The Song of Achilles Summary: Plot, Characters and Themes of Madeline Miller's Novel
What The Song of Achilles is about
The Song of Achilles is a 2011 novel by the American writer Madeline Miller. It retells the Trojan War, set in the Greek Heroic Age, through the eyes of Patroclus rather than the famous warrior at its centre. The book follows Patroclus and Achilles from their first meeting to their years at Troy. Their romantic relationship is the heart of it. In 2012 the novel won the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Patroclus is the narrator. He is the son of King Menoetius. As a boy he is presented as a possible suitor for Helen, and he is made to swear a blood oath to defend her marriage to Menelaus. Later he accidentally kills the son of one of his father's nobles after the boy attacks him. As a result he is exiled to Phthia. There he meets Achilles, the only son of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis.
The two become close friends, and Patroclus develops feelings for Achilles. Thetis believes a mortal of low status is an unsuitable companion for her son. She sends Achilles away to train under Chiron on Mount Pelion. Patroclus runs away to join him. As they grow older, Achilles returns his feelings and they become lovers.
Then war arrives. Paris, a prince of Troy, has taken Helen, and the Mycenaean king Agamemnon calls the Achaeans to fight. A prophecy says Achilles will die at Troy after the death of the Trojan prince Hector. To stop this, Thetis hides him on Skyros, disguised as a woman at the court of King Lycomedes. She forces him to marry the king's daughter, Deidamia. Patroclus follows him there.
Odysseus and Diomedes eventually find them. Patroclus must go to Troy because of his oath. Achilles goes as well, but he vows never to fight Hector, hoping to escape the prophecy. The war then stretches across nine years. A bitter quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon over a captive woman, and over Achilles's honour, drives the final part of the story.
The main characters
Patroclus tells the story. He is an exiled prince with little standing, and he spends much of the book following Achilles wherever he is sent. At Troy he works as a field medic. He grows close to the ordinary soldiers and feels their losses keenly.
Achilles is a demigod, son of a king and a sea nymph. He is devoted to Patroclus. He is also proud and fiercely protective of his honour, and that stubbornness shapes the second half of the book.
Thetis is Achilles's mother. She tries again and again to separate the two young men and to shield her son from his fate.
Briseis is a Trojan woman. Achilles takes her as a war prize to save her from Agamemnon. He mostly keeps his distance, because he killed the men in her family. She and Patroclus form a close friendship that comes near to romance before settling into a devoted bond like that of brother and sister.
Agamemnon leads the campaign against Troy. He sacrifices his own daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the goddess Artemis. His clashes with Achilles grow worse as the war goes on.
Other figures from the old stories also appear, including Chiron, Odysseus, Diomedes and Hector.
The themes
Love. The relationship between Patroclus and Achilles sits at the centre of the novel. Because Patroclus narrates, the reader sees the great hero through the eyes of the person who loves him most.
War. The book shows war through a medic's eyes as much as a warrior's. Iphigenia's sacrifice, the plague that sweeps the Achaean camp and the long years of fighting all show the price that others pay for the pride of kings and heroes.
Friendship. Alongside the central romance are other loyal bonds. The tie between Patroclus and Briseis is one of the most tender in the book. So is his care for the soldiers he treats.
Death and fate. A prophecy hangs over Achilles from the moment war is declared. Much of the story turns on his attempts to dodge it. The novel also asks what remains of a person after death, and who decides how they are remembered.
Why it still matters
The Trojan War is one of the oldest stories in Western literature. Miller's choice to tell it through Patroclus gives a familiar tale a new centre. She puts a love story where readers might expect battle scenes, and she gives voice to a figure usually seen at the hero's side. The Orange Prize for Fiction in 2012 marked the book's critical standing.
It suits readers of literary fiction and anyone curious about Greek myth. It will also appeal to readers who want a love story with real weight. No knowledge of the original myths is needed to follow it.
How it ends (spoilers)
Stop here if you want to avoid the ending.
Achilles refuses to fight until Agamemnon apologises in public. Patroclus cannot bear the soldiers' suffering, so he puts on Achilles's armour and leads his men into battle. He drives the Trojans back and kills Sarpedon. Then Apollo exposes him, and Hector kills him.
Achilles is shattered. He asks that his ashes be mixed with Patroclus's when he dies. He returns to battle and kills Hector, and is then killed by Paris with Apollo's help. Their ashes are mixed and buried together. Achilles's son Neoptolemus arrives and kills Briseis after she rejects him and reveals the relationship between the two men. At his request, Patroclus's name is left off the tomb. His spirit cannot pass into the underworld. Later Thetis comes to grieve. She and Patroclus share their memories of Achilles, and she relents and writes his name on the tomb. Patroclus passes into the afterlife, where he and Achilles are reunited.
