Historical

The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles

  • Downloads：3512
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-13 09:54:04
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Madeline Miller
  • ISBN：1408821982
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Greece in the age of heroes。 Patroclus， an awkward young prince， has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles。 Despite their differences， Achilles befriends the shamed prince， and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine， their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis， a cruel sea goddess。 But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped， Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny。 Torn between love and fear for his friend， Patroclus goes with him， little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear。

Librarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 12-Apr-2012。

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Reviews

Allison Kelley ，

“Have you no more memories？ I am made of memories。”😭😭😭

Movies Review ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I overall enjoyed this book。 But before reading it is important to understand that this book is not 100% historically accurate。 And the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is not explicitly defined in the Iliad。 They have an extremely strong bond that could be interpreted as a romantic relationship。 Which is essentially what the Song of Achilles is， a retelling of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ story。 It is a historical romance with themes of war （the Trojan one lol）。 We get the perspective of I overall enjoyed this book。 But before reading it is important to understand that this book is not 100% historically accurate。 And the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is not explicitly defined in the Iliad。 They have an extremely strong bond that could be interpreted as a romantic relationship。 Which is essentially what the Song of Achilles is， a retelling of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ story。 It is a historical romance with themes of war （the Trojan one lol）。 We get the perspective of Patroclus， who is essentially a lovesick puppy， pining after Achilles。 I for one love Patroclus， but I wish he would have gotten more of his own spotlight and development。 His character wasn’t done justice。 Another important thing to note is the perspective of the book and how we have an unreliable narrator。 But even through Patroclus’ detailed and kind descriptions of his lover， I still had an extreme distaste for Achilles。 The Achilles of SOA is flawed and even more flawed in the Iliad。 So it became hard towards the end to see a character that I liked continually pine for someone who didn’t deserve his affections。 At the end of the book we see Achilles in a vulnerable state， which is accurate to the Iliad， we finally see him break down as a character。 We finally see him mourn， because he didn’t give Patroclus the time and love he deserved。 He got clouded by war and his duties。 I liked the resolution because Patroclus and Achilles end up together in the underworld because of Achilles mother。 I don’t think Achilles deserves Patroclus， but Patroclus does deserve him。 In conclusion， I really enjoyed this book。 I have a couple criticism， as with any book， but enjoyed it and was able to finish it very quickly。 I would still recommend this book as long as they are okay with romance （some people don’t like mushy gushy love）。 。。。more

Ryan Reese ，

The structure of leading us to and telling us much of The Iliad from a different point of view was undeniably engaging and breathed new life into one of Western literature's oldest tales。 Although much has been made of the rumored love between Achilles and Patroclus， including overtures in the 2004 film， feeling the Trojan War as a love story was fresh， as well。 The heart that Miller gave to Achilles was a welcome shift to the way he is often portrayed and brought so much more meaning into his a The structure of leading us to and telling us much of The Iliad from a different point of view was undeniably engaging and breathed new life into one of Western literature's oldest tales。 Although much has been made of the rumored love between Achilles and Patroclus， including overtures in the 2004 film， feeling the Trojan War as a love story was fresh， as well。 The heart that Miller gave to Achilles was a welcome shift to the way he is often portrayed and brought so much more meaning into his actions， or lack thereof， throughout the siege of Troy。 。。。more

Alexa Leske ，

A piece of my soul broke off

Kianmely ，

i finished this book 3 months ago and i still can’t get over it。 i’m not one for books that are heavy on like war things but i still loved this book so much。 the writing and patroclus n achilles’ story was just so beautiful wow

alyssa :] ，

this book deserves a 3 only because miller is clearly very skillful with her writing even though i would have preferred more emphasis on the emotions rather than the scenery。 a felt a lot of the book didn't serve the plot/story/message/character development in any way and were mainly just filler prose that was still admittedly really well done。 the pacing of this book gave me whiplash， and not in a good way。the emotions were so withheld that i had a difficult time believing their love or picturi this book deserves a 3 only because miller is clearly very skillful with her writing even though i would have preferred more emphasis on the emotions rather than the scenery。 a felt a lot of the book didn't serve the plot/story/message/character development in any way and were mainly just filler prose that was still admittedly really well done。 the pacing of this book gave me whiplash， and not in a good way。the emotions were so withheld that i had a difficult time believing their love or picturing it to be real or meaningful or special。 nothing about their romance struck me as profound except for the sheer selflessness of patroclus。 achilles was literally THE WORST。 HATED HIM SM （such a leo man） to me， he was the antagonist of the story。 his pride and self righteousness was so frustrating at several points of the book i was like yep he deserves to die patroclus deserves better than him。 i've never seen a main character so flawed and irredeemable i had such a hard time rooting for him and caring that he had to grieve his lover。 overall， i felt like this book could have done better。 there was so much room to develop their relationship but relying on the "i'd die for you" trope without having any actual substance by portraying the emotions and love between the two characters made it feel disingenuous and recycled。also surprisingly enjoyed the war i was like oooo ~drama~~ 。。。more

Katherine Mcguire ，

fucking ouch

lilo garcia ，

well that was depressing！

Kristina Acosta ，

Great book。 A bit slow。 I preferred Circe， but I thought this book held a lot of beauty。

Hope Jackson ，

I read it all in one day， and that says enough。 Really good 😫

Moonbeam ，

SO MANY EMOTIONS。 I lovedddd it。 I LOVED IT。

ilknur ，

“Be careful，” he said。 “I will。” There was more to say， but for once we did not say it。 There would be other times for speaking， tonight and tomorrow and all the days after that。 He let go of my hand。

kate slade ，

2nd most depressing book i have ever read。 fawk man。“For who can be ashamed to lose such beauty？ It was enough to watch him win， to see the soles of his feet flashing as they kicked up sand， or the ride and fall of his shoulders as he pulled through salt。 It was enough。”

Carolane Lemay ，

This book was my death。 READ IT。

hattie ，

Hi， I'm not crying you are。 Hi， I'm not crying you are。 。。。more

jane ，

did i finish this book or did this book finish me

Amy ，

This story is made even better with historical context， which is provided in the post-story content。The story between Patroclus and Achilles， as the Iliad should be。 I found the first half， with exploration of different areas and figures in Greek mythology， to be more creatively satisfying than the second， but the second is crucial in its focus on character。 I realize that the story has to be told with long periods of time between chapters， but I would have enjoyed some more loving interactions This story is made even better with historical context， which is provided in the post-story content。The story between Patroclus and Achilles， as the Iliad should be。 I found the first half， with exploration of different areas and figures in Greek mythology， to be more creatively satisfying than the second， but the second is crucial in its focus on character。 I realize that the story has to be told with long periods of time between chapters， but I would have enjoyed some more loving interactions between the two in the second part。 。。。more

Emily ，

This was fantastic！ Madeline Miller is so talented。 I've read every classic surrounding the Trojan War events， and none has pulled at my heart stings as strongly as The Song of Achilles。 Initially， I was a little confused with the perspective， but I think it was genius。 This was the first time I saw Achilles in literature and saw a hero， and I found myself rooting for him and his best friend at every challenge they faced。 ❤️😊💖💕🙃 This was fantastic！ Madeline Miller is so talented。 I've read every classic surrounding the Trojan War events， and none has pulled at my heart stings as strongly as The Song of Achilles。 Initially， I was a little confused with the perspective， but I think it was genius。 This was the first time I saw Achilles in literature and saw a hero， and I found myself rooting for him and his best friend at every challenge they faced。 ❤️😊💖💕🙃 。。。more

Jessica ，

A simply fantastic book that took the story of Achilles， Patroclus and the battle of Troy to new heights。 Showing a love so great。

Sarah H ，

CW: Sexual Assault， Suicidal Ideation This story was so so wonderful from beggining to end。 Madeline Miller does such an excellent job of telling Greek mythology in an accessible and easily digestable way， and she does it while writing so beautifully （I wanted to underline so many lines in my library book）。 And oh my GOODNESS was this a beautiful love story！！！！ Truly just a fantastic book that had me not being able to stop turning the pages。

Vita ，

Oh my god this book is So good。

Sophie ，

this is a great book。 it’s so beautifully written with some amazing quotes。 i definitely recommend reading。 however， if you come from booktok， then i think they hyped it up a bit too much。 i struggled to connect with the characters and therefore didn’t feel sad at all at the end。 that could be just me reading too quickly and also being emotionally numb。 either way， i recommend

An ，

i will never recover

Jana ，

Very well written。 Really enjoyed the story of Achilles - much better than my high school mythology books。

ThatGayBitch ，

This book absolutely destroyed me emotionally （ in a good way）。 Soo beautifully written and I bawled my eyes out the complete second half of the book definitely give this book a read of you like heroic， sad gays in Ancient Greece

Grace Curley ，

I never write reviews。 Ever。 I read this book in two days and absolutely fell in love with it。 Read it。

Marifer Romo ，

Me encantó。 Hermoso libro este y Circe me han fascinado！

Elyösis ，

À la fois bouleversant et magnifique， l’une des plus belles tragédies que j’ai pu lire， vraiment un chef d’œuvre qui nous secoue ！

Selma Pålsson ，

So beautifully written， a perfect way of telling this story。 It had me sobbing。 Heartbreakingly beautiful。

EverythingWas ，

Tiktok Recommendation: I thought it was a good read and interesting retelling of Achilles & Patroclus。 For me the book doesn’t start to pick up until the last 100 pages or so。 There are odd anatomical descriptions （greasy， spurt） and unnecessary scenes in the beginning but towards the end the story finds is pacing， maybe a little too late for 5 stars but it was a solid read

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Song of Achilles

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Song of Achilles&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Song of Achilles&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0