Alright, it's time to do a thread on Achilles, Patroclus, and pederasty.

I'm a trans mlm who studied ancient Greece in my final years of high school. This largely included areas and eras where pederasty was the norm.

Please read through the whole thing. I put effort in.

A little info on pederasty before we begin. The erastes (protector) is the older person and the eromenos (the beloved) is the younger person. The "ideal" is a 25 year old with someone below 19.

It was sexual, political, and educational.

FULL:
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/175/examining-greek-pederastic-relationships

Now, considering Achilles and Patrocles themselves.

Here's a bit of proper history. Achilles and Patroclus were both around the same age, with Achilles being the younger of the two. They grew up together and had a strong bond.

Both are consistently depicted as adults.

Now, the interesting part is that we view A & P mainly through the eyes of the historians and creatives who depicted them later on. These people were the likes of Plato, Phaedrus, and Aeschylus. These people lived far after A & P, in a time where pederasty was common practice.

Due to this, they skew the history using their current social context, much like we do now when we apply our 21st century moralities to the past.

Pederasty was most likely not common during A & P's time and, being adults, they wouldn't have even been classed as pederasty.

As you can see above, people (Plato especially) often read deep into Homer's work, exaggerated the age gap, and fetishised their relationship so that it would fit the pederasty that they so adored during that period.

(This is embellished on in the below screenshot)

When it comes down to pure facts, Achilles and Patroclus were not in the pederastic relationship dynamic that became common in later Grecian eras.

Homer's Iliad depicts them as two adults of similar age who are closely bonded. Nothing more.

SOURCE:
https://sites.psu.edu/ugrwebshowcase/2020/04/03/1-op-the-age-relationship-between-achilles-and-patroclus-in-homers-the-iliad/

People calling them paedophiles have no proof of this claim and I can attest that researchers have never found an inkling that the bullshit Classical historians spouted off about them was anything but that; bullshit.

With that, Achilles and Patroclus are probably the closest thing to a wholesome mlm couple you'll get out ancient Greece and if someone wants to call themselves Achillian, they can go ahead and do that.

Achillean*

I took a guess at how it was spelled and was incorrect.

Another correction:
Phaedrus is a book, not a person. That's a mistake. I meant to write "Plato and Aeschylus" and got carried away. Phaedrus is written by Plato.