Book Review of ‘The Song Of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a creative retelling of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ from the point of view of Patroclus. It’s brilliantly written, engaging at every turn, and leaves you to wonder a little about the characters’ lives outside the book. This is the second book I have read after Madeline’s ‘Circe’ which is another exciting story.
Greek stories feature heroes, but they are often quite one-dimensional in their character, but the author does an outstanding job at making them seem real. This book from the name might seem like a glorifying tale of Achilles (Brad Pitt from the movie Troy), a great Greek warrior but instead is the portrayal of him through his lover’s eyes.
The story is told from the perspective of Patroclus who, exiled by his father to live in the court of Peleus, soon falls in love with his host’s son, the superhuman Achilles: from childhood, his demi-god status means he is swifter, more beautiful and more skilled than all his peers. Astonishingly to Patroclus’s eyes, Achilles returns his love, and the two boys grow into adulthood and a love affair — much to the displeasure of Achilles’s mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.
I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way, his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world. — Patroclus
The story is also a retelling of the Trojan War, things get intense when circumstances compel Achilles to serve in the Trojan War. Achilles, a one-man genocide whose defining characteristic was his anger and pride. He withdrew from fighting at Troy because Agamemnon had slighted his honour, and watched his fellow Greeks being slaughtered by the Trojans; he only returned to battle to seek vengeance after his lover Patroclus had been killed.
The story portrays the depth and complexity of relationships, friendships, heartbreak, loss, grief and triumphs. People who are interested in Greek Mythology must surely give it a try.
