Page:Lovers Legends - The Gay Greek Myths.pdf/123

 Achilles and Patroclus

price. With sure hand he guided Paris’ arrow: The polished shaft flew true, its sharp bronze dug into Achilles’ heel, the only spot untouched by Stygian waters. Waves of agony washed over Achilles. His life left him and his shade flew straight to the White Island in the Black Sea, the wooded island filled with game at the mouth of the Danube river. There it joined the roaming soul of Patroclus, and they while away the time hunting and feasting arm in arm, the two of them and many other heroes, honored to this day with holy sacrifices by the tribesmen along that wild coast.

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