I first became aware of The Song of Achilles when I read Miller’s other book Circe (published after The Song of Achilles. I also highly recommend you read it), then I started to notice it pop up on lists of must-read books. If you have any interest in Greek mythology or tragic love stories, I highly recommend this book. I only know the bare bones about Greek mythology myself; before reading this novel, my knowledge of Achilles was limited to him being a great hero with a weak heel. The Song of Achilles tells the story of Achilles through the perspective of Achilles’ great love, Patroclus. Miller based her novel on Homer’s the Iliad, where Achilles is a strong fighter and difficult to kill (but doesn’t have a vulnerable heel) but she diverges from the Illiad by writing the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus as a romantic one.

Patroclus is a minor prince who as a child accidentally kills another boy. He is banished from his kingdom and sent to Peleus, Achille’s father, where he becomes a companion to Achilles. The two boys grow up together, fall in love, and go off to fight in the Trojan War together (you know, that war started by Paris when he “kidnapped” Helen, and ended with a giant horse), even though it means Achilles is fated to gain glory but die young. I think the novel is all the better being told from Patroclus’ perspective. He is not a hero like Achilles, he is not strong or particularly brave, but he is loyal and compassionate. I find it difficult to understand why Achilles would choose a brief life of glory rather than a long life with the man he loves, but it is easy to understand why Patroclus accepts his lover’s decision and follows him to war. I won’t spoil what happens to Patroclus (and maybe don’t Google anything until you’re done reading the novel). I didn’t know what to expect as I read this novel, except for a sad ending, but as tragic as the ending is, it is also bittersweet and hopeful.

Miller’s writing is not heavy in descriptions of people or places, but she knows how to use her spare language to create a vivid time and place populated with rich and interesting characters. The subjects she has chosen to write about make me think about gender roles and sexuality in our society today and how history or, in this case, mythology has informed them. In The Song of Achilles Miller has written homosexual love between men as beautiful and natural; it’s too bad that society still hasn’t learned to accept it as that way.