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The never-ending ache of love and sorrow. Perhaps in some other life I could have refused, could have torn my hair and screamed, and made him face his choice alone. But not in this one. He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death. The writing was mediocre, the author clearly knows her stuff, but the dialogues were often ridiculous, the pacing was off. This story NEVER seemed to end. Now I wonder: how the hell does an epic tale become such a bland, flat story? I don't understand Thetis role in here and why was Achilles so devoted to hear her and always obey her. Why was Achilles the perfect son, I don't understand because they clearly had a lot of issues.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller | Waterstones
This has one of the best endings I've come across in a long time. It isn't so much what happens as the way it is written. Visceral and gut-wrenching, it builds in power and emotion until I was good and blubbering. It gave me all the feels. This narrator absolutely nailed the feeling of the story. His voices for all characters was just so expressive and was always recognizable for who he was portraying at the time. THE RELATIONSHIP, PART III: HOMOPHOBIAAnyone who says that ancient Greece was 100% accepting of homosexual relationships is factually incorrect. Our modern idea of sexuality cannot be applied to ancient societies (the term for this is presentism). Although same-sex relationships between men were indeed commonplace, they were not typically considered on the same level as heterosexual relationships (often associated with marriage—love and marriage were discrete topics throughout much of history). What was common amongst men was pederasty, a relationship dynamic in which the older man, typically more knowledgeable and experienced, was the erastes (active partner) and the younger man, typically less-experienced and more effeminate, was the eromenos (passive partner). Obviously the notion of top/bottom dynamics has persisted into modern queer relationships, although in reality it’s rare that one person will prefer being exclusively one or the other. From the Orange Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author of The Song of Achilles comes the powerful story of the mythological witch Circe, inspired by Homer's Odyssey Original, clever, and in a class of its own ... an incredibly compelling and seductive read ( Independent on Sunday)
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When Patroclus kisses Achilles, Thetis makes her disapproval very clear, sending Achilles to study with the famous centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion. Patroclus, an exiled orphan with nothing to lose, follows Achilles. With Chiron’s blessing, Patroclus is allowed to join Achilles in his studies, despite Thetis’s requests to the contrary. On Mount Pelion, the boys learn many things, including musicianship, medicine, and biology; they also begin a sexual relationship away from Thetis’s observation. Achilles doesn’t know if he wants to be a god, but he wants to be the first hero to be happy and famous—he and Patroclus promise to make that future happen together. This is my spoiler section in which I’m going to speak about the individual characters and what I thought of them. So you better beware and don’t read it if you still want to read the book. Heed my warning or get lost in the underworld. It’s your choice, choose wisely! ;-P I can't really say more, because I would be criticizing the same things over and over. I had a lot of issues with this book, this book took me more than a month to read More than a month! A book that I was planning to finish in 4 days... It seemed like it would NEVER end. The prophecy said that Achilles would die shortly after Hector, you don't know how many times I was rooting for this dude to die so everything could end soon. JUST SOMEONE COULD PLEASE KILL HECTOR NOW. It might be easy to hate Achilles during the latter half of the story, based on some of his decisions, and rightly so. But, I think it's a good thing that the author did not alter his character to fix those flows. The objective of the story was never to portrait the greatness of Achilles. And as for the ending: it was as emotional and beautiful as it could be. Madeline Miller had done justice to Patroclus with The Song of Achilles perfectly.
The Song of Achilles Summary | GradeSaver The Song of Achilles Summary | GradeSaver
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. Like all relationships, there were issues. The two weren’t without their differences. They clashed and quarrelled but only because they truly cared for each other. Patroclus wanted to end the war, and Achilles didn’t think the fight was worthy of his name: he wanted a bigger war to fight in. So, Patroclus, in his most bravest and stupid move goes against his lover’s wish and tries to end the war with a stroke of his sword. But he is no Achilles: he is not a god of war. He was out of his depth, outmatched and doomed. Achilles, he had no personality either until almost the very end of this book and then he turns into this selfish, proud asshole that even though is letting everyone be killed and failing to notice how dumb his decision is, is still admired and revered by Patroclus... I just...this book is just so dumb sometimes. The way Miller writes him is nothing like that. A certain amount of leeway is to be expected, of course, but changing the character and personality of one of Homer’s most famous figures to such an extent is beyond bizarre. Miller writes him as a limp-wristed medic twink who does nothing but follow Achilles around like a sycophantic pet. When he puts on Achilles’s armour to go into battle, no one thinks he’ll replace Achilles; everyone—Achilles included!—thinks he’ll fall instantly. The Homeric Patroclus was an excellent fighter in his own right, but Miller’s Patroclus is a waifish pansy who can barely lift a spear.They grinned, loving every inch of their miraculous prince: his gleaming hair, his deadly hands, his nimble feet. They leaned towards him, like flowers to the sun, drinking in his lustre. It was as Odysseus had said: he had light enough to make heroes of them all.” Countless amazing things have been raised and sang for the Miller’s craft on The Song of Achilles and Circe, and that speaks volumes on how ridiculous it is that it took me this long to finally get around to reading it. In truth, there was a hesitancy inside me; The Illiad, the stories of Achilles, Hector, and Odysseus are stories that I’ve read and heard about so many times before in several mediums. In my mind, before I read this book, I simply didn’t think that I would love reading another retelling surrounding this tale again. As you can guess from my high rating, Miller has righted the wrong notion that nestled deep in me. All told this was one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It caused me to cry, it made me angry, it made me smile and it touched me deeply. I’m a total mess after reading this and my emotions are still all over the place, to say I regret reading it would be one hell of a lie though. I HATE AGAMEMNON!!! Fiercely!!! Such an unfair and dishonourable numpty!!! I hate him and all his actions! I mean what kind of father would trade his daughter away and then kill her?! His own flesh and blood! Gosh, I CAN’T EVEN WITH HIM!! I’m still so angry! Those moments at the end and the tense situation between Achilles and him had me at the edge of my seat and all I wanted to do was to scream at the injustice that took place in front of me!!! Such a stubborn and self-righteous fool!! He should have listened to Achilles but he was too proud to. *shakes head in disbelief* I. HATE. HIM!!! Enough said!
The Song of Achilles - Booktopia The Song of Achilles - Booktopia
Unknown time passes, and eventually Thetis comes to visit Achilles’ grave. Pyrrhus is dead, killed for raping Agamemnon’s son’s bride. Thetis asks Patroclus to share his memories of Achilles, the ones unrelated to bloodshed, and Patroclus does. In return, Thetis shares her own painful memories of being raped, then watching Achilles die a mortal. At the end of the day, Thetis carves Patroclus’s name into the tomb, freeing him to join her son forever in the underworld.There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. Patroclus loves Briseis and is horrified by this, then even more horrified when he realizes Achilles is going to give Briseis up. Achilles hopes that Agamemnon will rape Briseis, giving Achilles leverage to overthrow Agamemnon and get revenge for this slight to his honor. To protect Briseis, Patroclus tells Agamemnon all of this; while Achilles is briefly furious at Patroclus’s betrayal, he can’t stay angry with his love for long. Besides, he has conspired with Thetis to convince Zeus to stop “balancing” the war, so things are about to get very bad for the Greeks. Achilles will only help them if Agamemnon personally apologizes. Despite the fact that I took 4-years of Latin in high school, I couldn't tell you the first thing about The Illiad. A retelling of The Iliad with entertaining and joyful exuberance ... You may know the story but you've never heard it told like this. A gem ( Stylist) MISOGYNY, PART III: BRISEIS (For a better portrayal of Briseis, I’d recommend Pat Barker’s Silence of the Girls.)
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