The Song Of Achilles; A Novel You Will Fall In Love With
The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller in my opinion is an absolute masterpiece that you need on your reading list if you love Greek History and Mythos. This novel is a rendition or better stated a new adaptation of Homer’s Iliad which follows through the story of the beautiful Helen of Troy and the Trojan war. Here though the story is quite the same; it follows the journey of the Greeks under the leadership of King Agamemnon of Mycenae against the Trojan army of King Priam. This novel focuses on the intricacies of the relationship between Prince Achilles of Phthia and his companion or rather known as Achilles’ brother in arms, Patroclus who was also a prince but was banished from his kingdom.
The novel is a rollercoaster ride of emotions and will make you laugh at certain parts but cry as well; it will make you feel angry and even betrayed! You might end up hating the prideful King Agamemnon and arrogant sea nymph Thetis who is also the mother of Achilles. You will absolutely fall in love with the sweet and simple Patroclus; you might even get a bit mad at our honorable Prince Achilles and admire Odysseus’ charming wits. One thing is for sure; you won’t rest till you finish the novel, it took me 3 days to finish it but it might take you less.
The Iliad And The Song Of Achilles
If you thought I would leave you hanging with just a simple book review then I am sorry but you were mistaken; my love for this novel made me research a bit more about Achilles and Partoclus than you would have expected. I simply wanted to know how much of it was taken from the Iliad and how much of it was a figment of the writer’s imagination; while also comparing the facts from imagination. I basically wanted to know if Achilles and Patroclus were lovers or not and how was Achilles truly killed since there are a couple stories surrounding the myth. In this section I will cover a few instances in the novel that I found interesting. Here I will be answering all the questions that I as a reader had after finishing the novel or while reading it. I hope this will be educational as well as interesting for everyone who loves this novel and Greek Mythos. Also if you have no idea who Achilles is but want to know the basics then these questions might be a great way for you to know more about the man; but if you want to read the novel or even Iliad then you are free to do that before you read this section of my review.
Why Did The Trojan War Took Place And Who Were The Main Part-takers Of The War?
In the novel we learn Trojan war took place when Helen, the most beautiful lady in the whole of Greece and wife of King Menelaus of Sparta was ‘taken away’ by the the Trojans. Through the novel we learn that the main partakers of this war were; the King Menelaus of Sparta, his brother King Agamemnon of Mycenae, King Odysseus of Ithaca and Prince Achilles of Phthia from the Greek’s side while King Priam of Troy and his sons Paris and Hector.
Illiad though sheds a brighter light on why the trojan war took place and it’s main partakers. Yes, the novel did not omit or add it’s own fantasy elements in it and told the take for what it was. In Iliad we can tell clearly that Helen went willingly with Prince Paris to Troy which caused the jilted King of Sparta to convince his brother King Agamemnon Mycenae to lead an expedition to retrieve her. And yes due to the oath taken by all the suitors of Helen before she was married did aid in gathering men for the war. The oath was to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with him which was a suggestion given by Odysseus to stop the quarreling kings and princes just in case it lead to bloodshed. The oath bound the men who later made up the army of Greeks for the Trojan war.
The main partakers of the Trojan war were as the novel depicted King Agamemnon of Mycenae, King Odysseus of Ithaca and Prince Achilles of Phthia, King Ajax, King Priam of Troy, Prince Paris, Prince Hector and the Sarpedon (he was the leader of Lycia and an ally of the Trojans in the Trojan War he was also a son of Zeus and was killed by Patroclus.)
Who Was Achilles And What Was His Relationship With Patroclus?
In the novel we learn that Achilles is the son of King Peleus of Phthia and the sea nymph Thetis. He was not a child out of blood but was a child of prophecy meant to be the best of all Greeks. Achilles truly was a spectacle of a man with his godly looks and how well he wielded his weapons killing people mercilessly on the battlefield. His relationship with Patroclus in the Song Of Achilles is purely romantic rather than anything else. Achilles and Patroclus were in love and they wanted to be together till they died even in after life having their ashes mixed in one urn.
In the novel though we learn that it was not clear that they were lover. They were never shown as lovers throughout the Iliad till the men took their last breath. Though we do clearly see how strong their bond was. But there are a few instances which hint or maybe eludes to the fact they might be more than close companions like how Achilles went into mourning and blind rage after Patroclus was killed by Hector. He even goes ahead and says “My dear comrade’s dead — Patroclus — the man I loved beyond all other comrades, loved as my own life — I’ve lost him.”
In an another instance we see that Patroclus returns as a ghost (this was not written in the novel, The Song Of Achilles; but was written as a part of Achilles last wish rather than Patroclus wish). Here Patroclus asks Achilles for one last wish which was; “A last request — grant it, please. Never bury my bones apart from yours, Achilles, let them lie together…So now let a single urn, the gold two-handed urn your noble mother gave you, hold our bones — together.” This is quite intimate and can be thought of as the love that the two men had between them.
Even as Patroclus’ parting rite ritual Achilles looks quite emotional and even places a lock of his own hair in Patroclus’ hands.
Was Thetis As Bad As She Was Portrayed In The Song Of Achilles?
No; actually Thetis was not bad at all! I was quite surprised after I learnt more about the sea nymph since I had pinned her as one of the bad guy. Thetis actually was a big aid to Achilles and an absolute Mama Bear who loved and wanted to just protect her son till the end. She even mourned Patroclus’ death which was not written in the novel as she was shown to have immense hatred for the character. She went through hell and beyond to save her son from Zeus and all the gods. Though Achilles quite a lot like he was shown in the novel wanted to break free from her mother’s protection.
It was sad though, as Thetis was forced to be with the King. She was first pursued by the Gods; Zeus and Poseidon who were later discouraged given the prophecy that Thetis would give birth to a son who would “exceed his father.” Zeus had come to reign Olympus by conquering his father Kronos and he did not want that to happen to him. There is another version where she was cursed by Zeus after she rejected him; he cursed her by declaring that she would never marry a god and was doomed to marry a mortal.
All in all Thetis was not a bad person and just protective of her son whom she dearly loved.
How was Achilles Killed? The Stories Behind His Death?
This is where the novel kind of gets a tad different than the actual story from Iliad. Here Achilles died after he killed Hector; he was shot I the shoulder by Paris who was guided by Apollo which I found preposterous given Paris shoots him in the heel! This is what gave rise to the proverb; “Achilles Heel”.
The myth surrounding Achilles was that (the non Homeric version of it which is quite famous) the Goddess Thetis dipped Achilles as a child in the waters of the River Styx which made him invulnerable, except for the part of his heel by which she held him by which gave the rise to the proverb “Achilles’ Heel.”
Though in Homer’s version Achilles was just a demigod brought up by his sea nymph mother in Phthia and was one of the greatest Greek to have ever lived. In the story Achilles died in a similar fashion after he killed Hector but he was shot in the heel by Paris who was guided by the God Apollo himself. Though unlike in the novel where Achilles immediately was killed after he had slain Hector; in Iliad he died much later after he had slain the Ethiopian king Memnon and the Amazon Penthesilea.
I hope you loved this blog post on one of my favourite novels and I hope it also gave you some information you did not know about. Also if I got something wrong and you would like to add more then please do because I would like some feedback. Also please know that by no means I am an expert on Greek Mythology; this is something I found interesting and wanted to share it with the world.