The Song of Achilles

Madeline is an exceptional writer with a style of storytelling so immersive that it spoke to me more deeply than any piece of media. Where homer suffers in restraint, she flourishes.
Pat-ro-clus, Cleo-pat-ra, their tales as similar as their names; both on their knees, but only Meleager’s love prevailed over his ego. Patroclus could mimic Achilles until stripped of his armor by Apollo himself, portraying how he was so in love that he had studied Achilles and the way his feet struck the earth, the way his hips swayed when he hunted down another Trojan, that he had forgotten about his own capabilities- his slender torso, and his self-deprecating identity, which were deeply tied down to his own mother, beautiful but unwitty eyes that did show more not know the world and could not understand the pain that came with living in it.
Aristos Achaion is portrayed through the eyes of Patroclus, eyes that are blinded by love, aching with the desire for Achilles to fix the little life his father left him, and has blurred the reader’s view of Achilles entirely. A prince seen through the eyes of his lover is destined to be biased, and Madeline leaned into that masterfully. Thetis, a sea nymph and the mother of Achilles, is as merciless as the sea that bore her, carries the same coldness in her blood. A goddess who is willing to wrench a child from a mother already widowed and unacquainted to love, is a goddess that will bear a son that mirrors the same animosity; the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Achilles, loved by many at the time, was loved through two forms: one that calcified him into what he became- someone unwavering, with a persona set in stone, and one that dissolved into him entirely, like salt in the sea. They both could not save him from his fate. show less

Miller, Madeline. The Song of Achilles. Bloomsbury, 2011.
I am a sucker for any retelling of a Homer that brings new insight into his epic stories and characters. Anyone reading The Iliad wonders at times about the awkward triangle of Achilles, Patroclus, and Briseis. Achilles goes on strike when Briseis is taken from him, and he goes back to war in a rage when Patroclus is killed. Homer gives us little insight into either of Achilles’s companions. Telling the story from Patroclus’s point of view gives Madeline Miller a chance to flesh out all three characters. The Song of Achilles presents Achilles first as a boy with a weak father and a mother, who as a goddess sets impossible standards for him. He is a draft dodger hanging out show more with his boyfriend when he is dragged to Troy where semi-divine skills as a killer will be appreciated and allowed to flourish. In the end, he learns what every Greek hero learns, that the Gods always stack the deck against us. Patroclus is an older boy exiled into Achilles’s household after he accidently kills another well-connected boy. Tradition says that Patroclus is a kind of surrogate elder brother and the dominant figure in their sexual relationship though he is subordinate in rank and reputation. But that is not the way Miller tells it. For her, Patroclus is a hero-worshiping little brother who is much more emotionally open than Achilles and not a dominant figure in their romantic relationship. Miller must make the character of Briseis almost out of whole cloth. She is a war captive given to Achilles as a prize. Living in the tent with Achilles and Patroclus, she falls in love with Patroclus and offers him a chance to envision himself as a heterosexual husband and father. The choice is analogous to the choice between long life and fame that Thetis gives her son Achilles. In the end, both men make the same choice. Achilles becomes the absent father of Pyrrhus, a heartless, vengeful killer, and Patroclus dies, as Homer tells us, wearing Achilles’s armor. show less

By coincidence I ended up with two books about Achilles out at once from two different libraries. While the premise of _Wrath Goddess Sing_ was very cool and I liked a lot of its worldbuilding, I *enjoyed* this one better: being told from Patroclus's point of view let Achilles be the battle-lusty warrior without the reader having to wade through the blood. I liked reading Patroclus just trying to enjoy their relationship - and also trying to do the right thing for the people around them. The antagonistic relationship with Thetis was also such a big part of the book that their final detente was especially satisfying.

This is not so much the Song of Achilles as the Lament of Patroclus. I struggled through the first half because Patroclus, the 1st person POV character, was really not all that interesting. But the moment we get to the Trojan War, he becomes a person in his own right (rather than someone mooning over his Achilles). That's when it got better and better.

Of course, I had to read till the end to figure out what the author does when her 1st person POV character dies. Will the POV shift to Achilles at last? We really haven't learned much about him through the entire book, save that he's beautiful and god-like. Or will it become 3rd person omniscient?

What the author actually did after P dies was totally unexpected. Beautifully done. Worth the show more struggle over the first half. Just wish the earlier bits had been condensed so the reader can get to the good part earlier.

A Thousand Ships is a better re-telling of the Trojan War, wider in scope, deeper in character -- a banquet. Song of Achilles (Lament of Patroclus), on the other hand, is a deep dive into one relationship, and as such, is done well, even beautifully in places -- a bittersweet dessert. I'm glad I got to read both. show less

“Let the stories of him be something more...I am made of memories...the memories well up like spring water, faster than I can hold them back. They do not come as words, but like dreams, rising as scent from the rain-wet earth” (367).

The Song of Achilles is a story of two heroes—known and unknown—and one love fated for tragedy but reunited by memory. This timeless story is less about the known hero’s glory and pride and more about the unknown hero’s kindness and humility. It’s about an intimacy and a love that would move Patroclus to reject all things, seeking only glory and honor and fame for Achilles—nothing for himself—and that would move Achilles to invite death, seeking only to be reunited with his love in the show more afterlife.

Told through the point of view of the unknown hero, Patroclus is Achilles’ moral compass. While Achilles grows into his god-like, warrior persona, Patroclus chooses medicine over weapons, healing over killing, humility over pride. Throughout their not-so-well hidden love affair, Patroclus invites Achilles into this humanity, allowing him to be more than the killing machine he was made to be. He encourages Achilles in beauty and music, encourages kindness to those he is naturally indifferent to, encourages him to rescue war-slave girls; and even in death, the grief over losing Patroclus, encourages him to return and honor Hector’s body. In the end, Patroclus’ love allows him to see the best in Achilles—not the faults that led to cruelty and death—and it is the telling of these memories that finally releases his soul from wandering among the living to finally resting in the shadow of Achilles. show less

WOW. What a read. I've always been interested in Greek mythology, but I admittedly didn't know enough about Achilles and Patroclus, apart from the very basic stuff - they were at Troy together, Patroclus was killed and Achilles killed Hector in revenge, and their ashes were mixed together in death. I didn't know the intricacies of their relationship. While this book is a reimagining of a fictional account of some long-gone battle, it still did inspire me to do my own research into the two heroes and their separate stories according to the 'canon'. And this book made me enjoy their supposed relationship even more. It's written beautifully, and I love the framing device of Patroclus, rather than Achilles or a third-person view, narrating show more the whole story. I loved the way that their relationship is shown blossoming, how much they absolutely adore each other, and how all-encompassing their love is. I loved every page. What a fantastically beautiful piece of LGBT fiction. show less

Gorgeous, lyrical, and unputdownable, this re-imagining of the Iliad through the eyes of Achilles' constant companion Patroclus is intoxicating.

Having tried and failed to read the Iliad, I found this book to bring all the characters, gods, and their attendant drama into the world of entrancing fiction. The foreshadowing was foreboding but not heavy-handed, the path to tragedy was inexorable but balanced with joy, the cultural context was accessible. Even for a known story and with the knowledge of Greek storytelling rooted in the back of my mind, Patroclus takes actions I wouldn't have expected (and his wise insights into men and power go beyond what I anticipated).

A visit to Greek tragedy that is as accessible as it is exquisite in show more storytelling and characterization -- a very rare find. show less