"Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right,
remember your own father! I deserve more pity…
I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before
I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son."
Those words stirred within Achilles a deep desire
to grieve for his own father. Taking the old man’s hand
he gently moved him back. And overpowered by memory
both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely
for man-killing Hector, throbbing, crouching
before Achilles’ feet as Achilles wept himself,
now for his father, now for Patroclus once again,
and their sobbing rose and fell throughout the house.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 24, lines 588-599. Priam begs Achilles for his son Hector’s body so that he can give it proper funeral rites. When the Trojan king pleads with Achilles to remember his own father, the Achaean hero’s heart is touched and he weeps for his father and his slain friend Patroclus. His mood turns from rage to compassion.