Over His Dead Body: Male Friendship in Homer’s Iliad and Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy (2004)

Abstract

In the literary history of male friendship, a particular discursive scenario is ubiquitous. As friend has just died, the other laments about his terrible loss. This is the case with Achilles & Patroclus in Homer's Iliad . The taboo of judging someone who has lost his closest friend excels the taboo of what is called homosexuality. This chapter shows how this discursive arrangement works by the example of one of the most celebrated figures in the legends of Greek mythology, i.e., Achilles and his friend Patroclus. By comparing the first (Homer's Iliad ) and - for the time being - latest (Wolfgang Petersen's Troy ) major account of their story, the chapter analyzes the different ways in which male friendship is dealt with in antiquity and modernity. Keywords:Achilles; Homer; homosexuality; Iliad ; male friendship; Patroclus; Troy ; Wolfgang Petersen