Review: The Song of Achilles

Probably everyone should read Homer's The Iliad during the course of their life — if you weren't forced to do so in a high school, that is. But if you can't make it through such unfamiliar language and concepts, do the next best thing and read Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles.

This intelligent, poignant and beautifully written book follows the life of Achilles, ancient Greece’s most legendary warrior and a central actor in The Iliad. The novel’s told through the eyes of the hero’s lifelong friend, companion and lover, Patroclus. Banished after accidentally killing another highborn boy, Patroclus finds himself living in the court of Achilles’ father, King Peleus. The king is kind to him, but Patroclus, having been stripped of both is title and his name, is deeply damaged. It’s only when Achilles, a youth as comfortable in his own skin as Patroclus is uncomfortable in his, takes an interest in him that the disgraced boy begins to come out of his shell. Being the favorite of a prince is an enviable position to have, but most do not approve, especially Achilles’ goddess mother, Thetis. Cold and calculating, Thetis is obsessed with the prophecy that her son will go on to be Greece’s greatest warrior, thereby earning himself a place among the immortals. She sees Patroclus as not only being unworthy of the prince’s affection, but actually contrary to his fate. Perhaps the only thing that keeps her from murdering Patroclus is knowing that it would drive a permanent wedge between her and Achilles.  

Achilles however, is a reluctant hero and an even more reluctant killer. When he and Patroclus are sent to study with the centaur Chiron, tutor to other legendary Greeks like Jason and Herakles, the boys at last find the freedom to be themselves. Secluded in Chiron’s mountain retreat, the pressures and responsibilities of court, title and prophecy melt away. Achilles and Patroclus find that their differences complement each other and finally consummate their relationship. This is the start of a lifelong love affair which, though tested by separation, war, pride, and the cruelty of the gods, does not falter. 

The latter half of the book deals extensively with the Trojan war and Achilles exploits there. It is the war that really transforms Patroclus and Achilles, inspiring one to look for ways to help others, the other to become as obsessed with his honor as his callous mother, preferring to see hundreds die before yielding even an ounce of it to another. In many ways, Miller's book reminds me of the best of Mary Renault, whose novels about Greek myth include The Bull from the Sea and The King Must Die. Renault's books are still some of the best on ancient Greek life and widely hailed as classics. I would not be surprised to find The Song of Achilles earn similar accolades in the years ahead.

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