Book Review: The Song Of Achilles

The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This 2011 novel is set in Greece during the age of heroes. The weedy Patroclus meets golden boy Achilles. They are friends and more. Chiron trains them. There is ultra masculine banter and Achilles has a majestic presence. They head off to Troy and destiny. This is would be lyrical. There is hubris, petty and cruel gods and Achilles is an arrogant and brutal. Women are overlooked and disposable. This was written to win awards. There is no incredible drama or consequence.

Best Lines:

“Gifts of treaty and alliance.”

“Some had a whole epic, others just a verse.”

“Miseries afflicted his reign.”

“Bitter rivarlry for the throne.”

“They knew what powerful sons do to their fathers-”

“Bar him from your presence.”

“Gods and mortals never mixed happily in our stories.”

“Did not wish me for his companion.”

“Killed them for enemies.”

“A childish idyll.”

“Eternal torment.”

“Eternal punishment.”

“Where I could never follow.”

“His fame had dimished, his name was forgotten.”

“Walked with gods.”

“Flourishing my triumph.”

“The greatest war of our people, remembered in legend and song for generations.”

“Carved ourselves into stories for ages to come.”

“Mouldering on a forgotten island.”

“Live our his years in some corner eating the bread they soften for him, senile and alone. When he dies, people will say, who?”

“Such a life was a horror.”

“Written into eternal legend.”

“If you go to Troy, you will never return.”

“The loss of his brilliance,”

“Who was he if not destined for fame?”

“What is admired in one generation is abhorred in another.”

“Even Agamemnon blanced when he heard.”

“Stuff their holds with gold and columns and princesses.”

“In perpetual triumph.”

“Only the richest and most powerful men could afford such an extravagance of piety.”

“You must not draw their anger.”

“Portents and angry deities and a thousand looming perils.”

“What could make a goddess pause was terrifying indeed.”

“Death grounds.”