We’re all familiar with the story of the fall of Troy. The most beautiful woman in the world ran away from her husband and an entire civilization waged a decade long war to get her back. But in between and around the story of Paris, Helen, and Menelaus are the stories of all the other legendary figures who came to the shores of Troy to honor an oath. Odysseus, Ajax, Agamemnon, Achilles… and Patroclus. Achilles’ grief and rage when Patroclus dies is what gets him back into the war, leads to the death of Hector, and eventually to his own demise. In The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller explores the relationship of Achilles and Patroclus, from their first meeting as boys in Achilles’ father’s court, through the long years of the Trojan War and even past their own deaths.
I am a Greek myth girlie, as the folks on TikTok would say. I read D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths until the covers fell off, read the whole of The Odyssey for fun in high school (we were only assigned portions in English class), and have thoroughly enjoyed many retellings of Greek myths, from MZB’s The Firebrand to Natalie Haynes’ A Thousand Ships. (I might also have a specific thing for Trojan War stories, don’t judge me.) I had heard good things about A Song of Achilles and kept meaning to read it, but other books kept pushing it down the list. Finally this year I was able to fit the book into the PopSugar Reading Challenge (as a book mentioned in another book) and I adored it.
Unlike The Iliad and many retellings, Song of Achilles’ Patroclus is not a warrior, and that’s honestly refreshing. This book’s Patroclus is sensitive, deeply in love with Achilles, and desperate to save him from his prophesied death. His and Achilles’ relationship is beautiful, as his Patroclus’ deep friendship with Briseis. (And the fate of Briseis at the hands of Achilles’ son brought me to enraged tears.) The book ends not with Patroclus’ death, or even Achilles’ but rather much later, as Patroclus’ shade is bound to his burial site outside the ruins of Troy, unable to pass on to the underworld because his name is not written on his tomb. His final conversation with Thetis – especially after their more fraught and terrifying conversations earlier in the book – is moving and cathartic.
If you, like me, enjoy both Greek mythology and books that make you sob ugly tears, be sure to give The Song of Achilles a go. It is a modern classic for a reason.
