The Iliad as interpreted by Madeline Miller & Pat Barker (Briseis and Patroclus)
"Why are you here?" Briseis asks Patroclus. "Do you dislike your homeland so much that you would take Ilium as your own?"
The man shakes his head, his brow furrowed. He has been kind to her, and Briseis does not want to cause any ill feelings, but she has to understand. Do these men travel so far only to destroy Trojan lives?
"It's Helen," he says. "If she hadn't run away with Hector, if she had stayed with Menelaus, there would still be peace."
Briseis doesn't believe this is true. Men blame women, but they go to war for themselves.