When the Trojans burst into the Greek camp, Patroclus, who was sitting at that time near the wounded Eurypylus, jumped up in horror, screamed loudly and hurried quickly to Achilles’ tent. Shedding bitter tears, Patroclus came to Achilles. Achilles asked him:
“Why are you crying, Patroclus, like a baby girl running after her mother and asking her to take her in her arms?” Have you received any bad news from Phthia? Or are you crying because the Greeks are dying near their ships? Tell me your sadness, don’t hide anything.
- Oh, son of Peleus! - Patroclus answered. - Great grief befell the Greeks! The bravest of them are wounded. Won't you help the Greeks? If you don’t want to help, then let me go with your Myrmidons. Give me your armor. Maybe the Trojans will accept me for you and stop the battle. With fresh forces we will repel the Trojans from the ships.
So Patroclus prayed to Achilles, not knowing that he himself was begging for his own death.
Achilles saw how difficult it was for the Greeks. He heard that only Hector's voice was heard. This means that not a single great hero of Greece is participating in the battle. Achilles did not want the Greeks to die. He agreed to give Patroclus his weapons and allow him to engage in battle with the Trojans, but only if the alarm sounded before his courts; then let Patroclus repel the Trojans and prevent them from burning the ships. But Achilles forbade Patroclus to lead the Myrmidons to the walls of Troy, he was afraid that his beloved friend might die.
That's how friends talked. Suddenly Achilles saw how one of his ships, lit by Hector, began to burn. He cried out in anger:
- Hurry, Patroclus! I see the flames are already raging among the ships. Arm yourself quickly! I myself will marshal the Myrmidons into battle!
Patroclus quickly armed himself with the armor of Achilles, he did not take only his spear; Only Achilles could fight with this spear, it was so heavy. His charioteer Automedon harnessed the horses to Achilles' chariot. Achilles lined up his Myrmidons. They, like predatory wolves ready to pounce on a deer, eagerly rushed into battle. Achilles inspired his warriors to perform a feat of arms and ordered them to fight bravely, so that King Agamemnon would understand how rashly he acted, insulting the most glorious of the Greek heroes. The Myrmidons rushed into battle with a loud cry, and their menacing cry echoed throughout the entire camp. The Trojans saw Patroclus in the armor of Achilles and thought that it was Achilles himself, forgetting about the enmity with Agamemnon, rushing to the aid of the Greeks. Every Trojan began to think about escape. Patroclus rushed into the thick of the battle and struck with his spear the Trojans fighting near the ship of Protesilaus. The frightened Trojans retreated.
But the Trojans did not immediately leave the camp; at first they only moved away from the ships. The Greeks pursued the Trojans, and many Trojan heroes fell. But the Trojans did not stay in the camp. Like ferocious wolves, the Greek heroes rushed at them. The Trojans rushed through the ditch into the field, and many died. The hero Telamonides Ajax burned with a desire to defeat Hector. Hector, although he saw that victory was slipping from the hands of the Trojans, did not retreat yet; he tried with all his might to delay the Greeks pursuing the Trojans. Finally, Hector retreated and the horses quickly carried him across the ditch into the field.
Exciting the Greeks to pursue the fleeing, Patroclus quickly drove the horses to the ditch. The immortal horses of Peleus jumped over the ditch along with the chariot and rushed across the field. Patroclus looked for Hector, but he escaped in his chariot. Dust rose across the field from the fleeing crowds of Trojan warriors. The Trojans hurried to take refuge behind the walls of Troy. But Patroclus cut off the retreat of many. He drove them back to the ships and killed many of them with his heavy spear. Sarpedon saw the death of so many heroes at the hands of Patroclus and called out to his Lycians, urging them to stop. Sarpedon wanted to fight Patroclus. He jumped off the chariot and began to wait for Patroclus. Achilles' friend also got off the chariot. The heroes rushed at each other, like two kites fighting screaming for prey on a high cliff. Zeus saw this fight. He felt sorry for Sarpedon, he wanted to save his son. Hera heard Zeus's complaints. She did not advise him to save his son. She reminded Zeus that the sons of many gods were fighting at Troy, that many of them had already died. If Zeus saves Sarpedon, then the other gods will also want to save their sons. Zeus must allow Sarpedon to die at the hands of Patroclus, if so destined by fate. Zeus took Hera's advice. He sent bloody dew to the Trojan fields, thereby honoring his son, who was about to fall at the hands of Patroclus.
Patroclus was the first to throw his spear and kill the faithful servant Sarpedon. Sarpedon also threw a spear, but did not hit Patroclus; A spear flew past and killed one of the horses harnessed to the chariot of Achilles' friend. The heroes collided for the second time. Sarpedon missed again. Patroclus struck Sarpedon right in the chest. The Lycian king fell, like an oak tree felled, cut down to the very roots by a woodcutter. Sarpedon loudly called to his friend Glaucus:
- Friend Glaucus, stir up the Lycians to fight bravely for their king Sarpedon and fight for me yourself. It will be an eternal shame for you if the Greeks take off my armor.
A dying groan escaped from Sarpedon’s chest, and the god of death Tanat closed his eyes. Sorrow took possession of Glaucus when he heard his friend’s voice. He was tormented by the fact that he could not help him, since he himself suffered from a wound. He called out to God and begged him to heal the wound. Apollo heard Glaucus's plea and healed his wound. Glaucus gathered the Lycians and the heroes of Troy, Aeneas and Agenor, Polydamas and the helmet-shining Hector himself, to fight for the body of Sarpedon. The heroes gathered and hurried to the aid of Glaucus. Patroclus also called for help from Greek heroes; Ajax came first. The battle began around Sarpedon's body. Zeus spread darkness over the body of his son, so that the battle would be even more terrible.
There was such a terrible roar of weapons, as if a crowd of woodcutters were cutting down trees in mountain forests. The corpse of Sarpedon lay covered with dust and blood, covered with arrows. Zeus did not take his eyes off the battlefield; he was considering whether to destroy Patroclus near the body of his son or let him perform even greater feats and drive the Trojans to the very walls. Zeus decided to prolong the life of Patroclus. He sent fear into Hector. He was the first to flee, followed by other soldiers. The Greeks tore off the armor from Sarpedon, and Patroclus ordered them to be taken to the ships. Then the thunderer Zeus called Apollo and ordered him to take the body of Sarpedon, wash it from dust and blood, anoint it with fragrant oil and dress it in luxurious clothes. Then the brother gods - Sleep and Death - had to take Sarpedon's body to Lycia, so that Sarpedon's brothers and friends would be buried there with great honors. Apollo fulfilled the command of Zeus.
Patroclus at this time was driving the Trojans to the city walls. He was racing towards his death. He killed many heroes. Patroclus would have taken Troy if the god Apollo, having fulfilled the command of Zeus, had not stood on the high tower of Troy. Patroclus climbed the wall three times, and Apollo repelled him three times. When Patroclus rushed against the wall for the fourth time, Apollo menacingly shouted to him:
- Step back from the wall, brave Patroclus! It is not you, but Achilles who is destined to destroy the great Troy!
Patroclus retreated; he did not dare to anger the god Apollo, who was striking far away with his golden arrows.
Only at the Scaean Gate did Hector stop his horses; he hesitated whether to attack Patroclus or order everyone to take refuge behind the walls of Troy. Then Apollo appeared to him under the guise of Hekabe’s brother and advised him to attack Patroclus in an open field. Hector listened to the advice and ordered his charioteer, Cebrion, to turn his horses. Seeing Hector on the chariot, Patroclus jumped to the ground, and, grabbing a huge stone in his right hand, and swinging a spear with his left, began to wait for his approach. When Hector was already close, Patroclus threw a stone and hit the charioteer Cebrion in the head. Like a diver throwing himself into the sea, Cebrion fell headlong from his chariot. Patroclus exclaimed with mockery:
- How quickly Kebrion dived! If it were at sea, he would get a lot of oysters by diving from the ship. There are, I see, divers among the Trojans too!
Thus exclaiming, Patroclus rushed to the body of Cebrion. Hector jumped off the chariot and entered into battle with Patroclus for the corpse of his charioteer. The bloody slaughter began again around Kebrion’s body. The Greeks and Trojans fought like the east and south winds, Eurus and Noth, in a wooded valley; Then the trees bend noisily, their branches hitting each other, and the crackling of breaking oaks, pines and spruces is heard all around. The Trojans and Greeks fought for a long time. The sun was already setting to the west. Three times Patroclus rushed at the Trojans, three times he killed nine heroes with a spear, but when he rushed at the Trojans for the fourth time, the god Apollo, dressed in great darkness, came out against him. He stood behind Patroclus and hit him on the back and shoulders. Patroclus’s eyes darkened. The god Apollo tore off the helmet from Patroclus’s head, which once shone on the head of the great Peleus, and the helmet rolled on the ground. The spear broke in the hands of Patroclus, and his heavy shield fell to the ground. Apollo unfastened the armor of Patroclus, and he, deprived of strength and unarmed, stood in front of the Trojans. But the hero Euphorbus did not dare to attack the unarmed Patroclus from the front; he struck him from behind with a spear between the shoulders and disappeared into the crowd of Trojans. Avoiding death, Patroclus began to retreat to the ranks of the Greeks. Hector saw the wounded Patroclus and struck him to death with a spear. Like a lion who, in a fight for a watering hole, kills a wild boar on the bank of a shallow stream, so Hector killed Patroclus. The son of Priam rejoiced; he killed Achilles' friend, who threatened to destroy the great Troy. Patroclus fell to the ground and, dying, said to Hector:
“Now you can be proud, Hector, of your victory.” With the help of Zeus and Apollo you won it. The gods defeated me, they stripped me of my armor. It's easy for the gods. But if twenty people like you attacked me, I would kill you all with my spear. The god Apollo and Euphorbus destroyed me, but you are the third of those who defeated me. Remember what I tell you: you don’t have long to live, and death is very close to you. Harsh fate has determined that you will fall at the hands of Achilles.
Having said this, Patroclus died. His soul quietly flew away to the kingdom of gloomy Hades, lamenting that it had left his young, strong body.
Hector shouted to the already dead man:
“Why do you foretell my death, Patroclus?” Who knows: maybe Achilles, struck down by my spear, will lose his life sooner.
Hector tore his spear from Patroclus’s body and rushed at Automedon, wanting to take possession of Achilles’ horses.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru