ARTWORK: Eliza Williams
the song of achilles: a hero’s legacy of ego and redemption SABRINA TSE “When he died, all things swift and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.”
even Plato will defend that the two were lovers by choice and nothing less.
The legacy of epics are more than just the songs of heroes; they represent their deaths, sacrifices and tragedy. With the denotation of classicism also comes a golden standard of timeless, unspoken beauty. Madeline Miller crafts exactly that in her 2011 release of The Song of Achilles. This novel is more than well-deserving of its continuous praise and reception as a modern classic. Miller provides a mythological retelling of the Greek hero Achilles and his legend in the Trojan War. According to the Fates, Achilles is prophesied to become his generation’s greatest warrior. In a later prophecy, it is also foretold that he will die in Troy after the Trojan prince, Hector is killed. Whilst this is a tale of the epic, of kings and heroes and war, it is also a story of the human condition. Miller’s poetic novel is narrated by Patroclus, a figure historically depicted as Achilles’ lifelong companion and friend. However,
“What has Hector ever done to me?”
Even prior to reading this novel, the circulating admiration afforded to The Song of Achilles could not be overlooked. Miller writes in intimate and lyrical prose, setting up a radiant and flirtatious Grecian backdrop to Achilles’ home, Pthia. It is here that we follow a story of two young boys, curious and coy about each other. What makes this novel so elegant is the precious recollections of intimacies between Achilles and Patroclus; the talk of miraculous pink feet and petal-veined hands, of quick wit and mouths carved by Cupid’s bow. “We were like gods, at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”
49.
