Quote:Dear Achilles,

Forgive me. I know I may have seemed cold when we parted, and I am sorry for hurting your feelings. You were right. Of course you were. I still love you, and I long for your company even more now that we are parted. You are my dearest friend; no Diomede or Iphis could ever offer the friendship we’ve shared or know us as intimately as we have known one another.

Of course you were right. I am aching, dying, wishing I could continue to always be at your side. But we are no longer boys, but men, and men have duties. This Troy may kill us, but to war we must go. This patch of earth that I am to be buried in seems to have lost all its former beauty and sweetness, for parting me from you. But I must surrender my body to this war, Achilles, as I know you eventually will. Duty calls. If you cannot understand me, at least forgive me.

May our ashes be mixed together, that we may be one again and can no longer be taken apart. You are my very core. But for this life, forgive me, and stay my friend.

Patroklos