BOOK REVIEW: The Song of Achilles

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Spoiler Free:

Achilles, the son of sea goddess Thesis and legendary king Peleus, is the strongest of them all with a charisma that gains the attention of all. Patroclus, son of king Menoetius, is an awkward young prince struggling to fit into his role. When he gets into an altercation with another boy, killing him, Patroclus is exiled from his country to Phthia to become a foster child where he meets Achilles and never leaves his side. A story about training and war while also navigating relationships, The Song of Achilles walks through Achilles life and what lead him to the Trojan War and the decisions made behind the scenes in his personal life.

A novelistic adaptation of the original story of Achilles and Patroclus, Madeline Miller creates a story that many historians have suspected over the years. Although slower paced and written in passive voice, this book brings a lot of different insights to who Achilles and Patroclus may have been. If you’re a big mythology geek, while also loving romance, this may be the book for you, but even if you don’t know much about Greek Mythology you can still enjoy the romance side of this book.

Spoilers Full:

Okay, here comes the spoilers.

Time to skedaddle if you don’t want to know…

If your mother never said skedaddle, that means time to leave.

Alright, are you ready?

Ready to be spoiled?

Let’s go.

This review won’t be as long as my other ones, mainly because I don’t have a lot to say on this one. I heard really good vibes headed towards this book. Like so many books that were published years ago, this book seemed to have a resurgence and I was excited to be a part of that. It was okayyy, let’s talk about it.

I don’t know really anything about Greek Mythology. I mean I learned about it in high school and maybe a little bit in a lit class in college, and it is interesting but I couldn’t tell who did what. I mean like I remember a high school teacher drilling Dante’s hell in my brain for a test but like is that Greek?? This is definitely a subject I am uneducated on which is fine. But reading this I did feel that the author expected a basic knowledge and because I didn’t it, fell flat…

The story is written in the POV of Patroclus, Achilles lover. Basically, it is a story written through the eyes of how Patroclus sees Achilles and I love that POV. I think it’s unique and similar to when you’re talking to your best friend’s partner about how much they love your best friend and why. It makes you feel warm inside. But I think Miller missed the point a little bit. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus wasn’t all in your face like romance stories are, but it also wasn’t all about the war or training either. Like I would’ve liked the story more if there was more emphasis on one than the other, but instead if felt like both topics fell flat. That is until the end. Also, because of the choice of POV the writing was very passive, which maybe mirrors the type of tone and mood that classic mythology brings, but in this set up it created a distance between the reader and the story/characters.

With that the pacing felt all wrong. Books are formulaic, there’s structures that progress the story forward and give insight to the reader where things are headed without giving up the ending. And this is where I think the author relied on the reader having previous knowledge; I had no clue where the story was headed. I guessed that Patroclus was going to die considering the emphasis on how weak he was in battle and how much he meant to Achilles, but aside from that there was no indication where the story was going. And it was so hard to keep going. I felt like I was just reading a story about a person’s life that didn’t have any conflict involved. It was like trudging through the mud until the reader finds out about the prophecy against Achilles.

The characters also fell flat to me. They felt surface-level and not well rounded in strife and battle of feelings and societal norms. They each seemed to have a responsibility in the story and once that was completed, they seemed to mold back into the background. I never connected with them. Achilles and Patroclus included in that. I mean their relationship could not be perfect the entire time. And when they are mad at each other, they’re… like… not.

Let’s talk about the ending. I wish the emotion, the writing, and the internal conflict in the last thirty pages was throughout the whole book. It was what I craved the entire time. The disagreements and the battle between pride and doing the right thing. The depiction of using Patroclus and Achilles to directly reflect those ideas was beautiful. It was beautiful when Patroclus dies and Achilles carries his body into bed laying with him. Those pages following his death felt like the first time we saw Achilles emotions. Although, Patroclus’s death felt sudden and the transition between his mortal self and spiritual self-narrating was difficult to pick up. I wish Achilles before his death would’ve confided in someone about Patroclus being his partner. Like that final admittance of “yes, I am in a same-sex relationship and I don’t care anymore what that does to my reputation”. Like why did there have to be a battle between who he was to Achilles after Achilles died. Even like a letter would’ve been fitting and with the understanding waving over his son and all the men that he fought with. Then the fight would be more about is it politically right for him to be buried with him, not a total ignoring of what he said in passing once. Nonetheless, I cried reading Patroclus’s want to be properly buried to finally be reunited with Achilles. When Achilles’s mother finally does, letting him join hands with Achilles, I all about bawled my eyes out at how sweet the sentiment was.

In the end, this was a cute story and the ending definitely saved the rating for me.

Madeline Miller

Raised in New York City and Philadelphia, Miller attended Brown University where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. She previously has taught and tutored Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to high school student for over fifteen years. The Song of Achilles is her first novel and was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times Bestseller. Miller was also shortlisted for the 2012 Stonewall Writer of the Year.

ISBN-13: 978-0062060624

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