The tragic tale of Achilles, Patroclus, and their role in the Trojan war is told in Homer’s Iliad, an ancient Greek epic that you can read in translation here. Learn more about the Trojan war in this TED-Ed lesson, then click on this video for more on Homer’s sequel to the Iliad, the Odyssey. Another later source for Achilles’ stories is Statius’ unfinished Achilleid, which you can learn more about here.

The Iliad tells a story about how people are wrenched apart and lose their agency in times of war – which often results in individuals becoming more stubborn and hungry for control. Homer’s Achilles is known for his stubbornness, as demonstrated in his withdrawal from the war after Agamemnon’s seizure of the Trojan woman Briseis. While Briseis is a minor character in the Iliad, contemporary writers have reconsidered her role, and that of other women, caught up in the war. Check out Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls and Troy by Adèle Geras to get started.
 
Another aspect of the tale that has been revised and reconsidered is Achilles’ relationship with Patroclus. In the Iliad, the two are never explicitly portrayed as lovers, and their bond has been interpreted as both a strong friendship and an intense romantic love. Other marginal texts portrayed them as cousins, which you can learn more about here.
 
In her 2011 book The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller offers a love story for Patroclus and Achilles. As she described in this piece, “the most compelling piece of evidence [for their love], aside from the depth of Achilles’ grief, is how he grieves: Achilles refuses to burn Patroclus’ body, insisting instead on keeping the corpse in his tent, where he constantly weeps and embraces it—despite the horrified reactions of those around him. That sense of physical devastation spoke deeply to me of a true and total intimacy between the two men.” You can read more about the various depictions of this relationship here. And check out TED-Ed's book recommendation for Miller's book.

In addition to reconsidering different depiction of Achilles’ sexuality, recent discussions have rethought the depiction of race in these myths. You can read more about this here.

Other elements of Achilles’ story have been retold many times, and numerous interpretations exist. Explanations for his near-invincibility include his mother bathing him in ambrosia, the nectar of the Gods that bestowed immortality, or dipping his whole body apart from his heel in the River Styx. This version of the myth has given us the phrase “Achilles’ heel” as an essential weak spot. It was this that killed Achilles, according to different versions. You can read about the tragic fate of Achilles here, and a more academic exploration of his death in the Iliad here. 

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