“On the interior, Achilles seems to have removed an arrow from Patroclus and is bandaging the wound, while Patroclus holds the bandage in place with his thumb… Achilles is a beardless adult, a Stripling, but with a beard already appearing by his ears; Indeed, he seems to have raised his cheek guards to show us his age. He kneels between Patroclus’ open legs. Patroclus is a bit older, bearded but not luxuriantly. If you have read very much at all about Achilles, you will find it completely amazing to see him so meekly and mildly being unselfish and kind.

 It is a remarkably careful piece of work. Patroclus’ genitals are prominent, and the anonymous artist has taken great care to show the loose skin around his testicles… He has shown the knuckles on the back of Achilles’ hand, and the folds on the palm just visible on the other. The pleats on Patroclus’ chemise are especially finely done…

 They belong in their own world, wrapped up in each other, not even looking at anything that lies outside the frame… And since, according to Homer, these two will actually be buried together in a two-handled vase, it’s almost as if we’re watching them in death together, like two genies in a flask, thus reversing the startling wish of Achilles in the Iliad that they be the only ones left alive and everyone else be dead.

Well, I might be getting carried away…”

 - James Davidson, The Greeks and Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality in Ancient Greece