Asteroid 617, Patroclus, a Jupiter Trojan, was discovered on October 17, 1906 by August Kopff at Heidelberg, Germany. It has a period of 11 years, 347 days and is about 105 miles in diameter.
Patroclus was named for the Greek Trojan war hero and good friend of Achilles who was slain by Hector. Achilles had been sulking in his tent and refusing to fight as the result of an argument with Odysseus over a captured Trojan girl, but the death of Patroclus brought him raging out of his tent, intent on getting Hector. After killing Hector, Achilles abused his corpse, dragging him around the perimeter of Troy and refusing to let him be buried at first, until a talking-to from Athene brought him to his senses.
Asteroid Patroclus seems to indicate vengefulness, rage, lashing out in pain and anger, need to differentiate justice from vengeance and do what serves your interests rather than your rage; dealing with grief, loss and pain; also, friendship, loyalty, support, and possibly same-sex partnerships.
Springfield, Oregon school shooter Kip Kinkel, who may have been learning-disabled and became filled with rage and fascinated with guns, has Patroclus biquintile Vesta.
Eric Harris had Patroclus in the 9th house of publishing, conjunct the North Node (to give out) and sextile Saturn (work, rewards and consequences).
His partner in crime, Dylan Klebold, had Patroclus in the 11th house of friends, trine Lilith (marginalization).
George W. Bush, whose presidency has been defined by the 9-11 attacks and his (often manipulative and selfish) reaction to them, has Patroclus in the first house, cusping the second, semisquare Moon (the public), Jupiter (expansion, the law), and Juno (the disadvantaged), quintile the North Node (to give out), and tredecile the South Node (past conditioning, the path of least resistance).
Rodney King, whose beating at the hands of Los Angeles police officers led to the 1992 riots when they were acquitted by a jury in Simi Valley, had Patroclus in the twelfth house, conjunct the Sun (to shine) and Venus (peace, indignation), semisquare Jupiter (the law), sextile Pallas (politics), and quincunx Mars (aggression, assertion) and Uranus (uprisings). He urged the rioters on TV to stop what they were doing, asking "Can we all just get along?"
Ronald Reagan, whose presidential library is in Simi Valley, was an affable and upbeat man who communicated a message well (even if he didn't always "walk the walk"). He experienced strained relations with many of his surviving children, one of whom loudly took up liberal political positions opposite to the ones he took as president (and was written out of his will). He is dying by inches of Alzheimer's disease at this writing (November 2003). His supporters sometimes go overboard in their hero-worship of him, displaying a troubling goofiness and urge toward censorship. He has Patroclus in the ninth house, sextile Jupiter and the South Node, trine the North Node, and opposite Pallas (politics).
Martin Luther King, Jr., who took the high road with regard to dealing with attacks (and oppression), had Patroclus in the eleventh house (politics, love received), sextile Chiron (the door-opener) and opposite Pandora (making a splash, having an impact, stirring things up).
Candy Lightner, who founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving after her daughter was killed by a drunk driver, has Patroclus quindecile Ceres (to nurture).
Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, has Patroclus in the second house, sextile Jupiter, square Mercury and Uranus, and sesquiquadrate Mars.
Rosie O'Donnell, who is also gay, and somewhat volatile and mean-tempered, has Patroclus trine Uranus.
Rocker Melissa Etheridge, who is gay as well, has Patroclus quintile Pluto (mass movements) and trine Juno (relationships).
Incidentally, Patroclus has a moon, known as S/2001 (617) 1, discovered on September 22, 2001 by William J. Merline, Laird M. Close, Nick Siegler, Dan Potter, Clark R. Chapman, Christophe Dumas, Francois Menard, and David C. Slater at Mauna Kea Observatory near Kamuela, Hawaii.
The glyph for Patroclus is mine.