#linking and tagging this took FOREVER | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

babyrdie · 22 days

Note

although my first request was achilles idk much about patroclus. you said he's one of your favorites so you know other ancient texts that mention him besides homer?

IT TOOK SOME TIME, BUT HERE IS YOUR PATROPEDIA!!!

Hey! Patroclus doesn't have AS MUCH lore as some other mythological characters, but there's still enough for this post to be long, so get ready! Fortunately, it's divided into topics, so it should make it easier to read with pauses.

And some details:

Since you said "ancient texts", I'm assuming non-mythological texts count and I'm going to put them here.

My focus is on Greek texts because I don't know much about non-Greek sources, but there are some non-Greek texts here.I’ill indicate which are the non-Greek ones so that no one confuses them with the Greek texts. As I'm already considering texts from the Archaic, Classical and Roman Greece, I'll consider Byzantine sources as well. So be aware that some of these texts have a considerable amount of time in between.

It's also important to say that I'm only including the ones that >>I<< know Patroclus is in, there may be others! And I'm not a classicist or anything like that, any part here that is my interpretation (it will be very obvious when it is) is...just an interpretation of an ordinary person. It is not a super historical, contextual analysis, etc. For the love of god, don't think you have to agree!

The links go to the exact points I mentioned,so it’s easier for you to check.

Check the "References" part in the end!

My English can be broken, especially in such a long text.

FAMILY

Father: Menoetius

From what I've seen, Menoetius being Patroclus' father is a constant characteristic of his character. Now, just to clarify some ideas:

"Patroclus is the son of a titan"

I've heard this one, but guys…he's not! It's just that there's a titan named Menoetius, but it's NOT the same Menoetius. Patroclus' paternal grandfather is Actor, and this titan's father is Iapetus and not Actor.

[...]And Actor's son Menoetius[...]

The Iliad, XI, 938. Translation by Robert Fagles.

Now Iapetus took to wife the neat-ankled maid Clymene, daughter of Ocean, and went up with her into one bed. And she bore him a stout-hearted son, Atlas: also she bore very glorious Menoetius [...]

Theogony, 507-510. Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White.

"Patroclus' father was an Argonaut"

That's right! There is indeed a Menoetius son of Actor from Opus among the Argonauts.

Moreover Actor sent his son Menoetius from Opus that he might accompany the chiefs

Argonautica, 69. Translation by Seaton, R. C.

"Patroclus' father is the brother of Achilles' father, Peleus"

This wasn't invented! There are fragments attributed to Hesiod, and fragment 61 is a commentary by a scholiast of Homer named Eustathius mentioning a Hesiodic tradition in which Menoetius and Peleus are brothers.

Eustathius, Hom. 112. 44 sq: It should be observed that the ancient narrative hands down the account that Patroclus was even a kinsman of Achilles; for Hesiod says that Menoethius the father of Patroclus, was a brother of Peleus, so that in that case they were first cousins.

Catalogue of Women, frag 61. Translation by Evelyn-White, H G

Mother: Sthenele, Periopis, Polymele, Democrateia, Philomela

Patroclus' mother is not a fixed tradition, her identify changes depending on the source.

Achilles was also accompanied by Patroclus, son of Menoetius and Sthenele, daughter of Acastus; or the mother of Patroclus was Periopis, daughter of Pheres, or, as Philocrates says, she was Polymele, daughter of Peleus.

Library, 3.13.8. Translation by James George Frazer.

If we consider Philocrates' version, then Patroclus' mother is Achilles' sister, which makes Achilles Patroclus' uncle. This makes me think that Philocrates probably didn't follow the Hesiodic tradition of Menoetius and Peleus being brothers, or Menoetius would be marrying his niece. But who knows, after all Arete and Alcinous in The Odyssey are married and they're niece and uncle. Or it could be another Peleus, though I have never seen that name on another character before.

Damocrateia was also attributed as his mother by a scholiast of Pindar in the Olympian Odes. And here is the moment when you expect me to post another excerpt in English, but that won't happen because I simply DIDN'T find it in English! But I found it in Greek and, activating Google Translate, the translation comes out completely messed up, but you can see that the information is really there and wasn't invented by Wikipedia! And if you use a translation website, it's less confusing to read but it's definitely not 100% accurate yet.

Anyway, it’s in poem 9 scholia. From what I understand, it’s basically telling about the nymph Aegina, daughter of the river Asopus. She first gave birth to Aeacus (son of Zeus), who is the father of Peleus and Telamon (Telamon is the father of Great Ajax and Teucer). She subsequently went to Thessaly, where she had a relationship with Actor and gave birth to Menoetius. Menoetius settled in Opus and had Patroclus with Sthenele or with Damocrateia. The part mentioning Democrateia is more specifically poem 9.106.b! In 9.104.a, it's said that Democrateia is also Aegina's daughter, so basically in this version Patroclus is a child of half-sibling incest. As Aegina is the mother of Aeacus, who is the father of Peleus, who is the father of Achilles, Achilles and Patroclus are cousins once removed.

There is also Philomela, mentioned by Homer's scholiasts in 343 and 134 (both in Greek). There was no translator that could save me, so I had to ask for help from someone who understands Greek and, apparently, the scholiasts weren’t sure whether or not she could be considered Patroclus' mother. It wasn’t really a statement like in other cases.

Sister: Myrto

There is a daughter of Menoetius and therefore sister of Patroclus named Myrto. In this version given by Plutarch, she had a daughter with Heracles named Eucleia. This makes Patroclus a kind of brother-in-law of Heracles.

Now Eucleia is regarded by most as Artemis, and is so addressed; but some say she was a daughter of Heracles and of that Myrto who was daughter of Menoetius and sister of Patroclus, and that, dying in virginity, she received divine honors among the Boeotians and Locrians. For she has an altar and an image built in every market place, and receives preliminary sacrifices from would-be brides and bridegrooms.

Aristides, 20.6. Translation by Bernadotte Perrin.

I only found this mention of her as Patroclus's sister.

Brother: Abderos

The version of Abderos, one of the characters considered between the lovers of Heracles, being the brother of Patroclus is found in Photius' Bibliotheca. This Bibliotheca is Photius giving reviews of the books he has read, so this version isn't his, but rather the person he's evaluating. In this case, he attributed this myth to Ptolemy Hephaestion's New Histories (because of a passage in the Suda, there is a theory that this Ptolemy is Ptolemy Chennus. In this case, Ptolemy Chennus is from Roman Greece. So although Photius is Byzantine, the version isn’t from Byzantine Greece). Again, Patroclus is a sort of brother-in-law of Heracles.

The centaurs who fled from Heracles through Tyrsenia perished of hunger, ensnared by the soft song of the Sirens. Abderos, who was loved by Heracles, was the brother of Patroclus [...]

Photius' Bibliotheca, 190.39. Translation by Roger Pearse.

I only found this mention of his as Patroclus's brother. And in case you read the part where I say it's a review and wondered what Photius' opinion was on Ptolemy's versions... well, he wrote “a work really useful for those who undertake to attempt erudition in history; it can, in fact, give the method to know in a short time connected elements, whereas a long life would be consumed in the effort of locating them in the books through which they are scattered. It abounds in extraordinary and badly imagined information; and the peak of absurdity is that he attempts, for certain trivial fables, to explain the reasons for their appearance.”

My take

Although the fragment attributed to Hesiod establishes Menoetius and Peleus as brothers, the other sources don’t seem to make this connection between them. Peleus 99% of the time isn’t Menoetius' brother, but Telamon's (and Phocus' half-brother by Aeacus). On the other hand, Actor appears to mostly have children with Aegina, Menoetius being one of them. So I think it's more likely that the most popular version would be that Patroclus entered Aegina's lineage as Achilles' cousin once removed, rather than first cousin. Patroclus' siblings are only mentioned in much later sources, which leads me to believe that they’re a more recent version of the myths and perhaps in older versions he was an only child or his siblings didn’t have important myths. As for Patroclus' mother, it’s impossible to deduce anything besides Philomela seems to have been the only possible mother to be cited with doubt by scholiasts.

As I can't be sure of Patroclus' most popular attributed mother (although I theorize that perhaps it could be Sthenele since she was the only one I saw mentioned in two different sources), I won't do his maternal lineage or it would take too long. But, by his father's side, Actor is apparently the son of Myrmidon and Pisidice and has a brother named Antiphus.

[...] and Pisidice had Antiphus and Actor by Myrmidon.

Library, 1.7.3. Translation by Sir James George Frazer.

However, there are surprisingly a fair amount of “Actor” in the mythology, so while being descended from Myrmidon fits in with Patroclus becoming a Myrmidon, I'm not sure if we're talking about Patroclus' Actor or someone else. Although Menoetius is king of Opus, his family doesn’t originate from Opus according to Pindar.

[...] until the ruler of Olympus carried off the daughter of Opus from the land of the Epeians, and lay with her peacefully in the glens of Mount Maenalus, and brought her to Locrus, so that age would not overtake him and lay the burden of childlessness on him. His bride was carrying in her womb the seed of the greatest god, and the hero rejoiced to see his adopted son, and gave him the same name as his mother's father, Opus, a man beyond words in beauty and fine deeds. Locrus gave him a city and a people to govern, and strangers came to him from Argos and Thebes, from Arcadia and Pisa. But among the settlers he chiefly honored the son of Actor and Aegina, Menoetius [...]

Olympian Ode 9. Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien.

PRE-TROY

As a child, Patroclus killed another boy and, as a result, was sent to Phthia, where he met Achilles. Sources we have regarding this are:

"[...] just as we grew up together in your house, after Menoetius brought me there from Opois, and only a boy, but banished for bloody murder the day I killed Amphidarnas' son. I was a fool — I never meant to kill him — quarreling over a dice game. Then the famous horseman Peleus took me into his halls, he reared me with kindness, appointed me your aide. [...]"

The Iliad, XXIII, 102-108. Translation by Robert Fagles.

[...] At Opus, in a quarrel over a game of dice, Patroclus killed the boy Clitonymus, son of Amphidamas, and flying with his father he dwelt at the house of Peleus and became a minion of Achilles.

Library, 3.13.8. Translation by Sir James George Frazer.

I haven't found any other version that explains why he met Achilles other than being exiled to Phitia, so I imagine it's constant in Patroclus myths.

Patroclus is mentioned among Helen's suitors by Pseudo-Apollodorus.

Now the kings of Greece repaired to Sparta to win the hand of Helen. The wooers were these: -- Ulysses, son of Laertes; Diomedes, son of Tydeus; Antilochus, son of Nestor; Agapenor, son of Ancaeus; Sthenelus, son of Capaneus; Amphimachus, son of Cteatus; Thalpius, son of Eurytus; Meges, son of Phyleus; Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus; Menestheus, son of Peteos; Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of Iphitus; Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes; Peneleos, son of Hippalcimus; Leitus, son of Alector; Ajax, son of Oileus; Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Ares; Elephenor, son of Chalcodon; Eumelus, son of Admetus; Polypoetes, son of Perithous; Leonteus, son of Coronus; Podalirius and Machaon, sons of Aesculapius; Philoctetes, son of Poeas; Eurypylus, son of Evaemon; Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus; Menelaus, son of Atreus; Ajax and Teucer, sons of Telamon; Patroclus, son of Menoetius.

Library, 3.10.8. Translation by Sir James George Frazer.

And by Pausanias:

At a spot called Arainus is the tomb of Las with a statue upon it. The natives say that Las was their founder and was killed by Achilles, and that Achilles put in to their country to ask the hand of Helen of Tyndareus. In point of fact it was Patroclus who killed Las, for it was he who was Helen's suitor. We need not regard it as a proof that Achilles did not ask for Helen because he is not mentioned in the Catalogue of Women as one of her suitors.

Description of Greece, 3.24.10. Translation by W.H.S. Jones.

Although Hyginus isn’t Greek, Fabulae (attributed to him) was intended to collect Greek myths and present them to a Roman audience — that's why the Latin names. So I’ll be considering it here as a source of Greek myths.

SUITORS OF HELEN: Antilochus, Ascalaphus, Ajax, son of Oileus, Amphimachus, [Ancaeus], Blanirus, Agapenor, Ajax, son of Telamon, Clytius the Cyanean, Menelaus, Patroclus, Diomedes, Peneleus, Phemius, Nireus, Polypoetes, Elephenor, Eumelus, Sthenelus, Tlepolemus, Protesilaus, Podalirius, Eurypylus, Idomeneus, Leonteus, Thalpius, Polyxenus, Prothous, Menestheus, Machaon, Thoas, Ulysses, Phidippus, Meriones, Meges, Philoctetes. Older writers mention others.

Fabulae, 81. Translation by Mary Grant.

Chronologically, Patroclus wouldn’t have been old enough to become Helen's husband (he would be at least 7/8 years old and at most just over 10). I really don't know if it's a case of myths contradicting each other in chronology or if perhaps the intention was to achieve an engagement rather than a direct marriage or even a connection (Odysseus himself was among the suitors, but focused on Tyndareus and Penelope rather than Helen). This version doesn’t seem to be a case of more isolated myth like Menoetius and Peleus being brothers. I also imagine it happened before Patroclus was sent to Phitia.

Although people consider Patroclus training at Pelion, there are no Greek sources that show him there, only Roman ones. I imagine that Patroclus' current association with Chiron is to make sense chronologically that he grew up with Achilles, since Achilles in most sources spent a considerable portion of his childhood with Chiron. In this post I exemplify this better.

As for Patroclus going to Troy, we have:

“[...] And your fathers filled your ears with marching orders. The old horseman Peleus urging his son Achilles, 'Now always be the best, my boy, the bravest, and hold your head up high above the others: And Actor's son Menoetius urging you, 'My child, Achilles is nobler than you with his immortal blood but you are older. He has more power than you, by far, but give him sound advice, guide him, even in battle. Achilles will listen to you-for his own good: So the old man told you. You've forgotten. [...]”

The Iliad, XI, 934-943. Translation by Robert Fagles.

Here it seems that the reason, or at least the main reason, Patroclus was in Troy is because Peleus wanted him to be with Achilles.

[...] And in that way Achilles went to Troy. [...] Achilles was also accompanied by Patroclus, son of Menoetius [...]

Library, 3.13.8. Translation by J. G. Frazer.

Once again it appears that Patroclus went to Troy as Achilles' companion.

He’s usually described as going to Troy accompanying Achilles. The character of Patroclus actually seems strongly linked to going to Troy, since in some versions he’s one of the suitors and therefore took the oath. And even if we consider authors who didn’t mention Oath of Tyndareus, Patroclus follows Achilles. It's as if there was an effort to avoid the possibility of Patroclus not having gone to Troy, which makes sense because his character is essential to the development of the tenth year of war. Bro was reaaaaaally doomed by narrative lol

PERSONALITY, ROLE AND CHARACTER

Note: most of the things I wrote are more on the objective side, but this is the most subjective part of the post. So, of course, it's perfectly possible for you to disagree.

The uncommon “gentle” epithet

Patroclus was portrayed as gentle by Homer. He may not be what we see as "gentle" today because a soldier isn't exactly the picture of gentleness in modern times, but by the standards of the time and even among Homeric characters, Patroclus was considered gentle. It isn't a modern invention, as some people think.

When Menelaus announces the death of Patroclus, this is how he describes him:

[...] So here Menelaus paused with much to command Meriones and the Aeantes: "Ajax and Ajax, captains of Achaea, Meriones too, remember Patroclus now, our stricken comrade! That gentle man, the soul of kindness to all while the man was still alive... Now death and fate have got him in their grip."

The Iliad, XVII, 751-757. Translation by Robert Fagles.

When thinking about the fate of mortals, this is how Zeus describes Patroclus:

Now, when Zeus who arrays the clouds saw Hector from afar, strapping on the gear of Peleus' godlike son, he shook his head and addressed his own deep heart: "Poor soldier. Never a thought of death weighs down your spirit now, yet death is right beside you ... You don the deathless arms of a great fighterand all other fighters tremble before him, true, but you, you killed his comrade, gentle, strong, and against all rights you ripped the immortal armor off his head and shoulders. So great power for the moment I will grant you to compensate for all that is to come: never again will you return from battle, Hector, nor will Andromache take that famous armor. Achilles' deathless armor, from your hands."

The Iliad, XVII, 227-239.

When mourning the death of Patroclus, Briseis said:

[...] So now I mourn your death — I will never stop — you were always kind."

The Iliad, XIX, 355.

One of Priam's sons, Lycaon, when begging to be spared by Achilles appeals to the memory of Patroclus and describes him thus:

[...] Listen, this too-take it to heart, I beg you don't kill me! I'm not from the same womb as Hector, Hector who killed your friend, your strong, gentle friend!"

The Iliad, XXI, 107-109.

Note: In The Iliad, it's said that this Lycaon had been defeated before, but wasn't killed by Achilles because he was sold. In frag 1 of Cypria, it's said that Patroclus was the one who sold Lycaon in Lemnos. If we consider the possibility that it was the same in the Homeric tradition, it makes even more sense that Lycaon tried this strategy.

And Achilles:

"[...] But I and our fast stallions will not race today, so strong his fame, the charioteer they've lost, so kind — always washing them down with fresh water, sleeking their long manes with smooth olive oil. [...]"

The Iliad, XXIII, 320-322.

Besides Achilles, Menelaus, Trojans (Briseis and Lycaon) and a god (Zeus) related Patroclus to kindness.

In The Iliad, the heroes generally have epithets that refer to:

Their appearance (ex: Menelaus with “xanthus/blonde/red-haired” and Ajax with “giant/gigantic”)

Their abilities (ex: Achilles with “swift-footed” as an example of physical ability and Odysseus with “tactician” as an example of intellectual ability)

Their role (ex: Agamemnon with "lord of men/shepherd of people" because he’s the leader of the Achaean army)

Their ancestrality (ex: Diomedes with "Tydeus' son")

They’re all epithets that somehow magnify them in war. They're big, they're fast, they have an important lineage, they play a big role. Patroclus has epithets like these too. He is "dear to Zeus", he is "Menoetius' son", he is "great-hearted". And yet he’s the only one who has the epithet "gentle". Everyone who receives personality-related epithets still receives warrior or strategic/wisdom epithets, but Patroclus also receives “gentle”.

Homer intentionally emphasized this characteristic of Patroclus and never treated it as a weakness, but rather as a quality. Gentle or kind only appears describing Patroclus after his death, as if these two things were linked (Menelaus and Briseis feel affected by Patroclus' death because he was kind to them, Zeus talks about how Hector is destined to die for having killed Patroclus while associating Patroclus with kindness and strength, Lycaon tries to win Achilles' mercy by remembering that Patroclus was kind, Achilles speaks of his horses' grief at losing a kind charioteer). The preserved memory of Patroclus by those who mourn or speak of his death is not just his strength or his courage, but his gentleness. This makes me think that the choice to make Patroclus the only hero to receive this type of epithet is precisely to aggravate the tragedy of his destiny — Achilles was the most affected, but he wasn’t the only one to mourn between the characters and even the listener/reader.

Impact of Patroclus' death and his relationships

Although there is the joke of Menelaus and Ajax recovering Patroclus' body for Achilles' sake (because of Menelaus' lines in XVII, 100-120, mainly "and haul the body back to Achilles — somehow. Things are bad, but that would be the best"), Menelaus actually demonstrated a strong protective reaction toward Patroclus' body before he thought of Achilles.

But Atreus' son the fighting Menelaus marked it all— the Trojans killing Patroclus there in the brutal carnage— and crested now in his gleaming bronze gear Atrides plowed through the front to stand astride the body, braced like a mother cow lowing over a calf, her first-born, first labor-pangs she'd felt. So the red-haired captain bestrode Patroclus now, shielding his corpse with spear and round buckler, burning to kill off any man who met him face-to-face. But Euphorbus who hurled the lethal ashen spear would not neglect his kill, Patroclus' handsome body,

The Iliad, XVII, 1-11.

Menelaus even fears that he would be left behind and die, but he still doesn’t abandon Patroclus and gets help. The Trojans' plan was to recover Patroclus' body and give it to Hector, who wished to depreciate his body by feeding it to dogs. If this happened, Patroclus wouldn’t have a dignified burial, something that is already important in modern culture, but in this specific context it would also prevent Patroclus from having adequate rest after death. Ensuring proper burial was VERY important, which is why it's impactful when one character tries to stop another from having it (like Hector wanted to stop Patroclus’ burial, Clytemnestra wanted to stop Agamemnon and Cassandra’s, and Achilles almost stopped Hector’s. In the Odyssey, there's even a story precisely about Odysseus having to ensure that one of his companions is buried when they’re on Circe's island). That's why the Achaeans were so determined to recover the body.

Menelaus being the one who first protected Patroclus' body and one of those who tried the hardest to do so actually draws my attention to the detail that Menelaus and Patroclus are relatively similar characters in Homeric tradition:

Both are related to a more well-known and powerful figure (Achilles and Agamemnon)

Both were avenged by this figure (Achilles with Hector's death, Agamemnon by helping to recover Helen)

Both are portrayed as gentle and calm people compared to the other characters (I'm already talking about Patroclus here, but Menelaus even wants to spare a Trojan if it weren't for Agamemnon intervening and easily forgives Antilochus' fraud in the competition. In The Odyssey, Menelaus is depicted as an ideal host. It really seems like Menelaus only becomes angry and violent towards Paris, but it makes sense)

Both are the characters that receive the most uses of apostrophes (I’ill elaborate on this later)

Automedon at first doesn’t have time to mourn, after all he’s fighting for his life, but he’s also grieving.

[...] Automedon fought as he rode, though grieving for his friend, swooping in with the team like a vulture after geese. [...]

The Iliad, XVII, 529-530.

In Automedon's case, he has problems because Xanthus and Balius (Achilles' immortal horses) don't want to move because they’re depressed about Patroclus' death. Automedonte even says that the only person who could truly control the horses was Patroclus, but now he’s dead and cannot help. Patroclus' absence is then immediately felt by Automedon, who like him had to deal with Achilles' horses and will have to do it alone.

When Menelaus asks Antilochus to give the message to Achilles, this is the description of Antilochus' reaction:

Antilochus listened closely, hating every word. He stood there speechless a while, struck dumb... tears filling his eyes, his strong voice choked. But he still would not neglect Atrides' order. So handing his gear to a loyal aide Laodocus, who maneuvered his pawing horses close by, he set oft'at a run

The Iliad, XVII, 782-788.

And when Antilochus tells Achilles, he keeps crying.

As such fears went churning through his mind the warlord Nestor's son drew near him now, streaming warm tears, to give the dreaded message: "Ah son of royal Peleus. what you must hear from me! What painful news-would to god it had never happened! Patroclus has fallen. They're fighting over his corpse. He's stripped, naked-Hector with that flashing helmet. Hector has your arms!

The Iliad, XVIII, 16-23.

Antilochus kneeling near, weeping uncontrollably, clutched Achilles' hands as he wept his proud heart out for fear he would slash his throat with an iron blade.

The Iliad, XVIII, 36-38.

Antilochus's strong reaction to Patroclus' death, the way he knows Achilles well enough to fear that he will hurt himself as an initial shock reaction, and the fact that in the Odyssey and later myths Antilochus becomes Achilles' second closest companion after Patroclus' death makes me think that Antilochus was actually one of Patroclus' closest comrades. Antilochus is also one of the youngest in the army (a characteristic emphasized by Menelaus in the Book of Patroclus' Funerary Games), so he was probably closer to the age of Achilles and Patroclus.

Although Achilles' anger was well known, this wasn’t his first reaction to Patroclus' death. In Book XVIII we see how he throws sand at himself, pulls his hair and Automedon even holds his hands because he is afraid he will cut himself. The initial impact of Patroclus' death on Achilles wasn’t to make him want to hurt/kill someone, but rather to want to hurt/kill himself. And even after Thetis guarantees that she will bring an armor for Achilles to go to battle to avenge (because his is with Hector, who took it from Patroclus), in the meantime between that and him actually receiving the armor Achilles is absolutely depressed. He doesn't even eat, meaning he actually chooses to hurt himself. After receiving the armor from Thetis, he enters the most violent stage and at the end of The Iliad he slowly begins to recover.

Even Briseis and other women mourn Patroclus' death: And so Brisets returned, like golden Aphrodite, but when she saw Patroclus lying tom by the bronze she flung herself on his body, gave a piercing cry and with both hands clawing deep at her breasts, her soft throat and lovely face, she sobbed, a woman like a goddess in her grief, "Patroclus— dearest joy of my heart, my harrowed, broken heart! I left you alive that day I left these shelters, now I come back to find you fallen, captain of armies! So grief gives way to grief, my life one endless sorrow! The husband to whom my father and noble mother gave me, I saw him tom by the sharp bronze before our city,— and my three brothers-a single mother bore us: my brothers, how I loved you!- you all went down to death on the same day... But you, Patroclus, you would not let me weep, not when the swift Achilles cut my husband down, not when he plundered the lordly Mynes' city not even weep! No, again and again you vowed you'd make me godlike Achilles' lawful. wedded wife, you would sail me west in your warships, home to Phthia and there with the Myrmidons hold my marriage feast. So now I mourn your death — I will never stop — you were always kind." Her voice rang out in tears and the women wailed in answer, grief for Patroclus calling forth each woman's private sorrows.

The Iliad, XIX, 333-358.

Other members of the army are also mentioned lamenting. But, in addition to the emotional impact on people, there is the impact on destiny. Patroclus' death was a way to accelerate the fall of Troy. Only when Patroclus dies does Hector die, and only in Hector's death does Troy come close to falling.

Patroclus’ apostrophes

The characterization of Patroclus as someone who was mourned by everyone and who has "gentle" as a characteristic epithet after his death are not the only resources used to accentuate the tragedy of his death. Homer's repeated use of apostrophes with Patroclus is also significant, as this is intended to evoke sympathy in the reader/listener.

Apostrophe in Greek literally means ‘turning away’ (i.e. from the person who has continuously been addressed up till the moment of the apostrophe); the most common Latin translation is aversio. The term is mostly used, in ancient as in modern literary criticism, to indicate ‘the address to someone not present in the default dialogic scheme’, that is to say a (ﬁctional or intradiegetical) character, a third person, a god, an inanimate object or a personiﬁed abstraction. It may occur in narrative poetry, lyric poetry and all kinds of prose and oratory. The effect of apostrophe, as analyzed in modern theory, is that the dialogue (which in forensic oratory takes place between the speaker and the judges, in poetry between the narrator and the narratees) is ostensibly sidetracked. However, in reality the narrator continues to address the narratees, and so directs their emotions by emphatically voicing his own feelings.

Credits for the definition to this article written by Jacqueline J . H . Klooster because, honestly, I wouldn't know how to explain it without messing up.

In The Iliad, the two characters in which this resource is most used are Patroclus (8 times, all in Book XVI, moment of his aristeia. Aristeia is basically a type of moment in which the character reaches their peak, in which they prove themselves to be an aristo, that is, the best) and Menelaus (7 times, but spread throughout the Books), curiously the characters that I think are most sensitive and sympathetic among the Achaeans. You're supposed to care about Patroclus, so his death will have more impact. You’re supposed to sympathize with Menelaus' situation. In the case of Patroclus, the apostrophes applied to him begin even before he enters battle and gradually increase until the moment of his death, as if they were alerting the reader/listener and leading him to absorb how ironically tragic the development of his aristeia is.

There is more to analyze about this, but it would make this already immense post even longer. I searched to see if anyone had written anything online about this and I found this great article on this topic written by Emily Allen-Hornblower. I recommend checking it out!

Patroclus is a character who does a lot for others, even narratively speaking. He does activities for Achilles like cooking, he tries to live up to the expectations of being Achilles' wise guide, he tries to reassure Briseis, he takes care of the animals, he’s open to listening to what the Achaeans have to say, he’s the one who inspires courage in the worst moment and his death is one of the main events that caused the fall of Troy.

Update 05/05/2024: paragraph below has been slightly edited

In fact, there's more to talk about his character that I haven't covered here. For example, I didn't develop Patroclus' association with wisdom, something also linked to his age. Nor did I enter into scholars' interpretation of Patroclus as a kind of Achilles' double. That is, interpretations about how the funeral that Achilles gives for Patroclus is related to the death of Achilles himself or interpretations of how, by wearing Achilles' armor, Patroclus embodies him during his aristeia and that is why his more restrained person is suddenly more arrogant and confident (I mean dude was saying REALLY sharp words during Book XVI lol) and he even wanted to mutilate Saperdon. But it's just that writing these interpretations here would make the post infinite. At least the articles I mention in this post also address this Achilles’ double aspect (although it isn’t necessarily the main topic of the articles), but the wisdom part will be lacking.

And as a bonus, I'll talk about how Patroclus is introduced by Philoctetes. In Sophocles' play "Philoctetes", the Achaeans have to return to the island where they abandoned Philoctetes because Helenus prophesied that Philoctetes and his bow (previously belonging to Heracles) would be needed to win the war. Odysseus takes Neoptolemus along and when Philoctetes asks for updates on the war that has been going on for 10 years, he asks about Patroclus referring to him as the one Achilles loved most.

[...] PHILOCTETES: Now, for the gods' sake, what of Patroclus? On that occasion where was he? Tell me. Your father loved him more than anyone. NEOPTOLEMUS: He was also dead. I can tell you why in one brief saying — given the choice, war takes no evil men. It always wants to seize the good ones. [...]

Philoctetes, 420. Translation by Ian Johnston.

A curious line, considering that Philoctetes didn't spend much time with Achilles as he was abandoned before they reached Troy. Either Achilles' favoritism towards Patroclus was extremely obvious or Philoctetes is very observant or both. Interestingly, he gives different characteristics to the other characters. Philoctetes remembers how Nestor is a good advisor, how Tersites was inconvenient, he associates Diomedes and Odysseus with something negative, when talking about Ajax the size of Ajax is there, he says that Achilles was noble...but with Patroclus, the most memorable characteristic for Philoctetes is that he was very loved by someone. The characterization of Patroclus as someone whose importance is linked to being loved isn’t modern, contrary to what some people think (note that when I say "loved" I mean in general. It doesn't matter if we are talking about the context of romance, friendship or family).

PATROCLUS AND CLEOPATRA

Patroclus (Patroklos Πάτροκλος) is the combination of “father” (patḗr πατήρ) + “glory” (kleos κλέος), meaning “glory of his father”.[1] A father or mother giving their child that name isn’t strange, however there is one more detail: the feminine of Patroclus is Cleopatra (Kleopatra Κλεοπάτρη), which is the junction of “glory” (kleos κλέος) + “father” (patḗr πατήρ).[2] Another way to write this name is Κλεοπάτρα.[3] Anyway, Cleopatra is the name of Meleager's wife.

[...] την ώρια Κλεοπάτρα, της σφιχτοστήθως Μάρπησσας την κόρη και του Νίδα. [...]

The Iliad, Raphsody Ι (Book XIX), 556-557. Translation by Alexandros Palles. See here.

This strengthens the parallel between Patroclus and Cleopatra, and between Achilles and Meleager comparing the plot of The Iliad and the story told by Phoenix in Book IX. In both cases:

Heroes came together for a common, divinely motivated cause (Trojan War motivated by several gods and goddesses and Calydonian Boar motivated by Artemis);

The people in general have incredible abilities as a whole, but one stands out (Achilles for several feats and Meleager because he killed the boar)

A deity feels insulted by a king and therefore sends punishment (Apollo for the treatment given to his priest by Agamemnon and Artemis for being forgotten by Oeneus)

The prominent hero interferes to stop the divine punishment from continuing (Achilles by encouraging Calchas to speak the truth and Meleager by killing the boar)

After the solution was given, a conflict began (Agamemnon took Briseis and there was a war for possession of the boar's skin and hide)

The prominent hero retreats from the fight (Achilles after being dishonored by Agamemnon and Meleagrus angered by his mother Althaea)

The hero then spends time with his closest companion (Achilles in his tent with Patroclus and Meleagrus with his wife Cleopatra)

People start to have problems with the hero's refusal to fight (the Trojans advance and so do the Curetes)

People try to make the hero return and fail (Achilles with Odysseus, Phoenix, Ajax and Meleager with Aetolian)

His closest companion then begs the hero to return (Patroclus with Achilles and Cleopatra with Meleager)

As if, as Cleopatra did with Meleager, Patroclus accompanied Achilles in his decision and spent his days caring for him and having fun with him (it is mentioned that Achilles was playing for Patroclus when Odysseus, Phoenix and Ajax arrive. Cleopatra is mentioned that Meleager was lying with his wife), but also like her Patroclus felt worry and despair and equally like Cleopatra Patroclus believed that, although no one had convinced Achilles, he alone could convince him. The difference begins when Meleager hears Cleopatra's plea and returns to battle, although he doesn’t receive any reward because the Aetolians no longer think so highly of him. On the other hand, Achilles doesn't listen to Patroclus.

Patroclus was present during this conversation and even cooked for them, so he certainly heard Phoenix's story. This makes me wonder if this story just served as a parallel or if it was a further construction of Phoenix and Patroclus' characters. Nestor, known to be wise, seemed to believe that Patroclus had a chance of changing Achilles' mind, so I don't see why Phoenix couldn't have thought the same. Perhaps part of the reason Phoenix chose this story wasn’t only to tell Achilles that he might end up regretting his choice, but also to indirectly try to get Patroclus to react like Cleopatra did. Nestor, when trying to get Patroclus to talk to Achilles, reinforces how Peleus trusted Patroclus to guide Achilles. It really seems like the other characters were purposely trying to get Achilles back through Patroclus. The Acheans did get Achilles back through Patroclus, but unfortunately not through his words but through his death.

This is a specific interpretation of the Homeric tradition. It isn’t possible to know whether this play with names and parallels with Patroclus and Cleopatra already existed in oral traditions before Homer.

About Patroclus begging Achilles to return, there is even an post-homeric ancient source in which Achilles yields!

[...] Meanwhile Phoenix and Patroclus were standing around Achilles in the position of suppliants, taking hold of his knees and, without restraint, kissing his hands and face, begging him to give up his wrath and return to his place of honor. Do this, they said, not so much for these representatives but, as is right, for all of the army. Finally Achilles yielded. He would do what they wanted. The sight of the representatives, the prayers of his closest friends, and the realization that the army was not to blame made him change his mind. Then for the first time after his wrath, at the suggestion of Ajax, Achilles went to a meeting of the council. Agamemnon greeted him in a royal manner, and the other leaders were happy to welcome him back. On every side there was joy, unbounded joy. And then Agamemnon, taking Achilles by the hand, led him off, along with the other leaders, to dinner. A little later, during the dinner, when they were enjoying themselves, Agamemnon commanded Patroclus to take Hippodamia to Achilles’ hut, and also the jewelry he had given to her. This was an order Patroclus was glad to obey. During this winter, Greeks and Trojans mingled in the grove of the Thymbraean Apollo.17 They went freely, whether singly or in groups, without any fear of each other.

Dictys Cretensis, Book II. Translation by R.M Frazer.

Dictys Cretensis was believed to be a story from the Latin tradition, but it was discovered to have a Greek original and to be, in fact, a Greek source translated into Latin. The authorship or time of the Greek original isn’t yet certain, but it’s theorized that it’s a late source compared to the others sources. It’s interesting to mention, however, that the format of this text is a first-hand account by Dictys and at one point in Book I he even uses Odysseus as a source (who isn’t known for being super sincere), so I particularly wouldn't rule out the possibility of this narrative being purposefully biased. And I'm not talking about this part that I mentioned here, but Dictys Cretensis in general.

ANIMALS, FUNERAL AND POST-DEATH

Note: this part is considerably composed of theory (not entirely). So remember that theory is theory, it isn’t certain.

Yes, that's a curious title. In my defense, my intention was to do an “Animals” topic and a “Funeral and Post-Death” topic, but then the two topics got mixed up more than planned and I had to combine the topics. So here we are with this peculiar title.

Dogs

Okay, now seriously…Patroclus had nine dogs. I know it's kind of a silly detail, but that's precisely why this part gets me so much. When you read The Iliad, everything seems to be there for a reason and everyone has this aura, you know? And then we have to…apparently Patroclus spent his free time in Troy collecting dogs to look after? It's so mundane that it's unexpected. And then Achilles goes and sacrifices two of them. And I wondered if it was really so random that these dogs were there.

[...] And the dead lord Patroclus had fed nine dogs at table-he slit the throats of two, threw them onto the pyre and then a dozen brave sons of the proud Trojans he hacked to pieces with his bronze…

The Iliad, XVIII, 198-201. Translation by Robert Fagles.

I thought that if the dogs weren't just any detail, it could be another attempt to direct sympathy towards Patroclus. I couldn't be satisfied with this explanation, because Homer had already used the characterization of Patroclus' personality, the repeated use of apostrophes, and the other characters' reactions to do this, it's not like he needed to use dogs. But then I thought…what if someone already said something about this? This story has been here for years, long before I even existed, so I'm DEFINITELY not the only person who finds these dogs strange.

I did some research and in fact someone already mentioned it. The author compares the funeral rites of Patroclus, Hector and Achilles and then defines a possible Homeric formula for funerals based on this, then explains why among the three that of Patroclus isn’t a typical Homeric ritual but an exception. She believes that the sacrifices made by Achilles at Patroclus' funeral (four horses, two dogs, twelve Trojans) aren’t meant to be seen as common in a Homeric context as some scholars say and that also says more than just Achilles being very angry or something like this. The text is very long, going as far as analyzing Hittite rituals and words in the original Greek, so there is no way to summarize the argument. I'm just going to post the concluding opinion section and, if you want to see the rest, go read it.

As for the dog sacrifice, Krick suggests an ingenious interpretation “that the dog is the ritual representative of the mythic dog Saramā, who will then function as a leader for the horse to the land of the dead.” Krick’s reading may help to illuminate the role of the table dogs at Patroclus’ funeral. The dog sacrifice in tandem with the horse sacrifice that occurs during the funeral of Patroclus bring into sharper relief comparisons with the aśvamedha ritual. Yet the dogs in the funeral are sacrificed in a manner more similar to that of the Hittite severing rituals, though it is not explicitly clear that the puppies in the Hittite ritual are decapitated like Patroclus’ table dogs. In both the Hittite and Sanskrit rituals dogs are used as a method of purification. While it is possible that purification may have been an underlying motivation for the dogs sacrificed at Patroclus’ funeral, the potential recipient of the purification is quite ambiguous. I argue then that it is more probable that the table dogs sacrificed during the funeral of Patroclus are symbolic representatives of the dog of the underworld, meant to lead their master, Patroclus, to the land of the dead. The inclusion of dog sacrifice in addition to horse sacrifice in Patroclus’ funeral strengthen the resemblance to the aśvamedha. Anthony reasons that “Pre-Greek and Pre-Indo-Iranian almost certainly were neighboring Indo-European dialects, spoken near enough to each other that words related to warfare and ritual… were shared.” Perhaps the funerary sacrifice of dogs and horses was another early shared innovation.

Pag 33-34 of this article.

Horses

Dogs aren’t the only animals related to Patroclus, but horses too. Ptolomy even goes so far as to attribute this characteristic of Patroclus to him having been loved by Poseidon and having learned to ride directly from him, the god who created horses. Although this version is something that I only found in one source, Patroclus' connection with horses was already present in The Iliad. To begin with, Patroclus is sometimes referred to as “master horseman”:

[...] She was up in flames at once. engulfed in quenchless fire, in a flash the blaze went swirling round the stem and Achilles slapped his thighs and urged Patroclus, "To arms-Patroclus, prince and master horseman! I can see the blaze go roaring up the ships. They must not destroy them. No escape-route then. Quick, strap on my gear-I'll rouse the troops,"

The Iliad, XVI, 149-155.

[...] 'Now don't come back to the hollow ships. you hear?— Patroclus, master horseman— not till you've slashed the shirt around his chest and soaked it red in the blood of man-killing Hector!' So he must have commanded — you maniac, you obeyed."

The Iliad, XVI, 980-983.

During his aristeia, as Patroclus is using Achilles' resources (with the exception of the spear, as only Achilles can lift it), he also uses the immortal horses Xanthus (Roan Beauty) and Balius (Dapple).

Now the war-team. Patroclus ordered Automedon to yoke them quickly— a man he honored next to Achilles breaker of men, always firmest in battle, nerved to wait the call. So at his command Autornedon yoked the horses, the rapid stallions Roan Beauty and Dapple, the team that raced the gales, magnificent team the storm-wind filly Lightfoot foaled for the West Wind, 180 grazing the lush green grass along the Ocean's tides. And into the traces he ran the purebred Bold Dancer— Achilles seized him once when he stormed Eetion's city, a mortal war-horse pacing immortal horses now

The Iliad, XVI, 174-184.

These horses aren’t ordinary horses, but immortal horses — the immortal sons of a harpy and the god Zephyrus. They were a divine gift to Peleus, who subsequently gave them to Achilles, who then loaned them to Patroclus. This makes them great horses, but it's also not like it's easy to command animals with such speed, and yet Patroclus does it. Automedon even declares Patroclus was the only one capable of fully controlling Xanthus and Balius.

Diores' son Automedon shouted back, "Alcimedon! What other Achaean driver could match your skill at curbing this deathless team or spurring on their fury? Only Patroclus. skilled as the gods themselves while the man was still alive— now death and fate have got him in their grip. On with it! Take up the whip and shining reins. I'll dismount the car and fight on foot."

The Iliad, XVII, 544-551.

Another characteristic that differentiates them from common animals is their consciousness, shown in how they cry at Patroclus' death and miss him. Zeus has to comfort them so they can run again.

So they would say, fueling. comrades' courage. And so they fought and the iron din went rising up to the bronze sky through the barren breathless air. But standing clear of the fray Achilles' horses wept from the time they first had sensed their driver's death, brought down in the dust by man-killing Hector. Diores' rugged son Automedon did his best. lashed them over and over with stinging whip— coaxing them gently now, now shouting oath on oath. But both balked at returning now to the ships moored at the Hellespont's far-reaching shore or galloping back to fight beside the Argives. Staunch as a pillar planted tall above a barrow, standing sentry over some lord or lady's grave-site, so they stood, holding the blazoned chariot stock-still, their heads trailing along the ground, warm tears flowing down from their eyes to wet the earth... the horses mourned, longing now for their driver, their luxurious manes soiled, streaming down from the yoke-pads, down along the yoke.

The Iliad, XVII, 490-508.

At Patroclus' funeral, Achilles describes how Patroclus used to take good care of Xanthus and Balius and warns that the horses will not be used in the Funeral Games as they’re so depressed that they refuse to move.

“[...] You know how my team outstrips all others' speed. Immortal horses they are, Poseidon gave them himself to my father Peleus, Peleus passed them on to me. But I and our fast stallions will not race today, so strong his fame, the charioteer they've lost, so kind — always washing them down with fresh water, sleeking their long manes with smooth olive oil. No wonder they stand here, mourning... look, trailing those very manes along the ground. They both refuse to move, saddled down with grief. But all the rest of you, come, all Achaeans in camp who trust to your teams and bolted chariots— take your places now!"

The Iliad, XXIII, 317- 329.

Just as two of Patroclus' nine dogs were sacrificed, Achilles also sacrificed four horses. Returning to the thesis I mentioned previously about sacrificed dogs, Aubrey A. Cumt (the author) also considers the sacrifice of horses unusual for a Homeric funeral. She also doesn't think it's just a narrative device to indicate Achilles' violence or anything like that. However, she says that there are a Hittite source that demonstrate the existence of horse sacrifices in Hittite societies (interestingly, Troy nowadays is theorized to have some Hittite heritage). She also argues that in The Iliad the Trojans are strongly associated with horses and that this animal was a type of wealth, even more so depending on the breed. Although The Iliad is unclear which horses Achilles sacrificed, Aubrey theorizes that they were likely conquered Trojan horses. Then she concludes:

In this way, the horse sacrifice that occurs at the funeral of Patroclus can be understood in a new light. Rather than representing solely an irregular practice, emblematic of Achilles’ violence, the sacrifice can be interpreted as an intentional ritual action, both metonymically representative of the destruction of Troy, but also as possibly triggering far earlier Indo-European cultural and linguistic associations with power and kingship for Achilles, the principal hero of the Iliad.

Pag 26 of this article.

Human sacrifice

And now we stop the animal part of the topic and just focus on death. I’ill proceed by summarizing Aubrey's thesis, but this time her theory regarding the twelve sacrificed Trojans. Human sacrifices existed in Ancient Greece, but they weren’t common, despiste how abundant they were in Greek mythology. And yet, even when human sacrifices occur in Greek mythology, there is a narrative reason. It’s generally associated with divine/prophetic inspiration (Andromeda, Iphigenia, Hesione, Megareus...) and even considering Polyxena (her sacrifice isn’t divinely motivated), it’s easy to know why specifically Polyxena. In the case of the Trojans whom Achilles adds to Patroclus' pyre, the sacrifice not only doesn’t follow the Homeric formula for funerals but is also unusual as a whole.

Just as people have theorized about the dogs and horses, there is the theory that this could simply be a narrative device to show how disturbed Achilles was beyond usual at the time. He had already taken longer than usual to bury Patroclus and broke social rules by doing what he did with Hector's corpse (in fact, in this part of the funeral he even wants to feed Hector to the dogs, as Hector wanted to do with Patroclus. But this doesn’t happen because Hector's body is divinely protected). So the theory that it was another clue as to how on edge Achilles was exists.

For Aubrey, the verbs used in the Greek text added to the different way in which Achilles makes these sacrifices compared to the others (he slaughters Trojans with bronze) gives connotations that are more militaristic than ritualistic (typical of a sacrifice scene). She also argues that they were most likely young Trojan soldiers, considering the interpretation of the Greek text. Aubrey emphasizes the violence of this attitude as well, demonstrated even in the text when it’s says “and he contrived evil works in his mind (κακὰ δὲ φρεσὶ μήδετο ἔργα)". She then concludes that this particular sacrifice is intended to reinforce power.

Given the inclusion of horse sacrifice in Patroclus’ funeral, the human sacrifice of the Trojan youths may then be interpreted as an extension and elevation of the associations to kingship and power. Certainly, in light of Puhvel’s Victimal Hierarchy, Patroclus’ funerary sacrifices as a whole can be construed as a gradation of sacrifices, increasing in significance from dogs to horses and finally to humans.

Pag 42 of this article.

Ghost

Another difference in Patroclus's funeral ritual is the way his bones aren’t cremated, but rather reserved with fat. But this is already explained by Homer: the ghost of Patroclus appeared to Achilles and asked him to mix their ashes, thus guaranteeing that they would continue together in death as they were united in life.

And you too, your fate awaits you too, godlike as you are, Achilles— to die in battle beneath the proud rich Trojans' walls! But one thing more. A last request — grant it. please. Never bury my bones apart from yours, Achilles, let them lie together... just as we grew up together in your house, after Menoetius brought me there from Opois, and only a boy, but banished for bloody murder the day I killed Amphidarnas' son. I was a fool— I never meant to kill him — quarreling over a dice game. Then the famous horseman Peleus took me into his halls, he reared me with kindness, appointed me your aide. So now let a single urn, the gold two-handled urn your noble mother gave you, hold our bones — together!"

The Iliad, XXVIII, 97-110.

We know that this wish came true.

“[...] But after the flame of Hephaistos had consumed you utterly, then at dawn we gathered your white bones, Achilleus, together with unmixed wine and unguents. Your mother gave you a golden jar with handles. She said that it was a present from Dionysos, and was the work of renowned Hephaistos. In this your white bones are laid away, O shining Achilleus, mixed with the bones of the dead Patroklos, son of Menoitios, and apart from those of Antilochos, whom you prized above all the rest of your companions after the death of Patroklos. [...]”

The Odyssey, XXIV, 71-79. Translation by Richmond Lattimore.

The scene of Patroclus' ghost serves as an explanation for them having his ashes mixed together, but it also opened up more debate. However, I don't even dare try to summarize another theory because there is still much more to be written in this post, so instead I’ll present this article by Menelaos Christopoulos if you’re interested.

Postmortem

The death of Achilles filled the army with dismay, and they buried him with Patroclus in the White Isle, mixing the bones of the two together. [...]

Library, E.5.5. Translation by J. G. Frazer.

[...] White Island, where, he used to declare, he saw Achilles, as well as Ajax the son of Oileus and Ajax the son of Telamon. With them, he said, were Patroclus and Antilochus; Helen was wedded to Achilles [...]

Description of Greece, 3.19.13. Translation by W.H.S. Jones.

[...] whereas Achilles, son of Thetis, they honored and sent to his place in the Isles of the Blest, because having learnt from his mother that he would die as surely as he slew Hector, but if he slew him not, would return home and end his days an aged man, he bravely chose to go and rescue his lover Patroclus, avenged him, and sought death not merely in his behalf but in haste to be joined with him whom death had taken. For this the gods so highly admired him that they gave him distinguished honor, since he set so great a value on his lover.

Symposium, 179e-180a. Translation by Harold N. Fowler.

SKILLS AND FEATS

I'll leave battle skills for later, so let's start with the other skills!

Patroclus has knowledge of healing, as Achilles taught him what he learned from Chiron:

"[…] And spread the soothing, healing salves across it, the powerful drugs they say you learned from Achilles and Chiron the most humane of Centaurs taught your friend. […]"

The Iliad, XI, 992-994.

He’s an excellent horseman, even capable of controlling Xanthus and Balius:

The Iliad, XVII, 544-551.

And he knows how to cook:

He paused. Patroclus obeyed his great friend, who put down a heavy chopping block in the firelight and across it laid a sheep's chine, a fat goat's and the long back cut of a full-grown pig, marbled with lard. Automedon held the meats while lordly Achilles carved them into quarters. cut them well into pieces. pierced them with spits and Patroclus raked the hearth, a man like a god making the fire blaze. Once it had burned down and the flames died away, he scattered the coals and stretching the spitted meats across the embers, raised them onto supports and sprinkled clean pure salt. As soon as the roasts were done and spread on platters, Patroclus brought the bread, set it out on the board in ample wicker baskets. Achilles served the meat.

The Iliad, IX, 246-260.

In Book XVI, Patroclus's named deaths are:

(I'm using Robert Fagles' translation as references for the localizations in parentheses)

Pyraechmes (337)

Areilycus (362)

Pronous (474)

Thestor (477)

Erylaus (490)

Amphotereus (495)

Erymas (495)

Epaltes (495)

Tlepolemus (496)

Echius (496)

Pyris (496)

Ipheus (497)

Euippus (497)

Polymelus (497)

Thrasymelus (550)

Saperdon (578-579)

Sthenelaus (684)

Adrestus (812)

Autonous (812)

Echeclus (812)

Perimus (813)

Epistor (813)

Melanippus (813)

Elasus (814)

Mulius (814)

Pylartes (814)

Cebriones (860)

But Patroclus actually killed more people than that in his aristeia, after all we still have these lines:

[...] and Patroclus charged the enemy, fired for the kill. Three times he charged with the headlong speed of Ares, screaming his savage cry, three times he killed nine men.

The Iliad, XVI, 911-913.

He attacked three times and each time killed nine men, resulting in twenty-seven unnamed deaths. This means that in Book XVI, Patroclus killed a total of 54 men in a single battle. This is an impressive feat indeed, but I also have to be fair and not omit that Patroclus had Zeus’s divine aid (Diomedes, Achilles, Odysseus, Paris and other characters also had divine aid so nothing rare or that takes away the merit completely, but important to mention). Euphorbus and Hector also killed Patroclus with divine aid (Apollo, hi!)

In a fragment attributed to Hesiod, we have a part related to Saperdon. Although it doesn't finish what is being said, it’s obviously about Patroclus killing Saperdon:

Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 1 (3rd cent. A.D.):

“[...] Very greatly did he excel in war together with man-slaying Hector and brake down the wall, bringing woes upon the Danaans. But so soon as Patroclus had inspired the Argives with hard courage..."

Catalogues of Women, frag 19A. Translation by Evelyn-White, H G.

Pindar, in one of his odes, describes that Achilles and Patroclus were the bravest in the conflict against Telephus, son of Heracles:

[...] But among the settlers he (Locrus) chiefly honored the son of Actor and Aegina, Menoetius, whose son went with the Atreidae to the plain of Teuthras, and stood alone beside Achilles, when Telephus turned to flight the mighty Danaans, and attacked their ships beside the sea, to reveal to a man of understanding. From that time forward, the son of Thetis exhorted him in deadly war never to post himself far from his own man-subduing spear.

Olympian Ode 9. Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien.

There are his actions in Dictys Cretensis too. As I already showed in the Cleopatra part, there is no Achilles absenting himself from war and, therefore, there is no Patroclus taking his place. But honestly, if you're really interested in this version, I recommend reading it. It's short, so I don't think it's really worth dissecting that much.

As for Hyginus, he seems to be just repeating Homer. The descriptions of Patroclus' attitudes follow The Iliad and he even says Patroclus killed 54 people, the same number of men he kills in Book XVI.

Pausanias attributes Las's death to Patroclus, disputing the narrative that it was Achilles:

Description of Greece, 3.24.10. Translation by W.H.S. Jones.

SEXUAL AND/OR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Achilles

No reverence hadst thou for the unsullied holiness of thy limbs, oh thou most ungrateful for my many kisses!

Aeschylus, frag 64. Translation by Herbert Weir Smyth.

And the Greek text:

σέβας δέ μηρῶν ἀγνόν ουκ ἐπηδέσω, ὢ δυσχάριστε τῷν πυκνῶν φιλημάτων μηρῶν τε τῶν σῶν εὐσέβησ᾽ ὁμιλίαν κλαίων

Apparently, for Aeschylus they had a same-gender relationship.

Plato's well-known excerpt about the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is a kind of response to Aeschylus' interpretation, as Plato disagreed on who was "eromenos" and who was "erates" (Symposium, 179-180). Plutarch also mentions this Aeschylus' fragment in Amatorius in a non-platonic context:

Add to this of Solon that other of Aeschylus: "Ungrateful, for the kisses of my lips, Not to revere the glory of my lips."

Amatorius, 5. Translation by "several hands". See in Greek here.

This excerpt from Aeschylus being interpreted as sexual and/or romantic also seems to have remained in the Roman Era, since the text "Amores", attributed to Lucian of Samosata (despite the era, he isn't a Roman, but a Syrian), refers the Aeschylus excerpt in a sexual context in 54.

[...] Do not be surprised: Patroclus in fact, was not loved by Achilles just because he was seated before him, waiting for Achilles to finish his song…but it was lust that mediated their friendship. For Achilles, moaning upon the death of Patroklos, allows his unrestrained passion to burst out with the power of truth when he says: "The holy commerce of your thighs my tears do mourn". I also believe that those whom the Greeks call ‘comastes' are none other than professional lovers. Some might call this a shameful thing to say, but at least it is the truth, by the Aphrodite of Cnidus!

Amores, 54. Translation by Andrew Kallimachos. In Greek here. Note: This excerpt was used only to show the use of Aeschylus. The context of the text as a whole is best seen by reading.

Athenaeus of Naucratis also appears to reference this play by Aeschylus in a romantic sense.

And, in fact, there was such emulation about composing poems of this sort, and so far was any one from thinking lightly of the amatory poets, that Aeschylus, who was a very great poet, and Sophocles, too, introduced the subject of the loves of men on the stage in their tragedies: the one describing the love of Achilles for Patroclus [...]

The Deipnosophists, 13.75. Translation by Henry G. Bohn.

There is an interpretation that Pindar could think of them as being in a romantic relationship because he compares Hagesidamus and Ilas with Patroclus and Achilles and later compares Hagesidamus with Ganymede. Personally, I find this too interpretative to be anything other than ambiguous, but I'm mentioning it here anyway.

[...] let Hagesidamus, victorious as a boxer at Olympia, offer thanks to Ilas, just as Patroclus did to Achilles. With the help of a god, one man can sharpen another who is born for excellence, and encourage him to tremendous achievement [...] And I praised the lovely son of Archestratus [Hagesidamus], whom I saw at that time beside the Olympic altar, winning victory with the valor of his hands—beautiful in form, and blended with that youthful bloom which once kept Ganymede from shameless death, with the help of Cyprian Aphrodite.

Olympian Ode 10, 10.1 and 10.75. Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien.

There are other texts in which Patroclus x Achilles are interpreted as romantic and/or sexual, regardless of whether the author is framing this as positive or negative. However, I'm trying to focus on plays/poems/libraries/odes/etc and I only cited Lucian, Plutarch, Athenaeus and Plato because they were quoting Aeschylus first.

This relationship isn't considered a fixed tradition — for example, Homer doesn't explicitly a romantic/sexual relationship between them. But yeah, it exists. There is the argument that Aeschylus did it differently from Homer, but the way Aeschylus portrayed Agamemnon's family is also different from the Homeric tradition (Clytemnestra's role is different and the children are not the same) and people take The Oresteia as something valid, so I particularly don't see why the Achilles trilogy wouldn't be. Even ancient Greeks seemed to at least take it into account, considering other authors' mentions of Aeschylus.

Iphis

[...] And over across from him Patroclus slept with the sashed and lovely Iphis by his side, whom Prince Achilles gave him the day he took the heights of Scyros, Enyeus' rocky stronghold.

The Iliad, IX, 813-816. Translation by Robert Fagles.

Iphis was a slave brought by Achilles from Skyros to Patroclus. She doesn't have much narrative importance in The Iliad, since she's only mentioned in this excerpt, but her character is remembered in other sources. For example, in Description of Greece 10.25. In the Roman Era, she was also still remembered, notable in how the sophist Philostratus mentions her in Heroica 716.

Poseidon

Once again reviewing New History (Ptolemy Hephaestion), Photius mentions that Patroclus was Poseidon's lover and learned to ride a horse with him.

[...] Homer calls Patroclus the first horseman because he learned from Poseidon, who loved him, the art of riding horses.

Photius' Bibliotheca, 190.6. Translation by Roger Pearse.

This isn't a constant/fixed tradition. But yeah, it exists. I actually like this idea because it strengthens Patroclus' connection with animals (in this case, horse), but at the same time I couldn't find any source other than Photius' review. I wonder if it existed beyond Ptolomy and if anyone even took it into account.

PHYSICAL APPEARENCE

Homer doesn't describe Patroclus' physical appearance, but there is a bit about it from other sources.

Achilles tending Patroclus in a kylix, by Sosias, 500 BC. See here.

In it, Patroclus's distinguishing characteristics are short curly hair, a beard and a non-straight nose (compare him with Achilles's).

In the frescoes of Pompeii, Patroclus is usually portrayed as a tanned young man with short brown hair, dark eyes and no beard.

Fresco in Pompeii, Briseis being taken by order of Agamemnon. See here and here.

Fresco in Pompeii, respectively Briseis, Achilles and Patroclus. See here and here.

There is a Roman (copy of an original Greek, though) statue of a bearded man carrying the body of a young man from 200–150 BC, which has been thought to be Menelaus and Patroclus. However, the Wikipedia article says that the topic is up for debate, as there is a possibility it could be Ajax and Achilles or even Odysseus and Achilles, so I won't consider it sure. Here is the article, anyway. But the young man has short curly hair and no beard.

According to Pausanias, Polygnotus painted Patroclus without a beard in the Lesche at Delphi.

[...] and beyond Achilles is Patroclus standing. With the exception of Agamemnon these figures have no beard.

Description of Greece, 10.30.3. Translation by W.H.S. Jones.

For some reason, Hyginus made a list of the most beautiful (?) and put Patroclus there. Good for Patroclus, I guess

THOSE WHO WERE MOST HANDSOME: Iasion, son of Ilithius, whom Ceres is said to have loved [credible, since vouched for by old histories]. Cinyras, son of Paphos, king of the Assyrians. Anchises, son of Assaracus, whom Venus loved. Alexander Paris, son of Priam and Hecuba, whom Helen followed. Nireus, son of Charops. Cephalus, son of Pandion, whom Aurora loved. Tithonus, husband of Aurora. Parthenopaeus, son of Meleager and Atalanta. Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis. Patroclus, son of Menoetius. Idomeneus, who loved Helen. Theseus, son of Aegeus and Aethra, whom Ariadne loved.

Fabulae, 270. Translation by Mary Grant.

In Dares, The Prygian, there is a description of Patroclus. However, this text is still quite uncertain. It isn't certain if it has always been a Latin tradition or if it has a Greek original, in addition to other aspects that are still questioned. But I'm going to put it here just to clear my conscience.

Patroclus was handsome and powerfully built. His yes were gray. He was modest, dependable, wise, a man richly endowed.

Dares, The Prygian, 31. Translation by R. M. Frazer.

NON-MYTHOLOGICAL ASPECTS (INTERPRETATIONS, MONUMENTS, ETC)

Apparently, Patroclus was honored and had monuments, since in Geography Strabo says:

The length of this coast, I mean on a straight voyage from Rhoeteium to Sigeium, and the monument of Achilles, is sixty stadia; and the whole of it lies below Ilium, not only the present Ilium, from which, at the Harbor of the Achaeans, it is about twelve stadia distant, but also the earlier Ilium, which lies thirty stadia farther inland in the direction of Mt. Ida. Now there are a temple and a monument of Achilles near Sigeium, as also monuments of Patroclus and Antilochus; and the Ilians offer sacrifices to all four heroes, both to these and to Aias. But they do not honor Heracles, giving as their reason his sacking of the city. But one might say that, although Heracles did sack it, yet he sacked it in such a way as still to leave it a city, even though damaged, for those who were later to sack it utterly; and for this reason the poet states it thus:“He sacked the city of Ilios and widowed her streets;

Geography, 13.1. Translation by H. L. Jones.

According to Pausanias, one of the votive offerings at Delphi was an image of Achilles and Patroclus, sent by the Thessalians of Pharsalia.

The Thessalians too of Pharsalus dedicated an Achilles on horseback, with Patroclus running beside his horse [...]

Description of Greece, 10.13.5. Translation by W.H.S. Jones.

I only found these two mentions of Patroclus in a more religious context and there is always Achilles at the crime scene. This makes me think that if there were other religious practices related to Patroclus, they were probably the kind that honored a conjuct rather than a single person. It wouldn't be strange, since there were other cases like these, for example the Dioscuri, or Helen and Menelaus in Sparta (first case because they're brothers whose brotherhood is relevant in the myth, the second because they are a couple. In other words, there is a platonic and a romantic example! So I think even platonic Patroclus and Achilles wouldn't be that strange to appear as a pair of friends in a religious context). In any case, it isn't possible to be sure.

Update (25/04/2024): flaviafulvia in the comments added Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea, supposedly written in Roman Greek times by the Greek historian Arrian of Nicomedia (86 AD-160 AD) to the Roman emperor Hadrian. In this text there is a mention of a dual cult of Achilles and Patroclus on the Island of Achilles (also called by other names such as Leuke and White Island). Pindar mentions this Island em Nemean Ode 3: "and Achilles holds the shining island in the Euxine sea."

Regarding interpretations of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship:

Note: I'm using interpretations that don't come from poems, plays, etc. So you're not, for example, seeing Aeschylus and others here. They're interpretations of rhetoricians, philosophers, etc.

Aeschines in Against Timarchus considered it romantic and/or sexual, although it's important to mention that this text is a process. Timarcus had accused Aeschines of a crime, and Aeschines retaliated by prosecuting him. In this process, he used the Athenian laws that prohibited a man from having paid homosexual sexual relations against Timarcus. Achilles and Patroclus are only part of the argument here. Furthermore, the lines of The Iliad that Aeschines presented were apparently corrupt. See 1.142.

In Xenophon's Symposium, he wrote Socrates explicitly stating Patroclus and Achilles' relationship was a platonic bond. Whether that was Socrates' opinion or Xenophon's is another story. See 8.31.

Plato in his Symposium considered their relationship as romantic, although under a Classical Athenian perception — i.e., with restrictive concepts of erastes and eromenos. See 179e-180a.

The author of Amores (it isn't certain if it was Lucian. If it was Lucian, this text is non-Greek, as Lucian was Syrian) considered them a romantic and/or sexual relationship. See 54.

Plutarch in Amatorius portrays them as in a romantic relationship, although it's in the context of refuting the famous theory that a male relationship is better than a relationship between a man and a woman. See 5.

Martial portrayed them in a sexual relationship and didn't imply anything romantic. This text is non-Greek, as Martial was probably Roman. I didn't find this excerpt in English except on the Internet Archive because on other sites they removed it (literally. It said they had removed it, probably due to content considered obscene. Suffice to say that Martial's epigrams are sources of Latin obscenities.), but Perseus still has it in Latin here. See Robert Fletcher translation, Book 11 epig 44 (pag 111).

Athenaeus of Naucratis used Patroclus and Achilles as an example of romantic love between men The Deipnosophists, more specifically he used Aeschylus' version. See 13.75.

The bucolic poem, written by Theocritus (note: authorship somewhat unsure), Idyll XXIX uses Patroclus and Achilles as a comparison of romantic love. See Idyll XXIX, 25.

Conclusion: there isn’t much information about the Archaic Greece, but in the Classical Greece the debate about the nature of their relationship gained more prominence. Such debate continued in subsequent times. In mythological works, the only source that has confirmed this relationship is Aeschylus.

REFERENCES

Here I'll be organizing the references used. I include authors, dates, authors' ethnicities and types of source because I think it makes the context easier to visualize — a person from the Classical period didn't think like someone from the Archaic and a philosopher didn't write with the same intention as an encyclopedia. And of course, just because I specified excerpts doesn't mean you can understand them all by just reading them without context!

Mentions/scenes

The Iliad, Homer - the entire poem since it's the greatest source we have on Patroclus

The Odyssey, Homer - Book III, 102-117; Book XI, 465-470; Book XXIV, 15-18 and 71-79

Fragments attributed to Hesiod - Catalogue of Women frag 19A and frag 61

Cypria, attributed to Stasinus - frag 1

Fragments attributed to Aeschylus - Myrmidones frags (59-66) | Nereids frags (72-75) (because they accompany Achilles' mourning over the death of Patroclus)

Olympian Odes, Pindar - ode 9 | ode 10, 10.1 (see the scholiasts' comments on these same odes)

Philoctetes, Sophocles - 403

Heroica/On Heroes, Philostratus - 675

Idyll XXIX, Theocritus - 25

Symposium, Plato - 179e-180a and 208d

Symposium, Xenophon - 8.31

Geography, Strabo - 9.4.2 | 9.5.9 | 13.1.7 | 13.1.32

Fabulae, attributed to Hyginus - 81 | 97 | 106 | 112 | 114 | 257 | 270 | 273

Library/Bibliotheca, attributed to Apollodorus or Pseudo-Apollodorus - 3.10.8 | 3.13.8 (there is a mention of a Patroclus I don't include because it's Patroclus son of Heracles, not the Patroclus son of Menoetius)

Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus of Naucratis - 1.31 | 13.75 (here there is also a Patroclus who is not who I'm talking about, this other is Ptolemy's general. Also, other parts mention Patroclus, but they're about other characters like Nestor and Menelaus, so I didn't include them. )

Epigrams, Martial - 11.43

Aristides, Plutarch - 20

Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea, Arrian of Nicomedia - 16-18 sections on Wikipedia

Description of Greece, Pausanias - 3.19.13 | 3.24.10 | 4.28.7 | 5.8.3 | 5.19.8 | 10.4.2 | 10.13.5 | 10.26.6 (there is another Patroclus mentioned by Pausanias, but don't confuse him with the mythological Patroclus. The other one is Egyptian, not Greek!)

Amores, attributed to Lucian of Samosata or Pseudo-Lucian - 54

Bibliotheca, Photius - 190.9 | 190.6

Dictys Cretensis, ? - If you're really interested, just read the whole thing

Source dates

For reference:

8th century BC = between 800 BC-701 BC 7th century BC = between 700 BC-601 BC 3rd century BC = between 300 BC-201 BC 5th century BC = between 500 BC-401 BC 1st century BC = between 90 BC-0 BC 1st century AD = between 0 AD-90 AD 2nt century AD = between 101 AD-200 AD 9th century AD = between 801 AD-900

The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer - 8th century BC, the year is much debated (Greek)

Theogony, Hesiod - 8th century BC, maybe 730–700 BC (Greek)

Fragments attributed to Hesiod - multiple dates because there are multiple sources

Cypria, attributed to Stasinus - 7th century BC (Greek)

Fragments attributed to Aeschylus - multiple dates because there are multiple sources

Olympian Odes, Pindar - 5th century BC (Greek)

Philoctetes, Sophocles - 409 BC (Greek)

Heroica/On Heroes, Philostratus - I haven't found the date of the text itself, but Philostrathus is theorized to be from 170 AD – 240 AD (Greek)

Idyll XXIX, Theocritus - 3rd century BC (Greek)

Symposium, Plato - 385 BC – 370 BC (Greek)

Symposium, Xenophon - 360 BC (Greek)

Geography, Strabo - late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD, the year is much debated (Greek)

Fabulae, attributed to Hyginus - I haven't found the date of the text itself, but Martial is theorized to be from 64 BC – 17 AD (Roman)

Library/Bibliotheca, attributed to Apollodorus or Pseudo-Apollodorus - 1st or 2nd century AD (Greek)

Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus of Naucratis - early 3rd century AD (Greek)

Argonautica, Apollonius Rhodius - 3rd century BC, maybe 283 BC–246 BC or 246 BC–221 BC (Greek)

Epigrams, Martial - I haven't found the date of the text itself, but Martial is theorized to be from 38/41 AD – 102/104 AD (probably Roman)

Aristides, Plutarch - I haven't found the date of the text itself, but Plutarch is theorized to be from 46 AD – 119 AD (Greek)

Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea, Arrian of Nicomedia - 2nd century AD (Greek)

Description of Greece, Pausanias - 2nd century AD (Greek)

Amores, attributed to Lucian of Samosata or Pseudo-Lucian - uncertain, but certainly AD (if it's by Lucian, Syrian)

Bibliotheca, Photius - 9th century AD (Greek)

Dictys Cretensis, ? - ? AD (Greek)

Type of Source

The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer - epic poem

Theogony, Hesiod - poem

Fragments attributed to Hesiod - scholiasts comments

Cypria, attributed to Stasinus - epic poem (lost)

Fragments attributed to Aeschylus - scholiasts comments

Olympian Odes, Pindar - collection of odes

Philoctetes, Sophocles - play

Heroica/On Heroes, Philostratus - dialogue

Idyll XXIX, Theocritus - bucolic poem

Symposium, Plato - dialogue

Symposium, Xenophon - dialogue

Geography, Strabo - geographical encyclopedia

Fabulae, attributed to Hyginus - greek myths encyclopedia (adapted for a Roman public)

Library/Bibliotheca, attributed to Apollodorus or Pseudo-Apollodorus - mythological encyclopedia

Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus of Naucratis - dialogue

Argonautica, Apollonius Rhodius - epic poem

Epigrams, Martial - collection of epigrams

Aristides, Plutarch - biography

Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea, Arrian of Nicomedia - travel guidebook

Description of Greece, Pausanias - travel literature

Amores, attributed to Lucian of Samosata or Pseudo-Lucian - dialogue

Bibliotheca, Photius - text reviews

Dictys Cretensis, ? - first-hand account

Others

Apostrophe in Homer, Apollonius and Callimachus by Jacqueline J . H . Klooster, available in Academia.edu site (I used the apostrophe concept from here)

Revisiting the Apostrophes to Patroclus in Iliad 16 by Emily Allen-Hornblower, available in The Center of Hellenic Studies of Harvard site (I recommend reading it if you are interested in the use of apostrophe in Patroclus' scenes)

Irregularities in the Funeral of Patroclus by Aubrey A. Cum, available in University of Georgia site.

Patroclus and Elpenor. Dead and Unburied, in The Upper and the Under World in Homeric and Archaic Epic by Menelaos Christopoulos, available in Academia.edu site.

#Ask #Anon #13k about Patroclus lol #Tagamemnon #Patroclus #Achilles #Menoetius #Because Achilles and Menoetius were considerably spoken of as well #Greek Mythology #The Iliad #Patrochilles #Because of the part about versions of their relationships #This took a while to write (almost a week)#If anyone has anything to add feel free to do so #The interpretative parts are subjective (i.e. disagree if you want)#There was more of Patroclus in the scholia of Homer and Pindar but I don't know Greek #I'm definitely not a classicist please remember this #For the love of god please consider the context of the sources (the era for example)#I love Patroclus did you notice?#I tried to find more without Achilles but Patroclus in fact has almost all of his sources linked to Achilles #Just in case of “why is it always Achilles and Patroclus and never just Patroclus?”#I just saw this bunch of sources and apparently it's been like this forever and there is no escape it's not my fault!#I love him but the guy is reaaaaaally a secondary bro and it's time to accept that #Patroclus doesn't have to be one of the main characters to be a personal fav guys #Also he's a badass but please don't make that his only trait #Everyone there is a badass just being a badass isn't enough #Much is said about dogs but Patroclus and HORSES #And I'm getting personal in these tags time to stop #Birdiethings

27 notes · View notes

myfictionaldreams · 11 months

Text

Accidents Happen // Mafia!Stucky x Fem!Reader

Summary: You were visiting a friend when you were accidentally hit in the face, leaving behind a cut across your cheekbone. How will Steve and Bucky react when they see their girl injured?

Requested by: @theatrelove3000 (thank you so much for the message! I hope your eye is doing better and I hope you enjoy this fic)

Tags: 18+ readers only, smut, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, hints of winter solider, minor injuries/reader is injured, protectiveness, possessive behaviour, anxiety, pool sex, butt plugs, anal/vaginal sex, double penetration, handjob, multiple orgasms, sir kink, praise kink, size kink, bucky needs a hug, mentions of murder, not beta read

Words: 6.4k

my masterlist 📚 AO3 Link

Making friends whilst being in close connection with the mafia was both easy and difficult. Easy because you meet hundreds of new people every month and difficult because many of them were dangerous and untrustworthy. On the rare occasion, a friendship would be created and even though you were busy nearly every day for the gang, you still attempted to spend time with them.

Especially on special days such as your best friend’s baby's birthday. You’d met Laura Barton through her husband Clint, whom you’d met through Natasha. The two of you instantly bonded over having partners in dangerous jobs and if you ever needed a break, she’d always welcome you to her home with a hot drink ready and the kids running rampant which was a great distraction.

Today, it was her youngest, Nate’s 2nd birthday so you’d spent the afternoon celebrating with cakes and toys with the family. By early evening, you were the only one remaining, finally having time to cuddle with the toddler who was playing with the plastic toy train that you’d bought him as a present.

“What time are you and the boys leaving for the hotel?” Laura asked in between bites of vanilla cake.

Your head flew back to avoid the wild swing of Nate’s tiny arm as he continued to play with the toy, making little noises with his mouth that made you smile. “Um, I think around 7, it’ll only take us half an hour to drive there but I can’t wait! Even though we are going for work, the hotel is stunning, and of course, Steve had to buy the best room, I think we’ve even got our own private pool”.

Laura’s eyebrows raised, letting out a low whistle, “They really do live a life of luxury. If they ever want to treat Clint and me to a weekend away any time soon I’d be forever in their debt”.

You laughed at your friend, “I’ll see what I can do”. Turning to look at Nate and poking the tip of his nose, “Do you think mommy deserves a trip away?” As you asked, you made the grave mistake of not watching his arm and there's one thing about toddlers, it was that they were surprisingly strong as he swung the train toy and accidentally smacked you in the face with it. “Oof, ok I’m taking that as a no”.

“Shit! Are you ok? Nate be careful”, Laura chastised to her son as she took him into her arms.

“It’s ok, he didn’t mean it, I’m fine”.

“You aren’t fine, you’re bleeding!” Laura was looking at you with wide eyes.

You were still slightly in shock, trying to remain calm to not scare Nate but you couldn’t deny it, your face was throbbing. Excusing yourself, you rushed to the bathroom and glanced into the mirror. “Shit, the boys are going to go crazy”. The toddler had managed to hit you right underneath your eye, the sharp corner had cut the skin and the surrounding area was already swelling and felt tender. Sighing to yourself, you cleaned the bleeding cut, thankfully it wasn’t deep enough for stitches and the bleeding had stopped already but with the location, you knew you’d probably end up with a black eye over the next day or so.

After you finished cleaning up, you spent a couple of minutes contemplating what the fuck you were going to say to Steve and Bucky. There wasn’t any way you’d be able to hide it with makeup and there wasn’t anything they hated more than seeing you hurt and you knew an overreaction was coming your way. Should you call them or tell them in person? At least in person, you could stop them from running off on a vengeance before you could even explain what had happened so decided you’d wait to tell them.

Leaving the bathroom, you found Laura waiting anxiously with the kids all playing in another room. She took one look at your face before mumbling, “Shit. Does this make me number one on the Rogers mafia hit list?” she joked but you knew she was also slightly serious.

Walking closer to your friend, you took her hands and grinned, even though the action hurt your cheek. “Not it doesn’t, it’s absolutely fine, the boys love Nate they’ll forgive him for anything. I should probably go through, face the music now rather than waiting around”.

You called Sam to pick you up and he text you once outside. Giving Laura and the kids a big hug, you reassured her once more that everything would be ok before leaving her house and walking down the path to the parked SUV with Sam in the driving seat. As you saw him, you waved happily, trying to appear as at ease as possible to keep the tension calm.

However, the moment you were close enough for him to notice the injury to your face, his smile dropped, eyebrows frowning as he hastily got out of the car, rushing to you. “Sam it’s fine-”.

“Who did this to you?” he asked urgently, hands cupping your jaw and tilting your face so he could examine your cut closely. Sam’s face was contorted into anger, something rarely displayed by your bodyguard and friend as he usually likes to be sarcastic and funny when around you.

Lifting your hands, you held onto his wrists, trying to pull him away but he held strong having not finished checking your injury. “Nate accidentally hit me with his toy train… A TODDLER hit me Sam so please relax”.

Thankfully he did. The tension in his shoulders eased as well as the frown on his face. Eyes still flicking across the cut, he instructed, “Tell me when it starts to hurt”. Carefully, he pressed his fingers across your face, inching towards the wound and you informed it where it began to be tender, so he knew just had big the injury was and how bruised it was beneath the swelling. It took a couple of minutes before he seemed somewhat at ease about the injury, finally looking away from the injury to look at the rest of your face before the corner of his lip turned up, “so a baby hurt you this much, huh?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, gently pushing against his shoulder, “Yes! He’s stronger than he looks and yes, I am very embarrassed so please never bring it up again”.

Sam laughed as well, placing his arm over your shoulder and turning the two of you back towards the car. “Oh, you know I’m going to bring it up at any opportunity right?”

Rolling your eyes, you climbed into the car, pulling your seatbelt across your front as he did the same in the driver’s seat. “I could just have Steve or Bucky demand you to never bring it up again”, you suggested unseriously.

Sam’s smile faltered as he began to drive the two of you to the office, “I’m assuming you’ve not told either of them yet? Feel like we need to call everyone in to try and keep them both calm, they’re going to go apeshit when they see you”.

Sighing heavily, you had to refrain from wiping your face. “I thought about calling them but I know they wouldn't listen to me after I’ve told them about it so decided it was better to tell them in person. I just hope that it doesn’t ruin our trip away, I mean, maybe they’ll be calm because it was a baby, there will be no need to go on a vengeance tour of Brooklyn”.

Sam looked towards you with an awkward smile and that’s all you needed to see to know that was most likely not going to happen today.

Arriving at the warehouse, you tried to ignore the glances from other gang members when they noticed the cut to your face, a tension quickly building in the atmosphere which only meant your anxiety increased. You tried to smile at everyone to ease the nerves but it didn’t seem to work. It was only as you and Sam walked into the elevator and it was just the two of you did you release a deep, aggravated groan.

“I’m screwed aren’t I”, you say, glancing at Sam as he rolled up his sleeves like he was preparing for a fight.

“You aren’t screwed, I think you’re the only one who is actually safe”, he reminded you as the doors opened to the corridor to Steve’s office. The two of you walked at a slow pace, your head hanging low so that you didn’t see Steve and Bucky’s bodyguard waiting outside of the closed office door.

“Who died?” Natasha joked, seeing the solemn reaction from you both. Your head snapped up to her, about to reassure her that everything was fine but the words floated away as her grin instantly dropped at seeing your cheek. “What happened?” she asked in an authoritative tone, closing the gap with a single step, hands gripping your face much like Sam had.

Trying to keep your voice as steady and as calm as possible, you explained, “Little Nate decided the toy train had better use on my face than in the normal way”.

It took Natasha longer than usual to believe you, only accepting it as she glanced towards Sam who nodded his head and let go of your face. “Well… we’re all in for a long night then”, she joked but this time there was a hint of warning in her tone.

“Don’t say that, you should have seen what it was like downstairs”. You took a deep breath before continuing, “It’s going to be absolutely fine. I’m going to walk in there, explain to them that a toddler hit me in the face, let them have a little freakout and then we are all going to remain calm and continue with our trip away and it’s all going to be fine”. Niehter Sam or Natasha seemed convinced so you sighed once more, chewing on your bottom lip with nerves. Shaking your head, you rolled your shoulders to try and look as unbothered as possible, “I need to get this over and done with. If either of them leaves, could you follow them please and make sure they don’t do anything stupid”.

“We can try our best, boss lady”, Sam responded for the two of them, walking towards the office door and holding it open for you.

Taking a deep breath, you walked into Steve’s office, seeing both of them sitting at the large oak desk that was positioned in the centre of the room, laptops in front of them, face set with concentration. As your mouth opened to announce your arrival and quickly explain what had happened before they could freak, Steve’s eyes had already glanced away from his screen.

“What the fuck!” he growled, standing with such force his seat toppled over as he stormed towards you. “Who did this to you? What happened?” Steve was in front of you within half a second, his hands cupping your face, eyes full of a whirlwind of seething anger, worry and concern.

“Please don’t freak out, it’s absolutely fine, it was just an accident”, you managed to say as your face was turned in different directions by Steve as if the size of the cut would change but it remained the same. As Steve finished his inspection, Bucky was right there over his shoulder, eyes full of fury as he too checked the cut but then continued further past just your face.

“Accident or not, I’m fucking killing someone”, Bucky barked, lifting your arms and searching for any more injuries and it was only as he lifted the front of your shirt did you push his hands away and take a step back.

“Both of you just wait, please. Absolutely no killing is happening because it was done by a two-year-old” you emphasised, not sure if they were even listening as they crowded around you. Placing a hand on either of their chests, you tried not to concentrate on the pounding of both of their hearts beneath your palms as you explained. “I was sitting with Nate, he was playing with his toy train that he loves by the way. I happened to get too close and didn’t see him swinging the toy and it caught me across the face and let me tell you, that boy is strong!”

You grinned to show the humour, looking between Steve and Bucky, waiting for any sort of reaction from them. Both sets of ocean-blue eyes were flicking from your mouth to your injury and just as you were able to explain again to them, it was Steve who moved first by cupping your jaw with his hand, this time it felt more comforting rather than him assessing you.

“Right let me just make sure I’m understanding this, Nate hit you in the face with the toy that you bought him and caused this much damage?”, he tilted your chin as he finished his sentence to show off your injury more.

“Yes that is exactly what happened. You can check with Sam if you want. Nate is a lot stronger than you’d expect someone so small to be”.

Steve nodded whilst taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down but his heart was still pounding under your hand. Leaning down, he kissed your forehead, showing his understanding of the situation. “How does it feel? Does it hurt?” he questioned, his blonde eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

“It feels tender and bruised but only when I touch it and I can see the swelling out of the corner of my eye but otherwise it’s fine. I’ve had worse that’s for sure”, you tried to once again defuse the tension with a little joke but all it caused was Bucky’s jaw to tighten.

Steve noticed too and suggested, “Why don’t you go and wait by the car baby, we just need to wrap up everything here and we can start heading to the hotel

It was a simple idea but put you on edge with worry as Bucky had yet to say anything or snap out of the protective trance. Instead of arguing with Steve, you nodded, knowing that Steve could handle Bucky when he was like this and it was best to leave the two of them to it.

Stepping out of the office, you released a long heavy breath, now facing Natasha and Sam who were waiting in a stance like they were ready to tackle someone but relaxed seeing that it was you. Glancing over your shoulder, they were surprised when no one else followed after you. “Everything ok, Sugar?” Natasha questioned uncertainly.

“I’m not entirely sure. I think Steve’s ok but Bucky… he didn’t say a word to me. I think they’re having a talk so I’ve been sent to the car like a naughty child”. Sam chuckled, finally stepping forward and holding his elbow out for you to take.

“Well let then me escort you to the car m’lady”, he mocked and managed to pull a smile to your lips as you accepted.

It took nearly 45 minutes for them to finish whatever talk that needed to happen, and you’d hoped that Bucky would rush to the car but it was quite the opposite. He inclined for Sam to get out of the car and they spoke out of sight.

Sam wouldn’t be coming with you to the hotel, it was just supposed to be you and the boys so you waved to him in farewell as he climbed out of the car. Steve then slide in next to you, closing the gap in the middle so his body brushed against yours as you blinked up at him with a worried expression. Once again, his hand slide along your jaw as he kissed your temple. “You know I hate seeing you hurt”, he admitted against your skin before pulling back and looking at you with an apologetic gaze.

“I understand that, but that doesn’t mean you have to shut me out”, you countered, lifting your hand to stroke along his stubbled cheek.

“It doesn’t”, he contemplates. “But, I also don’t want you to see me in this state, the things going through my mind when I saw your face, I was just about ready to kill everyone in this building to find out what happened. No one hurts what’s mine”.

Your heart was thumping hard in your chest at his passionate declaration. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to push me away. I know you don’t want to see me hurt but accidents happen and if there was something wrong, you know I would call you immediately”.

Steve’s eyes softened, “Yes I know that now but, it doesn’t stop the panic that I feel when I see you’re hurt”.

Shifting even closer so that you could kiss his cheek, you continued, “I’m sorry for scaring you, it’s hard to tell you when these things happen, I don’t know whether I should call to prewarn or wait to see you in person”.

Steve’s lips lowered to yours, giving you a quick kiss to your lips, “We’ll figure it out”.

“What about Bucky?” you asked nervously.

“Buck might need a little more time, he’s still struggling to process his emotions”.

This did little to ease your anxiety, especially as the said man got into the driver's seat and didn’t say a single word to you, only glancing at you from the rearview mirror for a moment before beginning the drive to the hotel.

Steve easily managed to fill the silence with natural conversations which did little to distract you from the nerves of Bucky not talking. Even when the three of you arrived at the hotel and were shown to the penthouse where you’d be staying, Bucky didn’t say a word. After a quick tour of the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings which included a kitchen, living room area and pool that overlooked the city, you decided to go and freshen up.

After returning in a flowing dress that felt more comfortable than the jeans and shirt, you looked for the boys but only found Steve who was leaning against the kitchen island, staring at a spot in deep thought. “Steve?” this snapped him out of his trance as he instantly looked at you, standing to his full height. “Where’s Bucky?” you continued to look around but didn’t see him and by the look on Steve’s face, you knew you wouldn’t find him. “Where is he?”

“He said he needed a moment so has gone to the bar a few floors below”. Your shoulders dropped hearing this, feeling awful that he was struggling so much. “He’ll be ok sweetheart, he just has his own demons that he’s trying to fight with at the moment, you know the sort of headspace he gets into when you’re hurt”.

“I know but I haven’t seen him like this for a while, I guess I thought that side of him was over”. Sometimes when Bucky was overtly stressed with work, or needed to protect someone, particularly with regards to work, it was almost like his mind would shut down and someone else would take over. It was hard for him to deal with especially as he tended to get his emotions out violently when like this but as he hasn’t had an outlet today, he felt the need to separate himself from everyone. You knew he would never hurt you, even when he was like this so you asked Steve, “What floor is the bar on?”

Steve walked down with you and you both found him sitting on a stool in front of the bar with a very large glass of dark liquor on the bar in front of him. Steve decided to stay back and let you talk to him considering his talk earlier seemed to have done nothing to help him but reassured if you needed anything just nod.

As you walked towards Bucky, you thought about what you were going to say but your mind seemed to be completely empty of thoughts as you were so anxious you felt nauseous. Stepping next to him, he made no move to look in your direction or acknowledge your arrival and continued to stare forward. Every single muscle in his body was tense, eyes blazing with a look that you hadn’t seen in eyes like he was figuring out a way to murder everybody in the room. Your eyes flicked over his face, noting his jaw was so tense it looked like it was going to break. Unsure whether to touch him or not when he was like this, you said the only words that sprung to mind: “I miss you”.

Bucky’s entire body shifted, all of the tension seemingly melting away like a reset button had been pressed, as his eyes softened their glare as he flicked them to finally look at you. Seeing the change in him and drawing his attention, you reached across him to grip his metal hand, lifting it up to your face and reeling in the recognisable coolness of the metal against your uninjured cheek.

Turning to kiss the metal palm, you repeated, “I miss you Bucky”. There was even further relief when the pad of his thumb stroked across your cheekbone. Your boyfriend doesn't say a word, he didn’t need to as he stood from the stool, towering over you as he wrapped both of his arms around your shoulders, pulling you flush against his chest, his face nuzzling into your neck, taking a deep breath against your skin which seemed to also calm him further.

You hugged him back just as fiercely, eyes squeezing tight as you clung to the back of his shirt, probably crinkling the expensive material but neither of you cared. After a couple of minutes, he finally began to pull back enough that your arms could wind around his neck, pulling him down so you could kiss him passionately, ignoring the ache in your injured cheek from the movement.

His hands clenched around your waist at the kiss until you pulled back but that was only so you could kiss his cheek repeatedly whilst whispering, “I’m so sorry I’ve scared you Bucky, everythings ok I promise but I need you to be here with me and Steve”.

Bucky didn’t say anything at first, his only response was a nod as his body continued to try and calm down from its heightened alertness. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he said with as much passion as possible, “I’m sorry, I love you”.

“I know, it’s ok, I love you too Bucky, now let's go back upstairs and relax for the evening, ok?” he nodded his head in agreement, his hand clasped around yours as you pulled him towards Steve who smiled at the two of you.

In the elevator up to your floor, Steve turned to Bucky and placed a tender hand on the back of his head, pulling him roughly into his side, “It’ll be alright Buck”, he spoke tenderly into his ear before kissing him on the side of his head. The sight had your chest warming at the intimate show of support from the mafia leader but your thoughts didn’t dwell as the elevator dinged to indicate arrival to the penthouse.

The three of you opened a bottle of champagne and watched the sunset over the city before you decided that it was time for the pool and needed a moment to get ready. As you stood in the bathroom, you decided to continue with the plan that you’d had since you knew you were coming here. Of course, when travelling anywhere, especially somewhere this beautiful, you would want to be intimate with them both and you were hoping to take them both at the same time. So, you had decided to prep yourself a little bit with the use of your favourite butt plug and then when the three of you were ready, they could simply take it out and save the time of prepping.

It took a few minutes to work inside of you but you were happy to see the jewel gleaming from within your arse cheeks and then continued to dress into your swimsuit. You looked somewhat ridiculous with the stunning swimsuit and swollen cut to the face but it would have to do as you finally exited the bathroom.

Bucky turned to you first, hearing your footsteps as you approached the edge of the water but it was his raised eyebrow and deadpan expression that had you faltering. “What?” you asked, looking down at yourself and wondering what was out of place.

“Doll, seriously? We have our own private pool and you still think to change into a swimsuit?” Your cheeks warmed at the realisation that both Steve and Bucky were completely nude in the water and with a small smile, began to remove your own swimsuit which captivated Steve and Bucky’s attention, especially as you revealed your breasts.

As the material gathered at your waist, you turned on the spot so they were looking at your back, you bent forward to fully remove the outfit but it also gave them the perfect view of your arse with the butt plug on display.

“Fuck”, Steve cursed under his breath as he moved towards the stairs just as you began to walk over, holding out his hand for you to take and carefully descend into the water, being careful not to splash your face too much in the process. The water was the perfect warm temperature and it felt so relaxing to be almost weightless as Steve pulled you easily through the water you couldn’t reach the floor like he could, until you were near the edge, looking out over the city with Bucky on the other side of you.

The three of you huddled close together, your arms holding onto the edge of the pool, enjoying the ambience and serene moment of blissful quiet. However, Bucky couldn’t keep himself restrained for long as his hours of not seeing or touching you were beginning to get to him. Sliding behind you, his arms crowding you closer to the pool edge, his lips kissed delicately below your ear, moving south down your neck and to your shoulder. You tilted your head to the side to give him more room, releasing a soft breath at the tingling sensations his lips were causing, especially as his stubble brushed against your skin.

“You’re so beautiful”, Steve admired from beside you, his words making your cheeks flush with warmth at the compliment.

“Even with a black eye”, Bucky joked from where he was kissing the top of your back. You let out a shocked laugh, attempting to elbow him in the ribs but he easily held your arm away as he chuckled. The noise and joke were welcomed from him though to know he had calmed down enough from the initial shock of seeing you injured. “Could I make one request for tonight?” Bucky enquired, returning to kiss the pulse point on your neck.

“Yes?” you asked, already sounding a little breathless as you lazily moved your legs through the water, still holding your weight up by holding onto the edge.

“Don’t hold your noises in tonight, even though we are outside, I want this whole damn city to hear you”, Bucky grunted as he thrust his hips against your lower back, making you feel his considerably hard cock. Once again, your body warmed thoroughly at the thought of those a few floors below potentially hearing through their open windows but that also turned you on, knowing people could hear how much your boyfriends were making you feel good.

Nodding your head in answer, Bucky’s hands began to graze over your stomach under the water, stroking near your hip where you had a particularly sensitive spot that had you shivering and leaning further into him.

Steve’s hand cradled your chin, turning your face towards him where he began to kiss you desperately, his tongue immediately teasing the seam of your mouth to gain access that you granted instantly. You moaned as his warm muscle twisted with yours, loving the dominance of the kiss as he easily stood over you in the pool with his tall stature.

Bucky’s metal fingers then began to do their own exploration as they travelled between your legs, first stroking over your pussy lips, giving you a little warning for his next movement before he pressed more firmly until he was rubbing your clit. He moved in slow circles, and your hips jerked at the action, more moans rumbling from the back of your throat and into Steve’s mouth.

The blonde man pulled back first, breathing heavily as he instructed, “What I want you to do is take Bucky and after you cum, we’re going to fuck you at the same time, understand?”

“Yes, sir”, you automatically responded, your arousal aching in your core.

“Good girl”, Bucky praised as he shifted his position but continued to play with your clit as he moved. His lower half moved further beneath you so your body was moved a little out of the water, revealing your breasts to the cool air as you balanced on his body. The tip of his cock nudged against his fingers at the apex of your thighs, and with a flick of his hips, it moved to your hole. Even though you were in the water, he still took his time, being careful to not move too quickly as he stretched your cunt. Each inch that moved in had you gasping and moaning, grabbing tightly onto Steve’s arm that shot out to support your body from toppling forward. “That’s it, you’re taking me so well, Doll”, Bucky continued to encourage you as soon his hips were flush against yours which meant that he subtly pressed against the plug in your arse which only added to the heightened pleasure.

“Feels so good Bucky”, you say, closing your eyes for a moment to try and savour the feelings but then they snapped open as Steve began to squeeze your nipples. Your back arched into the touch, loving the twists and pulls he was doing to them that sent shivers straight to your centre which only meant that you kept clenching around Bucky.

After what felt like an eternity, Bucky finally began to move, slowing his fingers at your clit to match the pace of his thrusting. Each snap of his hips would cause the plug to be pushed and even his cock within your pussy was brushing against it, you already felt so full and you only had one cock in you. The motions increased as Bucky nuzzled into the back of your neck, the water surrounding the three of you splashing over the edge.

As you got used to the position and pleasure that was being pounded throughout your body, you felt aware enough to reach into the water and grip Steve’s throbbing shaft. It floated in the water and you could feel it bob at your touch as well as Steve’s very audible gasp. He always did love it when you pleasured him so even though Bucky’s cock and fingers were very distracting, you attempted to try and also make Steve feel as good as you felt.

“Fuck, I love the feeling of your hands on me baby”, Steve grunted, thrusting into your palm as you squeezed harder, moving up and down the shaft in time with Bucky’s cock. Steve’s eyes closed, head tipping back as he fell into the pleasure, but his hands never stopped with both supporting your upper half and squeezing your breasts whilst tweaking the nipples.

Bucky moved faster now, feeling your pussy clenching harder around him, his fingers swiping back and forth in firm motions. You didn’t even need to tell him that you were going to cum, from the feeling around his cock and the sweet moans escaping your mouth, he knew you were close. He fucked you harder which meant your hand moved faster up Steve’s shaft.

“Oh-God, yes!”, you chanted, eyes closed as you squeezed Steve’s cock hard as the pleasure took over you, Bucky not stopping his thrusts as you came, extending the length of your orgasm as he continued. All until Steve quickly cursed and grabbed your wrists, pulling your hands away from him did your pussy stop fluttering as you looked at him in worry. “Did I hurt you?” you asked, realising that you were probably squeezing too hard.

Steve chuckled, a light pink shade tinging his cheeks as he shook his head, “No baby, you were going to make me cum if you carried on like that”.

“Oh”, was all you managed to say as you felt proud of yourself for making him nearly cum so quickly.

Bucky laughed under his breath at your reaction, kissing the back of your head before easing his cock out and wrapping his arm around your waist so he could move you further away from the wall, giving Steve room to move in front of you. Both of your hands moved to his muscular shoulders, holding on as Steve pulled both of your legs around his waist, the waterline now at your navel.

Bucky's warm hand massaged one of your arse cheeks as he instructed, “Relax for me, Sweetheart”. You made sure to ease all of your muscles down as he gripped onto the butt plug and began to slowly pull it out. You gasped loudly at the feeling of your hole stretching around the toy before relief as it moved past the thickest part.

Bucky dropped the plug, declaring that he’d retrieve it from the bottom of the pool later and began lining up his cock at your asshole. You mewled into Steve’s shoulder as you felt the thick tip breaching your hole, the stretch was just as intense as the other hole but he moved slower this time, making sure not to hurt you.

“You’re so tight, shit”, Bucky groaned as you took his length, his hands flexing against your hips as you tried to adjust to him. After a long moment, you nodded your head against Steve and felt him moving his hips, the tip of his cock now penetrating your cunt, slowly but from the fucking by Bucky, it didn’t take you as long to adjust.

As they both were fully inserted into your holes, you let out a desperate moan, feeling so full it was nearly overwhelming. Your thighs were shaking in Steve’s grip around his waist and you wanted to speak to tell them how good it felt but your tongue felt heavy in your mouth so you told them through moans and mewling noises.

Steve moved first, pulling out a few inches before moving back in. Then Bucky copied his action. Both of your boyfriends fucked you, their thick cocks stroking against every single nerve and with the way your legs were wide and spread to be wrapped around Steve, your clit was brushing against his abdomen.

Your head dropped back against Bucky’s shoulder and you had to refrain from hissing as you accidentally brushed the injury of your face against his stubble. However, with the overwhelming pleasure that was being fucked into you, you didn’t vocalise the momentary discomfort and simply turned your face away so it didn’t happen again.

With how much you were being stimulated, it didn’t take you long to orgasm again, your body tightening like a coil around both of their cocks as waves of pleasure pulsed through you.

Bucky let out a deep groan and that was your only warning as he came suddenly, the feeling of your tight ass around his cock was too much for him and he was already so pent up from the day that he couldn’t hold it back anymore. His balls emptied everything within them into your ass, his teeth biting into the junction between your neck and shoulder as he grunted your name over and over until there was no more cum within his body.

You shivered as he pulled out, wishing you had a camera under the water to see the cum seeping out and clouding the water slightly. Bucky’s hands moved to under your thighs, taking them out of Steve’s grip as he took your weight instead so that Steve could fuck you without any restraint.

With your eyes half-lidded, you watched as Steve leaned forward, one hand on your waist and the other on Bucky’s shoulder, using the two of you to help ground him as he continued to fuck your pussy. With the more sturdy position, he was able to fuck you as hard as he could with the water adding some restraint so that he didn’t hurt you.

Your nails dug into his shoulders, leaving little crescent-shaped dents in the skin but he enjoyed the sparks of pain that came with it. “I want you to orgasm one more time for me baby, I know you can do it”.

You shouted out in pleasure at his words, hearing the desperation in his tone so you knew he was holding back from cumming because he wanted you to do it one more time. Steve fucked you, hard and fast, water splashing everywhere as Bucky continued to hold onto you tightly.

It didn’t take you long to cum again, especially as Steve dipped his head and began to suck on each of your sensitive nipples. By the time your pussy stopped pulsing around him and you were becoming entirely too overstimulated, Steve finally shouted and stilled his thrusting, his cock throbbing with each spurt of his cum as he filled you up.

The three of you took a couple of minutes to catch your breath and stretch your muscles from being in the squished position. “At least we’re in the water, don’t have as much of a clean up”, you joked as the cum mixed with the pool water. Bucky laughed before ducking into the water and returning with your butt plug.

“For you, hot mama”, he handed over the toy and kissed your cheek before helping you over to the stairs but swiftly picked you up with a steady hand at your back and under your knees. “Please tell me you two are hungry, once we’ve finished drying up, I’m ordering some room service”.

You groaned in a different sort of need from only a few minutes ago, your arms wrapping around his neck, “yes please, I’m starving after all of this activity!”

#mafia au #mafia stucky #stucky x reader #stucky smut #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers smut #bucky #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky smut #marvel one shot #marvel smut #mine*

5K notes · View notes