sorry your most loyal commenter was a little late due to work, but it’s about time u reacted to this 😡

The reference to the mythological doomed yaoi is crazy

43:27
Commenting again lol, but I still have the itch to explain Achilles’ story, since my degree focuses a lot on Greek books (The Iliad, The Odyssey) and Roman ones (The Aeneid) during the first year. And there’s a big detail about the part where it says “If Patroclus never existed, maybe Achilles would not have met the fate that he did” or something like that, and to understand that, we have to go pretty far back into the story.

Before Achilles was even born, there was already a prophecy about him. The gods had been told that Thetis, his mother, would have a son who would become the greatest warrior of his time and would be more powerful than his father. The problem was that Thetis was a goddess, and both Zeus and Poseidon had wanted to marry her. So if she had a son with either of them, that child could potentially become even more powerful than Zeus and eventually become a threat to the entire Olympian order. Because of this, the gods decided that Thetis had to marry a mortal, Peleus, and that was how Achilles was born.

Thetis obviously wanted to protect her son from his fate, so she tried to make him immortal. There are several versions of this. In one of the older ones, she tried to make him immortal using fire and ambrosia, while in the more famous version, she dipped him into the River Styx as a baby to make him invulnerable. However, she had to hold him by the heel, so that part remained mortal. That is where the whole “Achilles’ heel” thing comes from. This version, though, is actually later than The Iliad.

Then there’s the prophecy that Achilles had two possible fates: he could live a long and peaceful life, or he could go to Troy, gain immense glory, and die young. Thetis spent a huge part of her life trying to prevent her son from choosing the second path. She even hid him on Scyros and disguised him as a girl so that he wouldn’t be taken to war. Odysseus eventually figured it out and caught him, though.

But Achilles still went to Troy.

The Trojan War began because they kidnapped Helen, Menelaus’ wife, who left with Paris, the prince of Troy. Menelaus gathered the Greek kings to get her back because of the oath they had made before Helen married him, and that was how the war began. Achilles eventually became one of the most important warriors on the Greek side, but then he had a huge problem with Agamemnon. When Agamemnon had to return Chryseis, he demanded Briseis, who had been given to Achilles as a war prize. Achilles saw this as a massive insult and decided to stop fighting. Basically, according to the Homeric idea of honor, this was a huge offense against his status and honor — hybris, even.

And this is where Patroclus comes in.

Patroclus was much more than just “Achilles’ friend.” He was one of the most important people in Achilles’ life. While Achilles refused to fight, the Greeks started losing ground. So Patroclus asked to wear Achilles’ armor and go into battle, so the Trojans would think Achilles had returned and hopefully the Greek army would regain some momentum. Achilles agreed, but told him not to go beyond the walls of Troy. Patroclus eventually went too far and ended up fighting Hector, who killed him. Several warriors then tried to get Patroclus’ body out of the battlefield, but it was extremely difficult.

And Achilles changes.

He doesn’t care about Agamemnon anymore. He doesn’t care about Briseis. He doesn’t care about his pride. He doesn’t even care about his own life anymore. The only thing he wants is revenge for Patroclus.

And that’s where the quote comes in.

Achilles had spent basically his entire life trying to escape his fate. Thetis tried to make him immortal, hide him, and keep him away from Troy. Even Achilles himself had decided not to fight, although it was mostly because of his pride — because, let's be honest, he absolutely did like the idea of being the greatest warrior.

But after Patroclus dies, he stops trying to escape his fate.

Thetis comes back to him and knows exactly what Achilles returning to battle means: if he kills Hector, his own death will be getting closer and closer. She tries to make him think about it because she knows she is about to lose her son. But Achilles is completely devastated, crying over Patroclus, and he has already made his decision. He doesn’t want to keep living while the person he considered a part of himself is dead.

So he goes back to battle knowing that he will probably die too.

He kills Hector and gets his revenge, but at the same time, he gets even closer to his own fate.

And the tragic part is that Patroclus didn’t directly “cause” Achilles’ death. It’s more that Patroclus’ death was what made Achilles stop trying to escape it. According to the way the myth is usually understood, Achilles was still mortal despite being the son of a goddess, and his divine side did not simply make him completely immortal. His death was always part of the fate connected to his choice to go to Troy.


44:25
I mean, The Song of Achilles is basically fanfiction if you think about it lol.

There isn’t really one single “original” version of the story, especially not The Song of Achilles, because obviously it’s a modern novel. The book tells the story of how Achilles and Patroclus met, long before Troy, but we don’t actually have a definitive historical record confirming that this is exactly how they met. We don’t have every surviving record of how all these myths originally developed, either.

So yeah, that’s pretty much it.

I hope this made sense and that I didn’t get anything wrong because there’s SO much more I skipped since I only wanted to talk about Patroclus, Achilles, and his fate. English isn’t really my strongest language either, so sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes T.T

(not so fun) fact: when Patroclus is killed by Hector, there is a scene where Achilles’ helmet falls and Patroclus’ blood stains it. It’s a really tragic image because it can be read as symbolically connecting Patroclus’ death with Achilles’ own fate — almost like his death has already been set in motion

AMAZING REACTION MAN!!!! 💕
I highly recommend watching the Q&A on their channel!!! It's super informative about the story and characters

Omg Thank you for reacting!!

01:06 I whach the catfish thing uhh okay byy

OHMYDAYS I LOVE THIS ARG SO MUXH YO W REACTION IM ACTUQLLY SO GLAD YOU REACTED TO THIS?????
day 4 (???i think) of asking you to react to "1 week to void the world" by pentar!

Hello!

Well, if you already know this, but for the comment about racism, she is what she made Jade yeah it’s 4 AM and I’m half asleep so I don’t know how to write this

Again

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First comment!!! Wassup man love you videos keep it up man!!