>>3571502As
>>3571540 said, nobody knows if there was any age difference between Achilles and Patroclus, plus the classical Greek dynamics didn't really apply to Alex and Hephaistion because they were both Macedonians and were pretty big on having equality in their relationship, to the point Alexander seemed to believe they were one soul inhabiting two bodies. They were, however, notably physically different, with Hephaistion being the taller and more kingly-looking of the two, which sometimes led to awkward mishaps. Perhaps the most famous one was when the Queen Mother of Persian publicly prostrated herself before Hephaistion to save Darius' harem, assuming that since he was so imposing and impressive, he had to be the great King of Macedon she had heard of (Alexander was standing right there next to him). She was mortified when she learned who they really were, but Alex seemed to be completely okay with the misunderstanding, replying "You were not wrong, Mother, he too is Alexander."