Episode 001: The Song of Achilles
“Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son, Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grown into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfil his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.”
First published in 2011, it was Miller’s debut novel that took her 10 years to write!
This week we are reviewing The Song of Achilles, written by Madeline Miller that is set during the Greek Heroic Age that tells the story of Homer’s Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus. Since it is LGBTQ+ history month in the UK, I thought what better way to mark the month with a focus on ancient Greece!
You can either listen to the podcast on the left, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the book followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings about the book. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the book and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to read The Song of Achilles and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
Overall I think that this book is a really interesting retelling of a specific part of Homer’s Iliad tale, since its main focus is around the story of Achilles and Patroclus rather than all the other parts of that Greek classic. It does mean that people familiar with the tale can have a different perspective on that story and it allows us to re-examine some of the relationships within that classic myth. For those who are familiar with the tale of the Iliad and the Trojan war, then the latter half of the book is not going to be super surprising in the events it touches on or how things play out. Yet I still found it enjoyable to revisit things I had learned in school but with a different viewpoint to look at them through!
The book is written from Patroclus’s point of view and can be seen in two halves. The first half focuses on his childhood and contains a lot world building for those unfamiliar with classic Greece as well as developing key characters and the relationships between them. The second half is centered around the Trojan war and the roles our characters have to play in it.
Now it would not be a Greek tale without something saucy taking place, and there are indeed a few steamy moments! These aren’t super graphic but actually handled rather tastefully so as not to distract from the overall plot for the sake of some smut. And some of these scenes do highlight the messiness of relationships and show that just because someone may be gay, doesn’t mean they can’t go through the motions of sleeping with people that society deems more acceptable. But with most classical tales, there is also an instance of rape which is discussed early on in the book in slightly graphic detail as well as insinuations during the siege of Troy about what happens to women captured by the invading army. So be aware those will come up during reading this and make sure you are in a safe mind-set to deal with those situations coming up.
On terms of representation, it is great to see how casually they reintroduce us to how gay the Greeks were! From almost the first page, where you get a comment on one of the kings whose wife is seen as simple, and so how there will always be slave girls and servant boys for him to use instead. And later comments on how boys would sometimes have attractions to one another and it being treated more as a phase that once older they will choose a wife and grow out. But there are also instances that highlight the less understanding nature of ancient Greek culture, where men would be expected to be conquerors and that they could never be fully respected if they were considered conquered themselves (aka as being taken by another man in the sexy way!). There is also the mention that to dress in women’s clothing in necessity is fine, but that if it became public knowledge then there would be terrible names for such acts or people that do so. These examples of homophobia really highlight the way that queer relationships were seen in ancient Greece, where between adults it was seen as odd and frowned upon, while queer relationships based upon societal standing and age differences, since it was seen more as a mentoring situation, was much more common and accepted.
The book also manages to show some of the patriarchy of the time as well, with remarks around how a rules is able to do what they want (such as burning fields or destroying property) and yet it is seen as off limits to touch a man’s son! As if the male is more important than people’s livelihoods or property, since they would be seen as the way for the family line to carry on. Or again by how women are ‘gifted’ to men as spoils of war or favours from the gods, or that when children come home the mother is always second to receive them as the father would be first. This helps to make this feel more realistic and part of its times.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
Overall, I think Madeline Miller has created a fantastic piece of work, which gives a lot of depth to some of the characters from the Iliad and allows us to examine a classical story from a unique perspective. There is great character development that feels believable and relatable which makes the ending all the more poignant. The writing easily flows, with maybe only one or two moments where you might break immersion when somebody says fuck, so it was something I found I finished within the week even though I am not the fastest reader. Its easy to be sucked into the novel, especially if you have previous knowledge of classical Greek myths, even if that might slightly take out the surprise of some of the story beats!
I would say that this book is nine out of ten lyres for the brilliant way it reimagines a classic tale. Its great to see the queer elements being added back into history and overall it’s a very bittersweet love story that is overshadowed by war and prophecy.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the book which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to read The Song of Achilles yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go read the book and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise I won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The relationship between Patroclus and Achilles isn’t automatic but does take a while to develop from their first encounters, to the catching of each other’s eyes at dinner, to the stolen kiss and years of tension while they learn under Chiron. It does make it believable that this strong bond develops between them over time, before those teenager hormones on Achilles 16 birthday finally win out along with the knowledge that they are in the one place that Achilles mother can’t see them!
With the two key characters, Madeline Miller does an excellent job of showing us who they are and then slowly developing them over the course of around 20 years. It really helps to flesh out the key players of this tale from the common mythology that we know.
It’s not surprising to see Achilles being bold and direct (such as telling Patroclus he will sleep in the same quarters from now on or by easily claiming him as his honor guard). This confidence seems obvious since not only has he been raised as a prince all his life, but he has known he will become like a god since the age of 12! Talk about a lot of pressure to put on kids as they become teenagers eh! It’s no wonder that later on we also see him being a very bitter bitch, asking the gods to forsake the Greek army since not only was he dishonored publicly, but he was enraged not one single person jumped to his defense either. Its interesting to see the godhood versus the general humanity in this demi-god.
Yet we also get to see the side of Achilles that is not completely comfortable with killing people and has to reconcile this with the need to go to war to ensure his legacy, since he is aware by not going he would fade into history and his divinity wasted. It gives a really interesting angle into why he can be so fucking stubborn when it comes to his honor and Agamemnon, not accepting the begging in the dead of night but instead needing it to be done as publicly as the way he was dishonored in front of all the men.
Meanwhile with Patroclus, we have someone who is initially very meek due to a very abusive father and his cruel upbringing, who during the course of his learning with Chiron and then finding his place as it were as a medic during the war; he becomes confident and very social with the men. He also changes from someone who is openly honest (such as admitting he killed a boy by accident and thus losing his prince hood) to then become openly willing to lie to shield himself and most importantly Achilles (since he is warned he may bring dishonor to Achilles name if its publicly known they are an item and so he chooses to basically stay in the closet for the sake of his lovers legacy).
For Thetis, Achilles mother the sea nymph, her character is also very complex, as at first, you see her as cold and hateful towards mortals but by the ending, there is an understanding of her motives. Considering her past where it was prophesised that her child will be greater than their father, and so the gods conspiring to let a mortal have her, or what it really is, they encourage him to rape her. It’s no wonder she only visits Achilles fleetingly and never trusts or tolerates any other mortals after such a brutal act of violence done upon her, since she would be reliving part of that trauma every time she is seeing him or his father.
And to constantly be aware of her child’s prophecy and pushing him to achieve his glory as much as possible, even trading favours with the gods, and then realising in the end that she can’t be with him in death and she has missed knowing so much more about her child. It’s a really lovely act of reconciliation between Thetis and Patroculs at the end, where she allows him to reach the afterlife after hearing all his stories about her son, considering that their interactions throughout the book are her belittling him and his worthiness for her son.
The real monster of the story is personified with Agamemnon and showing the effects of war on the people caught in the middle of the conflict. We are led to dislike Agamemnon himself since he is so distrustful and petty, needing to have his first share of the treasure as well as treating the other kings and princes more like slaves. But we also see through him the unfairness in war, not only to those competing in it and the strained relations between allies, but also in how people who are captured are traded like objects amongst the people and that pleas from their family are easily ignored due to their limited positions of power.
Even though Achilles is touted as the hero of the tale, in my opinion it is Patroclus who shows he is the real hero. When he chooses to do the right thing to protect Briseis even if it puts his own relationship with Achilles at risk, he shows the true courage hero’s have to risk their own personal comfort to protect others! It is a shame, but not a surprise from a demi-god that he would see this as a personal betrayal rather than someone standing up for what is right!
This heroic quality in Patroclus is also seen earlier when he asks Achilles to request some of the women who are to be taken as war prizes, not so that they can keep these women for themselves, but rather to protect them from being abused by the other men. The fact this was, and sometimes still is, carried out during conflicts is horrific! Nobody should ever be seen as a prize to be used as the victor wishes, so it is welcome to have at least somebody actively acknowledging that it is not okay and trying to create a space for helping at least some of the people being captured!
There is also that unenviable position that most of us can relate to as well, where Patroclus has to defend his lovers decision, even though he feels it is the wrong one and has already tried to change his mind with sound arguments. Nobody ever like’s to have to be caught in that center of conflict and hear how people are turning against the one they love just due to something as nebulous as pride. Miller makes it relatable and from that, we get to the terrible choice to both stick with Achilles wishes while also saving his honor amongst the men by going into battle disguised as Achilles himself.
In regards to the ending, it is heart breaking to have the final parts of the book still be from Patroclus but now as someone who is a shade amongst the living, having to witness the reaction people are having to his death and being unable to affect anything. Not only watching Achilles go mad with grief and ultimately causing his own death through his choices, but then seeing how Briseis treated in the end comes across as painful since he knew how much both of them loved him. And the final kicker of Achilles last wishes being ignored and he is left unmarked, and so can’t go to the underworld due to people basically being selfish, arrogant dicks. Thankfully, there is that kind of reconciliation between Thetis and Patroclus so that she can fix the tomb of Achilles to allow Patroclus to pass on and give us the final happy conclusion after the tragedy we had been building up to throughout the book.