What The Song of Achilles can teach us about success, decision-making, and service to others.

This modern classic reminds us what it means to be human

Madeline Miller’s debut novel is a poignant reminder that everything in love and war is not fair. But there is hope, for despite Achilles’ prideful rage, his best friend and lover shows us what the best of humanity looks like.

When Achilles rages against Hector in Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, Hector is wearing Achilles’ armor. The armor’s breastplate is emblazoned with an unmistakable phoenix — a detail you’d be hard-pressed to find in the original myth. “It looks, almost, as if Achilles is chasing himself,” writes Miller.1

The source of Achilles’ rage

For those who haven’t read Homer’s The Iliad, this scene is the hub around which the entire wheel of the story spins. After much dick-measuring with Agamemnon, Achilles throws a hissy-fit.2 This results in his absence from the battlefield, a huge advance by the Trojan army, and the death of many Greeks.

To ward off the Trojan army, Achilles’ best pal and lover, Patroclus, straps on Achilles’ armor and races onto the battlefield in a chariot.3 Just the sight of Achilles is enough to scare the Trojans. They retreat to the…