Patroclus is exiled from his father's kingdom after accidentally killing a nobleman's son during a dice game dispute.

Achilles requests Patroclus as his sworn companion before King Peleus, calling him 'surprising.'

Achilles and Patroclus become lovers for the first time while studying with the centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion.

Peleus calls an assembly to reveal that Paris has abducted Helen and Agamemnon is gathering forces for war.

Thetis spirits Achilles away to Scyros and hides him among women in female disguise.

Odysseus and Diomedes use a false trumpet alarm to expose Achilles on Scyros and recruit him for war.

Achilles refuses to kneel before Agamemnon at the Greek forces' assembly point in Aulis, creating immediate tension.

Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia at the altar, using a false promise of marriage to Achilles as bait.

The Greek fleet arrives at Troy and Achilles launches the first spear, killing a Trojan bowman and drawing first blood.

Agamemnon publicly confiscates Briseis from Achilles, who withdraws his Myrmidons from battle in furious retaliation.

The Trojans breach the Greek camp's wall and begin setting fire to the ships, threatening to trap the Greeks.

Patroclus puts on Achilles's armor and leads a charge that drives the Trojans into retreat.

Hector kills Patroclus after Apollo knocks off his helmet mid-battle and reveals he is not Achilles.

Achilles hunts down and kills Hector in revenge for Patroclus, accepting that his own death will follow.

Paris shoots Achilles dead with an arrow guided by Apollo, fulfilling the prophecy.

The story opens with Patroclus's exile bringing him to Phthia, where Achilles chooses him as a sworn companion and the two fall in love during years of training under the centaur Chiron. They are pulled toward war when Paris abducts Helen and Agamemnon assembles the kingdoms of the Greek-speaking world, and despite Thetis hiding Achilles on Scyros, Odysseus exposes him and the two sail for Troy together. At the Greek assembly in Aulis the rivalry between Achilles and Agamemnon ignites, escalating into the sacrifice of Iphigenia and a poisoned alliance before the fleet even reaches Troy. The siege grinds on until Agamemnon confiscates Briseis and Achilles withdraws his forces, leaving the Greeks vulnerable as the Trojans breach their wall and burn their ships. In desperation Patroclus disguises himself in Achilles's armor, rallies the Greeks, and is killed by Hector, sending Achilles into unstoppable rage. Achilles kills Hector and is himself killed by Paris, bringing the central love story to its tragic close.

The headline story of Achilles and Patroclus, from exile to Troy to death.

A young Patroclus watches Achilles win a foot race at his father's Panhellenic games, feeling jealous envy.

Menoitius presents Patroclus as a suitor for Helen at Tyndareus's court; all suitors swear a blood oath to protect her marriage.

Achilles throws a fig to Patroclus across the dinner table, his first deliberate act of friendship.

Patroclus secretly watches Achilles train alone and witnesses his superhuman speed for the first time.

Chiron welcomes Patroclus to Mount Pelion despite having received Thetis's message ordering him to bar the boy.

Chiron declares Achilles the greatest warrior of any generation and tells Patroclus he will never excel at fighting.

Achilles and Patroclus share their first kiss on the beach, and the startled Patroclus flinches away.

Patroclus arrives at Scyros posing as 'Chironides' and Deidameia announces to the room that she is pregnant by Achilles.

Patroclus confronts Odysseus after Iphigenia's death, accusing him of dishonoring Achilles by using his name as bait.

Patroclus begins assisting physician Machaon in the infirmary while Achilles spends his days on the battlefield.

Agamemnon claims Chryseis, then humiliates and drives off her father Chryses, who calls on Apollo to send plague.

A near-mutiny among the Greek soldiers is defused when Achilles publicly pledges he will remain until the end.

Patroclus rushes to warn Briseis that Agamemnon's heralds are coming to take her from the Myrmidon camp.

Patroclus kills Sarpedon, son of Zeus, during the battle while still disguised as Achilles.

Priam comes alone at night to Achilles's camp and begs him to return Hector's body for proper burial.

This pool traces the quieter but crucial events that shaped Achilles and Patroclus's relationship and the war that consumed them. From childhood jealousy at the Panhellenic games to a first friendly fig toss and a breathless first kiss, the early chapters chart how two very different boys became inseparable. On Mount Pelion, Chiron recognizes both Achilles's extraordinary greatness and Patroclus's gifts as a healer, setting the course of each boy's life in ways they only partly understand. At Troy, Patroclus devotes himself to the infirmary while Achilles fights, and his compassion shapes nearly every crisis that follows, from claiming Briseis to defusing a Greek mutiny to rushing to warn her before Agamemnon's heralds arrive. The pool continues through Patroclus killing Zeus's own son Sarpedon during the disguised charge, a reckless act that carries terrible consequences. It closes with Achilles's rare act of grace — returning Hector's body to his father Priam — one of the few moments where his humanity breaks through the armor of his grief.

The moments behind the myth — friendship, rivalry, love, and sacrifice.

Thetis meets Patroclus privately and coldly warns him that Achilles will become a god and Patroclus will die soon.

Chiron tells Achilles and Patroclus the story of Meleager, noting those left behind may suffer more than those who die.

Achilles announces to the other foster boys that Patroclus will now sleep in his private room.

Peleus reads Patroclus's patronymic aloud at the war assembly, revealing he is bound by the oath to protect Helen's marriage.

Patroclus calls on Thetis at the cliffs and learns that Achilles's death is fated to follow Hector's.

Patroclus extracts Achilles's location from Peleus by assuming the position of a suppliant and then sails to Scyros.

Achilles rips off his female disguise and declares 'no more' to Thetis, refusing to keep hiding.

Achilles tells Patroclus he will go to Troy and asks him to come; they hold each other and weep.

Achilles returns from his first raid covered in victims' blood and marvels aloud at how easy the killing was.

Patroclus reveals Achilles's trap to Agamemnon and personally frees Briseis, betraying his lover's scheme to protect her.

Achilles tells Patroclus he is 'the better man' after their confrontation over sacrificing Briseis for his own honor.

Thetis appeals to Zeus to help the Trojans defeat the Greeks until Agamemnon begs Achilles to return.

Phoinix tells Achilles the story of Meleager as a final plea to return to battle, but Achilles still refuses.

Pyrrhus arrives at Troy and refuses to include Patroclus's name on Achilles's monument, leaving his shade to wander the earth.

Thetis etches Patroclus's name onto Achilles's monument; the shades of Patroclus and Achilles reunite in a flood of light.

This pool focuses on the pivotal moments of discovery, choice, and consequence that determined how the story ended. Early turning points — Thetis's cold warning to Patroclus, Chiron's tale of Meleager, and Peleus reading Patroclus's oath aloud at the war assembly — quietly set fatal conditions in motion long before Troy is even sighted. The middle section tracks the decisions made under pressure: Patroclus defying Thetis to follow Achilles to Scyros, both men weeping as they agree to sail for Troy knowing it means death, and Patroclus betraying Achilles's scheme to save Briseis at personal cost. At Troy the stakes escalate with each refusal: Thetis enlisting Zeus against the Greeks, Achilles turning away Phoinix's last appeal, and Patroclus finally asking to wear the armor when all other pleas have failed. The pool closes in the aftermath of silence, with Pyrrhus erasing Patroclus from the monument and leaving his shade to wander, before Thetis performs the final quiet act of love that reunites the two at last.