The story of the Trojan War has been told countless times and in countless ways. It’s amazing that a tale so old and so familiar can still be compelling and yet Madeline Miller had me rushing through this novel to find out what happens. (Warning: This review is going to assume that you have some knowledge of the story of the Trojan War and as such may contain spoilers.) This re-telling of the story of Achilles is told from the point of view of Patroclus. Patroclus is the narrator, not quite the hero but the focus of the story is tight on him and particularly his relationship with and view of Achilles. One of the questions that kept me reading was, of course, how can Patroclus tell this story when his own death is one of the great impetuses of the Trojan War?
We meet Patroclus as a young boy, a prince but ignored and not honoured in his own household. His accidental murder of another boy leads to his banishment and his ultimate meeting and friendship with Achilles. Patroclus as narrator and especially as an awkward teenager felt entirely believable to me. He is an ordinary young boy thrown into extraordinary circumstances, awed by the character and mythology of Achilles while also in love with the real life person in front of him. Miller incorporates the mythology of the Greek gods and their histories into the story. The gods are real and active characters, seen by others and interacted with not infrequently. This is never questioned within the novel and Miller makes it make sense within this world.
Eventually, as we know they will, Patroclus and Achilles find themselves at the walls of Troy. What struck me here is how young they are, not yet men, faced with heady decisions that will affect their whole futures. While the circumstances are mythical and enormous, that feeling of having to make big choices at a young age is familiar and Miller does an excellent job at highlighting both their youthful fragility and exuberance. Achilles is faced with the monumental decision of choosing a short life with a long legacy or a long life that will be forgotten after his death. Again here Miller weaves in the role of the gods well so that their presence feels both necessary and realistic to the world-building.
Re-tellings of Greek myths seem to be only growing in popularity and it’s hard not to compare one to another. Last year I read Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls which re-tells the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of Briseis. As enjoyable as The Song of Achilles was, it suffered in this comparison. Achilles is not the hero of Briseis’ story and with her view relatively fresh in my mind, it was sometimes hard to accept Patroclus’ starry-eyed perspective of Achilles here. As well, it highlighted the fact that Miller doesn’t offer much for her female characters. They are largely either scheming or submissive. That said, Miller’s story seems to keep quite close to the original source material (as far as I know it) and my overall impression was that she wanted to retell the story as it is, embellishing on the central characters rather than those surrounding them. If you know the story of Achilles there aren’t a lot of surprises here but it still makes for a thoughtful tale of friendship, love, and the choices we make that form the legacy we leave behind.
Karissa Reads Books 
I love a good myth retelling although I’ve never read this one – I do have The Silence of the Girls on my shelf though! Earlier this year I read A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, which is the post-war aftermath from the perspective of the Trojan women. I really enjoyed it (though, full disclosure, I read it with my book club where it met with strongly mixed reviews).
I’ve heard mixed things about A Thousand Ships too though I’ve decided to read it now and am just waiting for the next available copy at the library. Pat Barker has a new book out now that follows Silence of the Girls and focuses on the women post-war. Myth re-tellings really are having a moment right now!
Lou, I would highly recommend the audio version. The man who narrates The Song of Achilles really brings the characters to life in a way that fits their personalities.
I quite like the idea that this sticks more closely to the original. I don’t often read myth retellings because they quite often change them in rather fundamental ways. I can see the attraction and as always it’s subjective preference but they often make me feel the same as I do about adaptations of books to films – that they should either stick to the original story or write something entirely new. This one sounds quite tempting…
You might enjoy this! At times, it stuck so close to the original source that I found myself wondering, What’s the point? since Miller wasn’t adding much to the story. But overall it was an enjoyable read and it does humanize Achilles in a way that I haven’t seen before.
I got all emotional at the end of this book. I listened to the audio version, now that I think of it, the fall before covid, so it’s been a while. However, the audiobook narrator really brings the two main characters to life, and I can still hear how he reads Achilles in my head. It’s this great combo of jock and philosopher. I really thought it clever. It’s hard to remember they would be teens because the audio narrator has such a deep voice, but I was okay with that. There is an intensity there that’s worth the age confusion. Have you read Miller’s other works? I have not, but I know she’s much beloved.
The story really does highlight what an interesting character Achilles is and it gives him a lot of depth. Even on the page I often found myself forgetting that he was supposed to be a teenager. I haven’t read anything else by Miller but I’d like to read Circe.
I know nothing, absolutely nothing about the greek myths, so I suspect this book would be EXTRA suspenseful for me LOL
Hahaha! It was funny writing this because I always try to avoid spoilers in my reviews but at the same time the source here is thousands of years! This would probably be a fun read to go into knowing nothing about Achilles.
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