Achilles is a 1995 British Stop Motion short directed by Barry Purves. It is narrated by Derek Jacobi.
The short is basically a retelling of The Iliad (the central part of The Trojan War) in an abridged manner, and explicitly depicts Achilles and Patroclus as lovers.
It can be watched here
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Achiles provides examples of the following tropes:
- Achilles' Heel: Literally, since it concerns the Trope Namer. Achilles dies after an arrow is shot in his heel.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Achilles and Patroclus were Ambiguously Bi in the Iliad, while here Achilles is unambiguously bisexual with Patroclus possibly being homosexual by our modern understanding as unlike Achilles he shows no interest in the opposite sex.
- Art Imitates Art: The short fully borrows its style to art from Ancient Greece, from statues to theatre masks and pottery.
- Death by Adaptation: While serving as an adaptation of The Iliad, it portrays Achilles as dying not long after killing Hector and avenging Patroclus. Achilles' death has never been in The Iliad, tales of his death are dated as far back as the unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the 1st century AD by Statius (author of The Thebaid).
- The Faceless: All Trojan warriors have a bull/minotaur head-shaped helmet, including Hector, who never dons Achilles' armour as he did in the Iliad.
- Full-Frontal Assault: After the death of Patroclus, Achilles goes to confront Hector naked, just carrying a spear.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Patroclus is impaled on a spear by Hector and lifted, to Achilles' horror.
- Manly Gay: Achilles is a strong, bearded, muscular and loud warrior here, while Patroclus is clean-shaven and a tad more effeminate.
- Neck Snap: Achilles kills Hector by snapping his neck here.
- No Name Given: Achilles' mother, the nymph Thetis, appears in the short, but she isn't named.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Despite both being Ambiguously Bi, Achilles or Patroclus were never portrayed as anything but close friends and kinsmen in The Iliad. Ancient Greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual, it was assumed that a man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women.
- Show Within a Show: Achilles and Patroclus put masks on and reenact the abduction of Helen.
