This article accompanies the fable
The Judgment of Paris



Achilles and Patroclus

Would Achilles have been a poor choice to determine which goddess was the most beautiful? Much has been written on whether the relationship was homosexual and, if it was, which man was older and dominant - Achilles or Patroclus - since the message of the Iliad changes accordingly. The dispute goes all the way back to classical Greece and a good case can be made either way.

The painting above on ceramic pottery is by an unknown artist and dated to around 500 BC.