Patroklos In The Odyssey

Many people think they can challenge fate, but if one were able to choose when he/she lived or died, would it really be considered fate? Fate is inevitably predetermined; it’s ones destiny. Surely if a person tried hard enough he/she could avoid their fate for a little while, but in the end, he/she will eventually fall to fate. In Homer’s The Iliad, Patroklos attempts to challenge his own fate, but just like everyone else, he too falls victim to his destiny. As proclaimed by Zeus, Patroklos will die, but if Patroklos listened to Apollo, maybe he would not have died when he did. Patroklos let power and honor get to his head when he put on Achilleus’ armor and when he attempted to sack the city of troy, which ultimately lead to his own death.

Initially, when Patroklos pleaded to Achilleus for his armor, he had good intentions. At the start of book sixteen, Patroklos ran to Achilleus crying because so many Achaians were dying, and all the best men were injured. Patroklos explained the situation, and knowing that Achilleus would not return to battle, proposed an idea;
Give me your armor to wear on my shoulders into the fighting;
so perhaps the Trojans might think I am you, and give way
from their attack.
(XVI.40-42)
Achilleus agreed to Patroklos’ proposal under a few terms:
You must not, in the pride and fury of fighting, go on
slaughtering the Trojans, and lead the way against Ilion,
for fear some one of the everlasting g-ds on Olympos
might crush you.
(XVI.91-94)
With these wise words from Achilleus, Patroklos armed himself and prepared for battle.
Once Patroklos leaves to battle, Achilleus, along with the readers, believes Patroklos will do as he was told. Although Patroklos does follow some of Achilleus’ rules, he does not follow them all. First and foremost, Patroklos was told to
beat the bane aside from our ships; fall
upon them with all your strength; let them not with fire’s blazing
inflame our ships, and take away our desired homecoming.
(XVI.80-82)
Patroklos did just that.

He instilled fear in the Trojans as he killed their leader and drove the rest of the Trojans away from the ships. Granted Patroklos is currently following the rules right now, he is still power driven. He let the identity of the armor get to his head. Without the armor, he is Patroklos, but with the armor he is still Patroklos, is he not? The person has not changed, but his actions have. If Patroklos really wanted to do good for the Achaians, he could have potentially used his armor and done the same thing. He could have asked Achilleus for just his men and horses but not his armor. It would have sent the same message to the Trojans. The Trojan men would know they are up against Achilleus’ men, but led by Patroklos. To do what he did, Patroklos needed to wear the armor. He desired the sense of fear around him. Patroklos wanted the Trojans to fear him, but they did not know they feared Patroklos. The Trojans thought they feared Achilleus. Achilleus did not force the armor to Patroklos, Patroklos asked for it. Patroklos yearned for Achilleus’ strength and power and used his armor to attain it. Under all the armor, Patroklos acted as a coward, not a

fighter.
The armor of Achilleus gave Patroklos all the courage he needed as a fighter. Not only did it allow him to save the burning ships like Achilleus asked, but also allowed Patroklos to kill Trojans like a true, brave fighter. Patroklos wearing Achilleus’ armor and Achilleus wearing his armor are almost the same people on the battlefield, ruthless fighters. Achilleus, known as the greatest Achaian fighter, killed anyone who got in his way, and anyone who got in his way did not die a quick, easy death. Patroklos exhibited the same qualities while wearing Achilleus’ armor. After saving the burning ships,
Patroklos [came] close up to [Thestor] stabbed with a spear-thrust
at the right side of the jaw and drove it on through the teeth, then
hooked and dragged him with the spear over the rail,
(XVI.404-06)
as if he was trying to prove his power to the rest of the Achaians and Trojans. Patroklos took on Achilleus’ character in war, except without the armor, Patroklos would not have the same courage he did. Wearing the armor gave Patroklos the confidence and power he needed to succeed in the war. The armor of Achilleus did this to Patroklos, but in turn, Patroklos did this to himself. Patroklos asked to wear the armor; it was not forced upon him. This type of confidence and power Patroklos gained from wearing the armor is what will eventually kill him.
During Patroklos’ time as Achilleus, the reader learns how all this power can affect ones self. Patroklos does not obey Achilleus’ demand to not continue fighting the Trojans after he stops the ships from burning. Patroklos let’s the power and kleos get to his head, even if they kleos does not really belong to him. The kleos is thought to be for Achilleus. This does not affect Patroklos though; he keeps on fighting. Patroklos defies Achilleus by continuing to fight the Trojans
When he had cut away their first battalions,
Turned back to pin them against the ships, and would not allow them
To climb back into their city though they strained for it.
(XVI. 394-96)
All of Achilleus’ power got to Patroklos and made him believe he could take Troy by himself, but Achilleus would not advise Patroklos to hold back unless he knew it would be detrimental.
Clearly Patroklos thought trying to take the city of Troy was more important than the g-ds intervening in the battle. Patroklos greatly enjoyed having extreme power and control and proved it by not backing down when the Trojans desired to return into their city.
Going against the wise words of Achilleus, Patroklos proved the validity of Achilleus’ warning when he
Charged with evil intention in on the Trojans.
Three times he charged in with the force of the running war g-d,
Screaming a terrible cry, and three times he cut down nine men;
But as for the fourth time he swept in, like something greater
Than human, there Patroklos, the end of [his] life was shown forth.
(XVI.783-87)
Not only did Patroklos defy Achilleus once, he defied him four times. Apollo allowed Patroklos three tries to amend his wrong, but come the fourth try to charge the city, Apollo realized enough was enough. Apollo took action on what needed to be done and “struck away from [Patroklos’] head the helmet” (XVI.793), and soon thereafter his shield from his shoulders fell, leaving him without any protection. Hektor took advantage of this moment and “stabbed him / in the depth of the belly and drove the bronze clean through (XVI.820-21), killing Patroklos.
This is the moment where Patroklos could have decided to stall his fate. Patroklos’ mortality would eventually kill him, but if he had used his brain and listened to Achilleus to not push on the Trojans, Zeus would not have had a reason to send Apollo to the battlefield and Patroklos could have made it back home to Achilleus alive.
A mortal being’s fate is death.

There is no way to escape it, but there are ways to steer clear of it for a while. One way is to not go around with a death wish written across ones face, as did Patroklos. Patroklos challenged his fate the minute he clothed himself in Achilleus’ armor. Patroklos imagined himself as if he were actually Achilleus, but in reality he was still Patroklos, he was just hiding behind a mask. Just as children on Halloween think they are whom they dress up as, Patroklos did the same. Once out on the battlefield he acted as the greatest fighter alive, and maybe he did have the skills to be one the greatest, but he lacked the critical thinking which is crucial to a strong fighter. A strong fighter knows when it is time to back down from a fight, which Achilleus shows the reader when he tells Patroklos what he should and should not do. Patroklos does not listen and in turn fights with anger and gets himself killed. From the start, Patroklos knew putting on Achilleus’ armor would give him the strength he needed to help the Acahians, but he also knew people would fear him. He used that fear to do more than what he was told to do, thus killing him. Achilleus clearly informed Patroklos on what do and not to do, but Patroklos was too blind sided to listen. Patroklos took advantage of the power of the armor and tried to do more than what was required of him. He challenged fate and lost. Patroklos alone holds the responsibility of his

death.