The Song of Achilles- Madeleine Miller

Madeleine Miller’s The Song of Achilles  is a glorious reworking of the classical epic poem, The Iliad, told from the point of view of Achilles’ boyhood companion and lover Patroclus. An exiled Prince living at the court of King Peleus, Patroclus meets a fascinating, beautiful young boy who, according to prophecy, will be the best warrior of all the Greeks. As they grow older a loving and deeply erotic bond develops between the two boys. When Achilles is summoned to lead his people to battle in the Trojan war, the two young men are drawn closer to a harrowing and violent fate; because Achilles will die in this war, and for Patroclus, there is no life without Achilles.

Madeleine Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles, which just a few weeks ago, won the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction. The novel is beautifully written, full of vivid, sensual detail – fresh figs, darkened honey and olive trees – which convincingly evokes Homeric Greece and retains the song-like quality of the Iliad. 

The real achievement in this novel, however, is that the story of Patroclus is drawn in from the margins of literature and history, and brought to the fore. In Homer’s Iliad, Patroclus is something of a mystery. An enraged Achilles refuses to fight, smarting from an insult to his pride. Patroclus dresses up in Achilles’ armour and is killed by the Trojan Prince Hector. Blinded by rage and grief at the death of his companion, Achilles hunts down Hector and brutally kills him. What Miller asks in this novel is, who was this incredible man who meant so very much to Achilles?

The story of Patroclus is, in places, heart-wrenchingly sad. With a horror of violence and war, he is never destined to be a hero. As a boy he is lonely and isolated, always on the outside of a culture which favours herculean strength and martial prowess, and a continual disappointment to his father. And then he meets Achilles, who finds his kind, gentle nature surprising. For the first time, Patroclus is loved. However, threatened by barbarity, cruelty, greed and corruption, Patroclus must fight for his place beside Achilles. And there are some, like Achilles’ cruel water-nympth mother, who would rather keep the two men apart.

Scholarship has shown some evidence of a homoerotic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, but in popular culture such theories are rejected in favour of chiselled, über-macho representations of the famed warrior and poxy teenage Patrocluses (I'm thinking of the 2004 film Troy here). Miller, however, crafts a powerful and touching image of the relationship between the two men, setting it against the backdrop of a violent and devastating war. Patroclus and Achilles’ story is one of sadness and sacrifice, but also one which affirms the beauty and tenderness of human love.

The Song of Achilles was an absolute joy to read. As I drew closer and closer to the novel’s conclusion, I was filled with hopefulness, desperation and sympathy. Miller has the ability to really move the reader and her characters are so very human. A wonderful, wonderful book.

Madeleine Miller's The Song of Achilles is published by Bloomsbury.