. [2nd/3rt century AD]

[...] What else of Thessalians? They are reported to worship ants, because they have been taught that Zeus, in the likeness of an ant, had intercourse with Eurymedusa the daughter of Cletor and begat Myrmidon. [...]

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, Book 1. Translation by G.W. Butterworth. [2nd/3rt century AD]

Both texts attributed to Clement, however, are Christian texts against paganism. Therefore, be aware that it’s most likely biased.

It’s possible that this Actor is the same Actor who sometimes appears in the myth in which Peleus arrives in Phthia, either as the current king (as Diodorus says, for example) or as the ancestor of the current king, Eurytion (as Apollonius says, for example). In any case, the Actor of this myth is certainly a royal of Phthia, and perhaps for this reason he’s a descendant of Mimyrdon, because Myrmidon is a name linked to Phthia. But I have seen some attribute this ancestry to Actor, grandfather of Patroclus of Opus. It isn’t explicitly stated what Actor, son of Mimyrdon, did, so it isn’t possible to know. It isn’t even possible to be certain whether the figures Actor of Phthia and Actor, father of Menoetius, are really separate figures. A scholia of Pindar's Olympian Ode says (improvised translation. In Greek here):

[...] And Pythaenetus (FHG IV, 487) says that when Aegina came together with Zeus, she gave birth to Aiacus and Damocratia, who was to be married to Actor in Thessaly and to bear Menoetius; later, he went to Opus... for he was related to the Locrian.

Which makes it so that, according to Pythaenetus, Actor was originally from Thessaly, but went to Opus when his wife Damocrateia (who is the daughter of Aegina, unlike the version in which Actor has a son with Aegina) became pregnant because he was related to the Locrians. There, he had a good relationship with the king. Phthia is located in Thessaly, so it’s indeed possible that, in Pythaenetus' version, the Actor of Phthia is the Actor of Opus. This, however, isn’t Pindar's version, since Pindar explicitly says that Menoetius is the son of Aegina.

However, it seems that Pseudo-Apollodorus acknowledges the existence of two Actors since he says that one is the son of Myrmidon and Psidice and the other is the son of Deion and Diomede, daugther of Xunthus.

Deion reigned over Phocis and married Diomede, daughter of Xuthus; and there were born to him a daughter, Asterodia, and sons, Aenetus, Actor, Phylacus, and Cephalus, who married Procris, daughter of Erechtheus.148 But afterwards Dawn fell in love with him and carried him off.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 1.9.4. Translation by Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

Although the families of these two Actors have points in common, since Xuthus (father of Diomede, mother of one of these Actors) is the brother of Aeolus, father of Psidice, wife of Myrmidon and mother of the other Actor. Although Xuthus in other versions isn’t the son of Hellen, but of Aeolus (who here is his brother). Yes, as you’re surely noticing, the "Actor" part of Patroclus' family is a mess.

Hellen had Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus by a nymph Orseis. Those who were called Greeks he named Hellenes after himself,111 and divided the country among his sons. Xuthus received Peloponnese and begat Achaeus and Ion by Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, and from Achaeus and Ion the Achaeans and Ionians derive their names. Dorus received the country over against Peloponnese and called the settlers Dorians after himself. Aeolus reigned over the regions about Thessaly and named the inhabitants Aeolians. He married Enarete, daughter of Deimachus, and begat seven sons, Cretheus, Sisyphus, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes, Perieres, and five daughters, Canace, Alcyone, Pisidice, Calyce, Perimede.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 1.7.3. Translation by Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

According to “A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology”, by Ed William Smith, the Actor of Patroclus is the son of Deion and Diomede, the daughter of Xuthu.

Actor （Ἄκτωρ). 1. A son of Deion and Diomede, the daughter of Xuthus. He was thus a brother of Asteropeia, Acnetus, Phylacus, and Cephalus, and husband of Aegina, father of Menoetius, and grandfather of Patroclus. (Apollod. 1.9.4, 16, 3.10.8; Pind. O. 9.75; Hom. Il. 11.785, 16.14.)

Actor 1.

He is aware of Actor, son of Psidice and Myrmidon, since there is a passage about this. It just seems to me that he considers this to be a different Actor than Actor, father of Menoetius.

Peisi'dice （Πεισιδίκη). 1. A daughter of Aeolus and Enarete, was married to Myrmidon, by whom she became the mother of Antiphus and Actor. (Apollod. 1.7.3.)

Psidice 1.

My'rmidon （Μυρμιδών), a son of Zeus and Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cleitos, whom Zeus deceived in the disguise of an ant. Her son was for this reason called Myrmidon (from μύρμηξ, an ant), and was regarded as the ancestor of the Myrmidons in Thessaly. He was married to Peisidice, by whom he became the father of Antiphus and Actor. (Apollod. 1.7.3; Apollon. 1.56; Eustath. ad Horn. p. 320; Clem. Alex. Protrept. p. 34; Arnob. ad v. Gent. 4.26.)

Myrmidon 1.

He’s equally aware of Eurytion's relationship to some Actor, and considers the version in which he’s the son of Irus to be the most common and the one in which he’s the son of Actor to be a variant.

Eury'tion （Εὐρυτίων). 1. A son of Irus and Demonassa, and a grandson of Actor, is mentioned among the Argonauts. (Hyg. Fab. 14; Apollon. 1.71.). According to others he was a son of Actor, and he is also called Eurytus. (Apollod. 1.8.2; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 175.) When Peleus was expelled from his dominions, he fled to Eurytion and married his daughter Antigone; but in shooting at the Calydonian boar, Peleus inadvertently killed his father-in-law. (Apollod. 3.13. 1. &c.)

Eurytion 1.

Thomas Figueira, however, considers the possibility that Patroclus was a Myrmidon on his father's side while discussing how the version of Damocrateia as Menoetius' mother may have served as a way to link Patroclus' lineage more firmly to Aegina's descendants. However, he considers that this wasn’t the common version.

Although archaic Aiginetans probably visualized Aias as an Aiakid (and Telamon for that matter), as working back from the evidence from Pindar and Bacchylides about the views of their fifth-century Aiginetan patrons suggests, the Hesiodic Catalogue may not have accepted that formulation. There is also an indication that unalloyed Aiginetan tradition eventually made Patroklos a descendant of Aigina through the female line, which would be another contention not assimilated into Hesiod or the common paradigm. The Aiginetan local historian Pythainetos produced a lineage wherein Aigina and Zeus produce not only Aiakos, but a daughter Damokrateia (FGH 299 F 5 = ΣPindar Olympian 9.104a). Aktor married Damokrateia, producing Menoitios who married Sthenele, the mother of Patroklos (cf. ΣPindar Olympian 9.106a–b). As consistent with Aiginetan myth, the direction of heroic movement is away from Aigina to Thessaly, whither Damokrateia travels. In this view Menoitios and Patroklos were Aiginetan and Zeus-born through the female line, and presumably Myrmidons through the male, but not Aiakidai in the strictest sense. There may be a rationale in cult for this distinction, as Patroklos may not have received honors on Aigina as an Aiakid. Obviously, the name Damokrateia—was she simply Krateia originally? —is classical, and there may be a now irrecoverable polemic here in which an elite, equated with the Aiakidai, acts harmoniously with a Myrmidonian damos, Menoitios beside Peleus and Patroklos beside Achilles.

Regarding the different versions of Patroclus' ancestry, including the possibility that Actor was the son of Myrmidon, he says:

Compare Iliad 11.785; 16.14 with Aktor as the father of Menoitios, and Catalogue fr. 16.7–11, which has Aktor as the son of Myrmidon and Peisidike, while Myrmidon himself might be a son of Zeus (“Apollodorus” 1.7.3 = 1.52; cf. Iliad 18.10 for Patroklos as the best of the Myrmidons). Fitting Patroklos into the Aiakid genealogy, however, was problematical, as it raised difficulties with synchronizing generations in Patroklos’ line and that of Achilles. Contrast, therefore, Pindar, who identifies Menoitios as son of Aktor and Aigina, making him half-brother of Aiakos (and not of Peleus) and maternal uncle of Peleus (Olympian 9.69–70; cf. Eustathius Iliad 1.175.29). The ode honors a Lokrian, and Pindar may represent Lokrian tradition, juxtaposed with the more truly ‘ecumenical’ or panhellenic tradition of the Hesiodic Catalogue. Another related crux in Aiakid mythology involved the figure responsible for bringing the Myrmidons into Thessaly or Lokris. And its resolution affected how one viewed the very nature of the Myrmidons.

Menoetius' wives/mothers vary. Pseudo-Apollodorus gives more than one option:

[...] Achilles was also accompanied by Patroclus, son of Menoetius and Sthenele, daughter of Acastus; or the mother of Patroclus was Periopis, daughter of Pheres, or, as Philocrates says, she was Polymele, daughter of Peleus. [...]

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.13.8. Translation by Translation by J.G. Frazer. [1st or 2nd century AD, but disputed]

A scholia of The Iliad says that the mother is Sthenele (here, but in Greek), a scholia of Pindar says the same (here, but in Greek), and a scholia of The Odyssey mentions Philomela, although it seems to be disagreeing more than agreeing (here, but in Greek). In Fabulae, Patroclus is described as “Patroclus, son of Menoetius and Philomela, from Phthia” (Hyginus, Fabulae, 97). Comparing the number of mentions, Sthenele as Patroclus' mother seems to be the most recorded version we are aware of. She’s described as the daughter of Acastus of Iolcus, and considering that in one version of the myth at least one of Acastus' daughters (Sterope) was of age to marry Peleus (see Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.13.3), it makes sense that another daughter would have been of age to marry Menoetius. Several sites claim that Pindar's scholia mentions Damocrateia as Patroclus' mother and I considered this to be true because I can't read Greek, but I'm in doubt as to whether this is actually the case since I've only found in academic texts Damocrateia being Actor's wife.

Furthermore, Abderos is said to be one of the lovers of Heracles, son of Menoetius and brother of Patroclus. However, this seems to be an unusual version that isn’t attested anywhere else, and usually Abderos is the son of Hermes.

[...] Abderos, who was loved by Heracles, was the brother of Patroclus. [...]

Photius, Bibliotheca, 190.39. Translation by John Henry Freese. [9th century AD]

Myrto is said to be the sister of Patroclus and to have had a daughter with Heracles. This version of the myth is also not found anywhere other than in a text by Plutarch, which is from Roman Greece. Perhaps it’s a later development of the myth or a very regional myth. In any case, it doen’t seem to me to be the most common version.

Now Eucleia is regarded by most as Artemis, and is so addressed; but some say she was a daughter of Heracles and of that Myrto who was daughter of Menoetius and sister of Patroclus, and that, dying in virginity, she received divine honors among the Boeotians and Locrians. For she has an altar and an image built in every market place, and receives preliminary sacrifices from would-be brides and bridegrooms.

Plutarch, Aristides, 20.6. Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. [1st/2nd century AD]

There is also something: Peleus and Menoetius brothers? A fragment attributed to Hesiod's Catalogues of Women refers to Menoetius as Peleus' brother, although it isn’t clear in what way. Is he a brother on his mother's side? On his father's side? Is he a full brother? Furthermore, curiously Hesiod is the only one to make this claim. Pindar established the familial connection of Patroclus and Achilles through Aegina (Patroclus' grandmother, Achilles' great-grandmother), which makes them cousins once removed. Pythaenetus, as Pindar's scholia says, considers that the familial connection occurs because Damocrateia (Patroclus' grandmother) and Aeacus (Achilles' grandfather) are full brothers since they’re both sons of Zeus and Aegina, making them first cousins. Pseudo-Apollodorus mentions Polymele, Achilles' sister, as a possible mother of Patroclus, which makes Achilles Patroclus' uncle.

Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that the ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a kinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of Patroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were first cousins.

Hesiod, Catalogues of Women, frag 61. Translation by H.G. Evelyn-White.

One of the fragments makes it clear that Peleus is the son of Aeacus:

Strassburg Greek Papyri 55 (2nd century A.D.): "(ll. 1-13) Peleus the son of Aeacus, dear to the deathless gods, came to Phthia the mother of flocks, bringing great possessions from spacious Iolcus. And all the people envied him in their hearts seeing how he had sacked the well-built city, and accomplished his joyous marriage; and they all spake this word: ‘Thrice, yea, four times blessed son of Aeacus, happy Peleus! For far-seeing Olympian Zeus has given you a wife with many gifts and the blessed gods have brought your marriage fully to pass, and in these halls you go up to the holy bed of a daughter of Nereus. Truly the father, the son of Cronos, made you very pre- eminent among heroes and honoured above other men who eat bread and consume the fruit of the ground.’"

Hesiod, Catalogues of Women, frag 58. Translation by H.G. Evelyn-White.

Regarding this, Thomas Figueira says:

Fragment 206 may be set alongside fr. 203, since it helps to show how Aiakos already shared narrative attention with the Aiakidai as a preeminent heroic lineage: πολέμωι κεχαρηότας ἠύτε δαιτί (Polybius Histories 5.2.6; cf. Maximus Tyrius 29.2 [Holbein]). Despite concision of this citation, the Aiakidai have already become exemplars for archaic aristocrats, for how else would one understand the characteristic combination of warfare and eating communally? Maximus Tyrius himself raises another essential point which regards the absence of influence of this theme on Homeric epic: Ὁμήρου δὲ οὐκ ἀκούεις ἐγκωμιάζοντος τοὺς Αἰακίδας, ὅτι ἦσαν ἄνδρες …. πολέμῳ κεχαρηότες, ἠΰτε δαιτί … ‘you do not hear Homer lauding the Aiakidai, because they were men delighting in war and in the feast …’. Our natural answer to his bafflement would be that “Homer” did not as yet have the global conception of the Aiakidai that prevailed thereafter. Fragments 207–211 come from the section of the Catalogue focusing on Peleus. Fragment 212a addresses another aspect of the traditional account (= Eustathius Iliad 1.122.44–47): Menoitios, the father of Patroklos, was a brother of Peleus, so that Patroklos and Achilles were cousins. Fr. 212b with its references to Μοῖρα (verse 1) and Σκαιῆισι πύληισι (verse 5) refers to the death of Patroklos. Because the succeeding verses return to Peleus’ exploits at Iolkos and Phthia, this fragment may originate in a digression identifying Menoitios, who was presumably fighting at Peleus’ side in Thessaly. Thus the Catalogue brought its digression into, at least, the next generation. However, Menoitios and Patroklos seem secondary characters, and the line of Peleus dominates the treatment of the Aiakidai. Accordingly, the account of Achilles was lengthy, with room even for his early exploits in the Troad (fr. 214). Moreover, fr. 213 indicates that Hesiod called Peleus’ daughter Polydora, as does “Apollodorus” (cf. Zenodotus FGH 19 F 5, who called her Kleodora). That analogy suggests, once more, that the standard mythology of “Apollodorus” evolved from a Hesiodic origin.

That is, he considers that this was a way of making Patroclus part of the Aiakidai (descendants of Aeacus. Probably because we only know that for Hesiod Peleus is the son of Aeacus, there is no mention of his mother, so it seems likely that Menoetius is the son of Aeacus also in this version), but that such an idea isn’t present in later texts that have survived (we do not know about the lost one).

So the thing is: Achilles' family seems relatively understandable, even with the variants mentioned. But Patroclus' family is EXTREMELY fluid. He has at least 4 different mothers (Sthenele, Philomela, Polymele, Periops. The sites cite Damocrateia, which would make her a fifth possible mother, but I genuinely couldn't find the source) and, of those, only Philomela seems to have an undetermined lineage. In other words, depending on the mother, Patroclus' kinship changes, including his kinship with Achilles (Polymele makes him Achilles' nephew). Menoetius and Actor are constant in his lineage, but the details are not. Menoetius is sometimes identified as the son of Aegina, as the son of Damocrateia, and as the son of an unidentified woman (in Hesiod's version, he is the brother of Peleus. Maybe it's Endeis, but there's no way to be sure). Actor himself seems to be quite confusing. Is he, after all, the same Actor of Phthia? Is he the son of Myrmidon and Psidice? Is he the son of Deion and Diomede? If he's the Actor of Phthia, is he the father of Irus (Apollonius), Eurytion (Pseudo-Apollodorus), Polymele (Tzetzes) or Antigone (Pseudo-Apollodorus) or did he have no children at all (Diodorus Siculus)? Also, Patroclus has Abderos (Photius) and Myrto (Plutarch) as possible siblings, although they seem to be late developments. Homer treats Patroclus as an exiled prince, but Pindar treats him as an exiled nobleman and so does Strabo. There is no right answer in the case of Patroclus. In terms of parentage, you'll really have to choose which fits best.

What we do know about age, however, is that Patroclus was certainly older than Achilles. This is explicitly stated in The Iliad and in other sources, and is an important part of explaining the dynamic between Patroclus and Achilles. Patroclus is expected to be the wiser one, the one who guides, in part because he’s the older one.

And Actor's son Menoetius urging you, 'My child, Achilles is nobler than you with his immortal blood but you are older. He has more power than you, by far, 940 but give him sound advice, guide him, even in battle. Achilles will listen to you-for his own good: So the old man told you. You've forgotten

The Iliad, 11.938-943. Translation by Robert Fagles.

However, Patroclus and Achilles are also described as growing up together, so I don't think it's possible that the age difference between them is huge.

“[...] A last request — grant it. please. Never bury my bones apart from yours, Achilles, let them lie together... just as we grew up together in your house, after Menoetius brought me there from Opois, and only a boy, but banished for bloody murder the day I killed Amphidarnas' son. I was a fool — I never meant to kill him — quarreling over a dice game. Then the famous horseman Peleus took me into his halls, he reared me with kindness, appointed me your aide. So now let a single urn, the gold two-handled urn your noble mother gave you, hold our bones — together!"

The Iliad, 23.99-110. Translation by Robert Fagles.

In most sources, Achilles' childhood is with Chiron, not with Thetis or Peleus (for example, Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis and Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica, but but there are many others), and in Greek mythology Patroclus doesn’t go to Pelion (including Homer, who says that Achilles taught what he learned from Chiron to Patroclus. If Patroclus had been there, there would have been no need for that, Chiron would have just taught them both). That is, Achilles met him after he returned from Pelion. If even after Achilles' return from Pelion he and Patroclus still grew up together and Patroclus was still a boy... well, it clearly seems to me that the age difference isn’t that great. Furthermore, Patroclus is listed among Helen's suitors in more than one source (Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.24.10; Hyginus, Fabulae, 81; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 3.10.8) while Hesiod explicitly says that Achilles wasn't there because he was on Pelion (Hesiod, Catalogue of Women, 68). Considering that Patroclus wasn't on Pelion with Achilles, and that to be a suitor of Helen he probably still had his good status (regardless of whether it was royalty or nobility, he wasn't an exile), Patroclus and Achilles met post-Oath of Tyndareus and post-Pelion. This would of course make Patroclus a child when he was Helen's suitor, but that wasn't a problem because there were other characters present who would have been too young (for example, Antilochus, who is younger than Patroclus). I imagine that if one of them had been chosen, Helen would have been engaged until he was of marriageable age and they were married.

You’ve probably heard someone joke about Aeschylus and Plato supposedly disagreeing about who is “bottom” and who is “top.” Well, it turns out that “bottom” and “top” are relatively modern perceptions, and both Aeschylus and Plato are from Classical Greece, a time when pederasty was a thing. The disagreement wasn’t about “bottom” and “top” but rather about “eromenos” and “erastes,” in the case of Plato’s Symposium (there’s no text that suggests Aeschylus cared much about this. His part in this “debate” was simply to write a play called “The Myrmidons” that focused on Achilles mourning Patroclus, and one of the lines, which survives in fragmentary form, implies that Achilles is the erastes). In the Symposium, the justification for Achilles being the eromenos is as follows:

“Thus Love is by various authorities allowed to be of most venerable standing; and as most venerable, he is the cause of all our highest blessings. I for my part am at a loss to say what greater blessing a man can have in earliest youth than an honorable lover, or a lover than an honorable favorite. For the guiding principle we should choose for all our days, if we are minded to live a comely life, cannot be acquired either by kinship or office or wealth or anything so well as by Love. What shall I call this power? The shame that we feel for shameful things, and ambition for what is noble; without which it is impossible for city or person to perform any high and noble deeds. Let me then say that a man in love, should he be detected in some shameful act or in a cowardly submission to shameful treatment at another's hands, would not feel half so much distress at anyone observing it, whether father or comrade or anyone in the world, as when his favorite did; nd in the selfsame way we see how the beloved is especially ashamed before his lovers when he is observed to be about some shameful business. So that if we could somewise contrive to have a city or an army composed of lovers and their favorites, they could not be better citizens of their country than by thus refraining from all that is base in a mutual rivalry for honor; and such men as these, when fighting side by side, one might almost consider able to make even a little band victorious over all the world. For a man in love would surely choose to have all the rest of the host rather than his favorite see him forsaking his station or flinging away his arms; sooner than this, he would prefer to die many deaths: while, as for leaving his favorite in the lurch, or not succoring him in his peril, no man is such a craven that Love's own influence cannot inspire him with a valor that makes him equal to the bravest born; and without doubt what Homer calls a ““fury inspired”” by a god in certain heroes is the effect produced on lovers by Love's peculiar power.

“Furthermore, only such as are in love will consent to die for others; not merely men will do it, but women too. Sufficient witness is borne to this statement before the people of Greece by Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, who alone was willing to die for her husband, though he had both father and mother. So high did her love exalt her over them in kindness, that they were proved alien to their son and but nominal relations; and when she achieved this deed, it was judged so noble by gods as well as men that, although among all the many doers of noble deeds they are few and soon counted to whom the gods have granted the privilege of having their souls sent up again from Hades, hers they thus restored in admiration of her act. In this manner even the gods give special honor to zeal and courage in concerns of love. But Orpheus, son of Oeagrus, they sent back with failure from Hades, showing him only a wraith of the woman for whom he lovedcame; her real self they would not bestow, for he was accounted to have gone upon a coward's quest, too like the minstrel that he was, and to have lacked the spirit to die as Alcestis did for the sake of love, when he contrived the means of entering Hades alive. Wherefore they laid upon him the penalty he deserved, and caused him to meet his death at the hands of women: whereas Achilles, son of Thetis, they honored and sent to his place in the Isles of the Blest, because having learnt from his mother that he would die as surely as he slew Hector, but if he slew him not, would return home and end his days an aged man, he bravely chose to go and rescue his lover Patroclus, avenged him, and sought death not merely in his behalf but in haste to be joined with him whom death had taken. For this the gods so highly admired him that they gave him distinguished honor, since he set so great a value on his lover. And Aeschylus talks nonsense when he says that it was Achilles who was in love with Patroclus; for he excelled in beauty not Patroclus alone but assuredly all the other heroes, being still beardless and, moreover, much the younger, by Homer's account. For in truth there is no sort of valor more respected by the gods than this which comes of love; yet they are even more admiring and delighted and beneficent when the beloved is fond of his lover than when the lover is fond of his favorite; since a lover, filled as he is with a god, surpasses his favorite in divinity. This is the reason why they honored Achilles above Alcestis, giving him his abode in the Isles of the Blest. “So there is my description of Love—that he is the most venerable and valuable of the gods, and that he has sovereign power to provide all virtue and happiness for men whether living or departed.”

Plato, Symposium, 178c-180b. Translation by Harold N. Fowler.

As you see, part of the argument is that Achilles is younger and prettier and therefore is the eromenos (beloved) and not the erastes (lover). But the thing is: in my opinion, if Patroclus were significantly older than Achilles, there would be no point in having this debate at all. This debate only exists because they don't fit into the roles of eromenos and erastes, which makes sense because their main source is The Iliad, which is from Archaic Greece, and the concepts of eromenos and erastes were especially popular in Classical Greece. They don't fit into eromenos and erastes because Homer (whom the classical Greeks used as the main reference for their relationship) never wrote them with that purpose. They aren’t declared lovers by Homer, but even if they were, they would hardly be eromenos and erastes because Homer's cultural perception was different.

There is an argument that the famous kylix shows Patroclus with a beard, and Achilles without one. But, well, it was 10 years of Trojan War, they were young, but not teenagers. Patroclus should AT LEAST be close to 30 years old, it isn’t strange that he has a beard. He doesn’tneed to be immensely older than Achilles for that.

Achilles tending Patroclus wounded by an arrow, identified by inscriptions on the upper part of the vase. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BCE, From Vulci. Here.

And even then, most of the time Patroclus doesn’t appear to have a beard.

For Achilles, while possessed with a certain supernatural nature, always did something great for his friends; for this reason he was angry together with all the Hellenes on account of Palamedes and avenged Patroklos and Antilokhos. It is especially necessary to know what Achilles is reported to have said to Telamonian Ajax about his friends, for afterwards, when Ajax asked him what sort of deeds were most dangerous to him, Achilles said, "Those on behalf of friends." Again, when asked what sort were both sweeter and less troublesome, he gave the same answer. When Ajax wondered how the same deed might be both difficult and easy, he said, "Because when on behalf of friends I readily take risks that are great, I cease from grieving for them." "But what sort of wound hurt you the most, Achilles?" Ajax asked. "The wound that I received from Hektor." "And yet surely you were not wounded by him," said Ajax. "By Zeus, he wounded my head and my hands," said Achilles, "for I consider you my own head, and Patroklos was my hands." My guest, Protesilaos says that Patroklos, although he was not much older than Achilles, was a divine and sensible man, the most suitable companion for Achilles. He said that Patroklos rejoiced whenever Achilles also rejoiced, was distressed in the same manner, was always giving some advice when he sang. Protesilaos says that even his horses carried Patroklos safe and sound, just as they did Achilles. In size and bravery he was between the two Ajaxes. He fell short of the son of Telamon in all things, but he surpassed both the size and bravery of the son of Locris. Patroklos had an olive complexion, black eyes, and sufficiently fine eyebrows, and he commended moderately long hair. His head stood upon his neck as the wrestling schools cultivate. His nose was straight, and he flared his nostrils as eager horses do.

Philostratus, Heroica, 736. Translation by Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean and Ellen Bradshaw Aitken. [3rd century AD]

Here, Philostratus even makes a point of saying “although he was not much older than Achilles”, which indicates that Patroclus is older but not that much. And other characters have their beards described, so if Philostrathus imagined Patroclus with a beard he would have said so. It’s true that Heroica has non-Homeric versions (for example, Patroclus does not wear Achilles’ armor), but overall his Patroclus doesn’t seem to me to be inherently non-Homeric when it comes to his relationship with Achilles.

Here, Pausanias explicitly describes that Patroclus has no beard in a Polygnotus’ (5th century BC) painting.

After the daughters of Pandareos is Antilochus, with one foot upon a rock and his face and head resting upon both hands, while after Antilochus is Agamemnon, leaning on a scepter beneath his left armpit, and holding up a staff in his hands. Protesilaus is seated with his gaze fixed on Achilles. Such is the posture of Protesilaus, and beyond Achilles is Patroclus standing. With the exception of Agamemnon these figures have no beard.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.30.3. Translation by W.H.S Jones. [2nd century AD]

On a Greek amphora, the soul of Patroclus was represented. However, his face isn’t visible (he is this mini-warrior).

Greek amphora ttributed to The Priam Painter, 520BC-510BC. See here.

On other Greek pottery, Patroclus is depicted as a beardless youth. He is drawn similarly to Achilles, which indicates that they aren’t very different in age. In the same scene are Odysseus and Nestor, who are clearly different from them.

The embassy to Achilles, attributed to Kleophrades Painter, 480 BC. Phoenix and Odysseus in front of Achilles Patroclus behind Achilles. Here.

On a Greek pottery depicting the Greeks fighting over the body of Patroclus, Patroclus is depicted as a young man.

The Fight over Patroklos’ body, depicted on an Attic Black-figure kylix known as the “Eye Cup” by Exekias, ca. 530 BCE. Now in the Antikensammlungen in Munich, Germany. Here.

Hyginus simply says that Patroclus was one of the most handsome, alongside characters like Achilles and Paris. No further details.

THOSE WHO WERE MOST HANDSOME: [...] Patroclus, son of Menoetius. [...]

Hyginus, Fabulae, 270. Translation by Mary Grant.

In Dares the Phrygian, of uncertain and late origin, the description is only “handsome and powerfully built. His eyes were gray. He was modest, dependable, wise, a man richly endowed", no mention of a beard. In the Roman version of the character, Patroclus was depicted in Pompeii frescoes as a beardless young man.

[The woman in both frescos is Briseis. In the second fresco, the man in the middle is Achilles. Plus, maybe the modern perception of Achilles and Patroclus as blond and brunette respectively is a probably inheritance of the Roman vision.]

In short, Patroclus is certainly older. However, not by much. Whether he has a beard or not is up to the artist/writer. Unfortunately, there is no stated age. And people who complain endlessly about how Patroclus fans are drawing Patroclus incorrectly because he doesn't look much older haven't checked their sources. Of course, people still have the option to play with the possibilities and make Patroclus older than he is, but mythologically speaking he's never been explicitly established as such.

#Ask #tiddiesoutwhenthetisout #Patroclus #Achilles #Aeacus #Peleus #Thetis #Endeis #Chiron #Aegina #Chariclo #Menoetius #Actor #birdie.txt #tw: rape

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