Disclaimer: This is a review, and as such will contain opinions, spoilers and (often) general shit talking. (If you talk about what you don’t like about a work, you learn a lot. When you think through a work with the stakes presented to you by the creator, by the context of the work, you learn a lot. I review things, not because I love to dislike things, but because dislike contains rich and vital information for the process of experiencing something, but I cannot access it without interrogating it.) So, if you don’t want to have this thing spoiled for you, or don’t know how to behave when a person on the internet, that you don’t know, has opinions that don’t line up with yours, this review is not for you. It’s also not for the author/creator of the work. Please and thank you.
As a history nerd, I love things like this.
In The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller retells the story of Ancient Greece’s greatest hero from the point of view of his best friend, Patroclus. The big twist is that Achilles and Patroclus are cast as lovers, but do not that this isn’t a romance novel.
Miller stays very true to the Greek legends and works of Homer while filling in the gaps. She bestows Patroclus with a backstory that makes sense and traces the pair’s story from initial meeting to friendship to the eventual romance.
Miller does lean into Achilles as an unsympathetic character, a bit of a bully and a brat who will throw a tantrum when things aren’t going his way. But while she does show the unattractive qualities of Achilles, she also paints him as human.
Despite his flaws, he’s still got a sense of humour and a gentle side. He’s capable of love and he’s also deeply conflicted.
Through Patroclus’ eyes we get to see Achilles go from a spoiled child, completely unaware of his own privilege, to a young man struggling to balance his personal feelings and desires with the expectations of his family and all of Greece.
Miller shows beautifully how being every bit the hero people believe and expect him to be affects an ultimately sensitive boy. Achilles is also more naive than Patroclus, in many ways because of being raised in a bubble, and seeing him from Patroclus’ eyes allows us to see how he struggled through his own growth.
Achilles changes a lot over the years as he tries to balance all the expectations on him, and that creates a beautiful tension between him and Patroclus that carries right through the book. The true tragedy of Achilles is that he never wants to join the war – preferring to live a normal life to that of a hero – but as he’s forced into it, it changes him into a completely different person.
You live through all of that with Patroclus, wanting to save Achilles and you feel hopeless when you can’t save him from his own circumstances.
Patroclus is a beautiful character, suffering through Achilles’ challenges with him – as well as putting up with Achilles’ family’s attitude towards him. In a sense, Patroclus becomes Achilles’ conscience, intervening when Achilles’ divine heritage became overpowering.
Without Patroclus, Achilles’ path would have been a very different one, much darker and more bloody, and you feel how Patroclus manages to anchor Achilles in times of tumult. The most painful thing about their relationship is the fact that the people around them are completely oblivious to the fact that Patroclus brings out the best in Achilles.
Patroclus has a directness that is in contrast to classical legends, but the purpose of Patroclus in this retelling is to cut through the legend of the hero and show us the mortal side of a demigod. The hyperbole and pompous metaphors of war epics bury the more human qualities of Achilles; the tenderness, insecurity and lack of guile.
Did I enjoy it?
Yes, very much so. The prose is simple and direct, very suitable for a YA audience.
This is a beautiful counterpoint to the Iliad, making the story more human and more vibrant. This is a story about people finding their place in life, even after death and grief and mistakes.
It was beautiful and sorrowful and showed how complicated relationships are, and how hard it can be to find that place between expectations and what you truly want.
If you’re not familiar with the legends, I can tell you now there’s no HEA here, so don’t go thinking it’s a romance because it’s not. But even with the tragic ending, it was a satisfying ending.
Rapid-fire round:
- Did the book meet your expectations? No, the hype on TikTok was a lot of hyperbole, but I enjoyed it anyway.
- Who was your favourite character in the book and why? Patroclus.
- Who was your least favourite character in the book and why? Not a person, more just Achilles’ family seeing him more as his status than a person.
- Did you relate to any of the characters? Yes, Patroclus had a very strong, “I can fix him” vibes which felt very relatable.
- What themes or messages did you take away from the book? That there are many ways to deal with grief.
- Was there anything in the book that surprised you or that you didn’t expect? The conversation between Patroclus’ trapped spirit and Thetis was beautiful.
- What did you think of the ending of the book? It was very satisfying.
- What do you think the author’s intention was with the book? What message or theme do you think they were trying to convey? I always love it when women retell old myths because it usually gives us some new point of view that hasn’t been explored by generations of men.
- Which part of the book did you find most memorable? Patroclus’ conversation with Thetis.
- Did you find any aspects of the book confusing or unclear? No, it’s a very easy read, suitable for younger audiences so it keeps things in very neat order.
- Were there any moments in the book that made you emotional or had a strong impact on you? Patroclus’ struggle to do right by Achilles even when it was to his own detriment.
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