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The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller (Goodreads Author)

4.39 · Rating details · 321,237 ratings · 39,586 reviews

The legend begins...

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become ste ...more

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Hardcover, 378 pages

Published March 6th 2012 by Ecco (first published September 20th 2011)

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Jun 21, 2018 Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, historical-romance

”We were like gods, at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

This book!!!
Gosh I loved this book!!!

The moment I read the first page I was already certain of two things:
1.) This would become one of my all-time favourites and I’d gush about it like crazy.
2.) It wouldn’t only leave me devastated and heartbroken but also sobbing like a little child.

Well, both of those things came true, even way earlier than I had initially anticipated. I wa ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Sean Barrs rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, 4-star-reads, love-and-romance, gay-lit, ancient-greece

Madeline Miller did what the movie producers of the film Troy (2004) were too cowardly to do; she stayed true to the homosexuality of Homer’s Iliad rather than writing a censored version of the story which stank of homophobia. Achilles and Patroclus were passionately in love, which resulted in their respective destructions. They were not cousins or man at arms, but soul mates. The watering down of this in the film Troy was an insult to the LGBT community. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The attract ...more

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Feb 23, 2021 chai ♡ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-retellings, ya-sff, lgbtq-rep, fiction, lgbtq-mm, trope-friends-to-lovers, read-in-2021, young-adult, trope-idiots-in-love, trope-doomed-tragic-love

Update: I did it. It’s done. I can finally say I read The Song of Achilles but... at what cost?

Will I finish this book or will it finish me first? That is the question.

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Nov 08, 2013 Rick Riordan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A new take on the Iliad, written by a high school classics teacher -- how could I not read this? The Song of Achilles retells the story of Greece's greatest hero from the point of view of his best friend Patroclus. The big twist: Madeline Miller casts the story as a romance between Achilles and Patroclus. While staying true to Greek legends and the works of Homer, Miller creatively and convincingly fills in the blanks, giving Patroclus a back story that makes perfect sense, and tracing the frie A new take on the Iliad, written by a high school classics teacher -- how could I not read this? The Song of Achilles retells the story of Greece's greatest hero from the point of view of his best friend Patroclus. The big twist: Madeline Miller casts the story as a romance between Achilles and Patroclus. While staying true to Greek legends and the works of Homer, Miller creatively and convincingly fills in the blanks, giving Patroclus a back story that makes perfect sense, and tracing the friendship, and eventual romance, between the two young men in a way that casts a new light on the human side of the Trojan War.

I always found Achilles to be an unsympathetic character -- a brat, a bully, a big-headed jerk who knows he's the star player on the team and throws a tantrum if he gets put on the bench. Miller shows his unattractive qualities, but she also shows that Achilles is human. He's capable of love. He's deeply conflicted. He has a sense of humor and a gentle side. We see him through Patroclus's eyes, growing from a privileged child to a sensitive teen to a young man struggling to balance his personal feelings with the expectations of an entire country. If you've read the Iliad, you know that the story will have a tragic end, but it's also strangely uplifting and hopeful. I'll never be able to read about these characters the same way again, and that's a good thing. Reading The Song of Achilles put a new light on this ancient story. It was like watching a really good interpretation of a Shakespeare play. You think you know the story, but you're surprised to find how many layers of new meaning can be brought out by a smart production.

The book is certainly appropriate for YA and up. The prose is elegant in its simplicity. Miller gives Patroclus a Hemmingway-like directness. I read a New York Times review of this book which I thought patently unfair, complaining that the style made the book seem like a fast-food version of the Iliad. I think this misses the whole point of the story. Patroclus's mission in The Song of Achilles is to cut through the legend of the hero and show us the mortal side of demigod. He doesn't want the pompous metaphors and flowery hyperbole of a war epic to bury Achilles's other qualities -- his tenderness, his insecurity, his honesty and lack of guile. The Song of Achilles can serve as an excellent introduction or counterpoint to the study of the Iliad. It certainly made the story new and vibrant for me, despite how many times I've read Homer. ...more

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Jul 21, 2018 megs_bookrack rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I hereby award The Song of Achilles, ALL THE STARS in the universe!!!

This story is equal parts charming, enchanting and heartbreaking.

I knew nothing about it going in, besides the fact that it is based off events in Homer's, The Illiad.

Despite the fact that I took 4-years of Latin in high school, I couldn't tell you the first thing about The Illiad.

I was completely floored by the absolute beauty of this story, which centers around the love between Achilles and Patroclus.

Admittedly, I am not an ...more

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Apr 07, 2018 jessica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

‘we were like gods at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.’

i must be a masochist because i can think of no other reason to endure the emotional and stunning pain of this story for a fourth time. but here i am. crying for my sweet, sweet patroclus. the best of men. the best of the myrmidons. <3
______________________________

its been nearly 12 hours since i finished this and i still am at a loss for words at the beauty of this book. i dont ...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Navessa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: strong-themes, 2016-favorites, all-the-feels, divisive-characters, insufferable-mc, retelling, 2016, believe-the-hype, broke-me, historical-fiction

"Achilles. Who was he if not miraculous, and radiant? Who was he if not destined for fame?"

Reading this is like reading Romeo and Juliet. We all know the story. We all know the outcome. We all know that our desperate prayers for someone, anyone to step in and save these characters from themselves will fall on deaf ears.

Gods. What a bloody trainwreck. Even though I knew how it was going to end, I was not prepared for how much I cared.

This is the story of the fall of Troy. Or rather, a part of it. More specifically, this is the tale of Achilles and Patroclus. Of their undying love for each other. Of the lives they sacrifice on the altar of that love. Of desperate men and petty gods. Of a proud, greedy people engaged in a prolonged, bloody war.

So often in historical fiction from this time period I see the sharp edges of the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures smoothed away. I see slaves treated well and women given a voice. I'm happy to say there was none of that bullshittery here. Miller paints the pages of this book in blood and suffering. It is awash with pain and brutality. As it should be. Because historical accuracy.

But, it means that this book is not for everyone. There is a lot of sexism, misogyny, violence, bloodshed, and rape, mentioned almost offhand, because, to these characters, this behavior is commonplace. Expected. I didn't like a single one of them. And not just because of their worldviews. There was Achilles and his hubris. Patroclus and his uselessness. Thetis and her coldness. I didn't even like Odysseus and his famous wit, for there was an edge to it in this book that made him seem less charming and more manipulative than I remember.

That said, as much as I disliked these characters, I loved their stories. Miller took gods and legends and brought them to life within the pages of this book. She humanized these mythical beings in a way that made them seem real, fallible.

I just...I cannot say enough about this book. To me, this is literature at its finest. A beautifully written, masterfully crafted story capable of transporting readers within its pages, so enchanting them with what they find within that they forget that the real world lurks without, waiting for their return.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest ...more

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Jan 05, 2017 ;3 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, favourites, audiobooks

yall remember tht part where it was like:

achilles: lol listen my mom can’t spy on us anymore 👅

patroclus: 👀

achilles: 👀

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Apr 29, 2018 Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, greek, myth

”He was a marvel, shaft after shaft flying from him, spears that he wrenched easily from broken bodies on the ground to toss at new targets. Again and again I saw his wrist twist, exposing its pale underside, those flute-like bones thrusting elegantly forward. My spear sagged forgotten to the ground as I watched. I could not even see the ugliness of the deaths anymore, the brains, the shattered bones that later I would wash from my skin and hair. All I saw was his beauty, his singing limbs, the ...more

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Mar 07, 2021 Tharindu Dissanayake rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tharindu by: ☾Sabrina♡༄

Shelves: favorites-fiction

"The never-ending ache of love and sorrow."

There are a few books I come across everyday while going through my GR feed, and The Song of Achilles is at top of that list. Rightly so, I have to agree, the heart-wrenching ending notwithstanding. Spoiling this book for future readers would be a crime, so while I'm sharing my thoughts, I'll do my best not to overshare.

"We obey our kings, but only within reason."

Patroclus - the lesser known hero - being the protagonist helps narrate the story of Achill "The never-ending ache of love and sorrow."

There are a few books I come across everyday while going through my GR feed, and The Song of Achilles is at top of that list. Rightly so, I have to agree, the heart-wrenching ending notwithstanding. Spoiling this book for future readers would be a crime, so while I'm sharing my thoughts, I'll do my best not to overshare.

"We obey our kings, but only within reason."

Patroclus - the lesser known hero - being the protagonist helps narrate the story of Achilles from a very unique standpoint. While the sequence of events does follow the Trojan war, war part only feels like a sub-plot which complements the main plot beautifully. The reader would rarely await the outcomes of war, for, the amazing and somewhat poetic narrative keeps one deeply immersed in the feelings of the main character. Still, you'll come across the brutalities of war as well, and how they change the characters and their personalities as the story progresses.

"I find the folly of men amusing."

As I was finishing the first half of the book, it didn't feel that eventful or impressive in itself. Sure, it was interesting and had a nice flow to it, with some intricate details about both Achilles and Patroclus, but it didn't feel like anything new: a regular romance novel. But as you finish through the last chapters, those seemingly uneventful - though quite emotional - first half will deepen the reader's emotions profoundly. I think a re-read of this might prove very difficult, especially with the first half, with being familiar with the ending. Still, you'll definitely re-read this.

"No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from."

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.

" 'Go,' she says. 'He waits for you.' "
...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Victoria Schwab rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Epic.

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Mar 13, 2020 Maria rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

patroclus: constantly gushing about achilles' outer and inner beauty, like 80% of the time
me: *remembering brad pitt's chiseled abs and legs in troy (2004)* same boi ...more

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Mar 27, 2020 Petrik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

4.5/5 stars

Beautifully heartbreaking and tragic, Madelline Miller’s first novel burst with palpable emotions.

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 sev ...more

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Nov 16, 2017 booksNpenguins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-heaven, shippity-ship-ship, royal-binches, historical-and-myths

ACHILLES, it reads. And beside it, PATROCLUS.

Can anyone please call my boss and let her know I may not go to work for a week or so? I need time to recover from this book that m u r d e r e d me.

No kidding, here. I think getting a Brazilian wax wouldn't have hurt this much.
I'm an ugly sobbing mess, running nose and hair pulling included.
Wow.
What a-wow! I have no words.
I can't remember the last time a book made me weep so much.
This is honestly the kind of book I prefer: zero dull ...more

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Sep 25, 2018 NReads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I think Patroclus was the only sane person there, Achilles acted way too childish, I hated Neoptolemus, Thetis was extremely annoying, and Agamemnon should have died sooner

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Jan 08, 2014 anna (½ of readsrainbow) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-fantasy, favourites, 3-chosen-one, soft, 2-mlm, 3-found-families, 1-retellings, 2-protags-of-color, 4-mythologies, 2-lgbt

the vibe of "i feel like i could eat the world raw" vs. "i will kill u & eat u raw"

but actually, the only thing that was eaten raw was my heart

rep: mlm couple ...more

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Mar 26, 2018 lily ☁️ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to lily ☁️ by: clara

Shelves: historical, lgbtqiap-rep, fantasy, romance, to-reread, beautiful-prose, best-romance, tolino, retelling, adult

“When I die, bury my ashes with this book.”—every person who finished reading The Song of Achilles, ever.

“IN THE DARKNESS, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”

Blog | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter ...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fiction, literary-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I feel a bit silly doing this, but I have put a spoiler alert on this review, just in case there are folks out there who might not be versed in the classics.

In a nutshell, Boy meet demi-god. Boy gets demi-god. Boy loses demi-god. Wait, demi-god loses boy, goes a bit funny in the head and behaves badly. Greece loses demi-god, the happy couple wind up sharing an afterlife.

description

Madeline Miller - image from her site

You might want to dust off your Iliad, as this is a retelling of the story of Achilles, ...more

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Mar 07, 2017 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads, young-adult, fave-couple, favorites, tragedy, bi-mc, historical-fiction, lgbtqiap, retelling, gay-mc

“We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

way back I said there was a review of this beautiful book to come and I never did it. So now it's June and finally, finally I am ready to review this book.

deidamia: marry me ach-
achilles: in case you haven’t noticed, i’m gay. i’m gay as fuck. i don’t like girls and i don’t want to... like girls. have you ever seen me without patroclus standing right beside me? that’s gay

In a ...more

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Jul 07, 2016 Elle (ellexamines) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-relationships, retellings, 5-star, z-2016favs, gay-genre-fiction, lgbtq, sff-high-fantasy, z-2016read

“Why would I kill Hector? What has Hector ever done to me?”

Fun Fact of the Day: I was in a Latin class my freshman year where the teacher mentioned how gay Achilles was every single sentence. She could not bring up these two without mentioning that they were believed to be in a romantic relationship. That's honestly at least half the reason I picked this book up, so thanks, Magistra Vasquez, for being so extra. Can't wait to have you again next year for AP Latin. Can probably wai ...more

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Aug 23, 2012 K rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommended to K by: Orange Prize and high goodreads rating

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-magicrealism, maybe-it-s-me, historicalfiction, ebooks, couldntfinish

I am going to disagree with the Orange Prize committee. I am going to disagree with thousands of goodreads reviewers. This book is crap.

Okay, all you trolls. Go ahead and tell me what a philistine I am, how ignorant I am of Greek literature and mythology, and how my failure to appreciate this book reflects my limitations rather than those of the book. You don't really need to bother defending this book, because the masses seem to agree with you.

But if you ask me, this was a Harlequin. Boring Pa ...more

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Jun 23, 2018 may ➹ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to may ➹ by: dyl

Shelves: read-2018, library, adult, buddy-reads, diverse, my-soul-hurts, rep-lgbtqiap-mlm, ebook, rep-lgbtqiap, favorites

5/9/20: yes it’s 5pm on a regular Saturday evening and I’m thinking about “I would know him in death, at the end of the world” and crying..... no one talk to me

——————

3/16/20: this is one of those books that get better every time you reread it and by better I mean worse because you will cry over every little thing that happens

——————

3/7/19: imagine being me and rereading this and having no care for my own emotions and wondering why I’m crying at 2 am

(I already want to reread it again)

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Oct 03, 2018 Melanie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audible, favorites, romance, fantasy, read-in-2018, lgbtqiap, historical

“In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood, like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.”

I read The Song of Achilles many years ago, before I got into book reviewing, but it always bothered me that I didn’t have a proper review for this beautiful book. I was a little apprehensive about rereading it, because I wasn’t sure if it would hold up and impact me the way it did many years ago. But, friends, this s ...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Whitaker rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, fiction-1950-and-after, z_2012-read, greece

*This review is dedicated to Kelly without whose question I would not have thought so hard about why I loved this book.

Miller has called this book “The Song of Achilles”. The title could refer to a song sung by Achilles. It could also refer to a song sung about Achilles. This double meaning is significant as the book retells the story of the Illiad but with a very different focus. The title is significant too because it deliberately recalls the start of the Illiad: “Sing, goddess, of the wrath *This review is dedicated to Kelly without whose question I would not have thought so hard about why I loved this book.

Miller has called this book “The Song of Achilles”. The title could refer to a song sung by Achilles. It could also refer to a song sung about Achilles. This double meaning is significant as the book retells the story of the Illiad but with a very different focus. The title is significant too because it deliberately recalls the start of the Illiad: “Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles Peleus’ son”. However, instead of telling us of the wrath of Achilles, it tells us of his softer side: his love or rather his loves—Patroclus and music.

To call the story “The Song of Achilles” is, to some extent, misleading, because it is also the song of Patroclus with the same double meaning: a song sung by Patroclus and a song about Patroclus. For the very heart of the book is the love between Patroclus and Achilles. Told by Patroclus from the first person perspective, the question that haunts us right from the start is, “How is Miller going to be able to keep this up once Patroclus dies?” She does, and impressively, presents not simply a perfectly good way to explain that but to make that explanation a crucial part of her story.

The other question that is asked, not just by us but by the characters as well, is, “Why Patroclus?” Why of all the young men that Achilles has around him does he choose the awkward, weak exile? The most moving thing about this book is that it proceeds to show us why.

Achilles’ answer, almost too glib, is, “Because he’s surprising.” But the real answer, or at least the answer that Miller gives us, is that Patroclus cares, and cares deeply, about other people. It is this that makes him surprising: a man who cares about others in a world of greed and realpolitik where men are, first and foremost, killing machines, and Achilles the best of them all. And it is this care for other people that ultimately triggers the story’s denouement: Achilles' selecting of Breisis, the theft of Breisis by Agamemnon, Achilles’ sulking, Patroclus’ going to war in Achilles’ armour are all explained within that context, arising from and connected to this deep sense of love and responsibility that Patroclus feels for other people’s suffering and his desire to ease it.

It is significant that the only other show of love by a man in this book is that of Odysseus for Penelope. His love for her is presented to us several times throughout the book and at a crucial scene at the end. Odysseus, of course, leaves the tale of the Illiad and becomes the hero of his own story, The Odyssey. That tale is, in its own way, a story of love as Odysseus struggles to return home to Ithaca and to Penelope. And through Miller’s tale, so too does the Illiad become—finally—a story of love: the love of Achilles and Patroclus and how they each struggled to keep that love alive. For that, her story deserves to be read and loved too in its turn.
...more

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Aug 01, 2018 Helena of Eretz ✰ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, unpopular-opinions, did-not-finish, mythology

I'm sorry, but I didn't like this at all. DNF.

description

To all the trolls who constantly leave disparaging comments below:
This is my opinion. Leaving insults down below isn't going to change my mind. This isn't my preferred Iliad retelling, and there's nothing you can do to change that. All it's going to do is get your comment deleted and your profile blocked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq, five-stars, historical-fiction, romance, adult-fiction

We despise spoilers. We avoid them at all costs, cover them with spoiler tags, and castigate those who share them. But a great book is one that we can appreciate even when we already know the ending. That's how it was with The Song of Achilles: I knew the fates of the characters beforehand, but no matter how much I tried to brace myself, the last few chapters still broke my heart in the best possible way.

What had Deidameia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Ha We despise spoilers. We avoid them at all costs, cover them with spoiler tags, and castigate those who share them. But a great book is one that we can appreciate even when we already know the ending. That's how it was with The Song of Achilles: I knew the fates of the characters beforehand, but no matter how much I tried to brace myself, the last few chapters still broke my heart in the best possible way.

What had Deidameia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Had she really thought I would not know him? I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

Madeline Miller retells the Trojan War through Patroclus's point of view. The book begins with his childhood, and it captures almost all of his life. Miller takes us from his exile from his own land to when he meets Achilles, to their gradual and growing friendship, to when they embark on the war together. She incorporates various historical qualities and characters such as the battle strategies of the time period and Thetis's difficult relationship with her own son. The Song of Achilles will please those searching for a retelling of the Iliad as well as those who want a fresh take on Patroclus and Achille's relationship.

Can we all take a collective moment to appreciate the beautiful bond between Patroclus and Achilles? Their relationship developed in the most sincere, realistic, and wonderful way. Miller did not bypass the societal standards of the Trojan War period, rather, she used them to strengthen an already solid friendship. The best and worst part was that I knew how it was going to end - heck, anyone who has learned about the Trojan War or Achilles knows - but my prior knowledge could not stop the waterfall of tears that flooded my face upon the book's conclusion. Patroclus's kind heart, Achille's gumption and glory, and the prophecy that hung over them captured me and held my heart captive. Instead of releasing my emotions at the end, Miller tore them apart, and I enjoyed every second of it.

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. "Yes," I whispered. "Yes."

Miller's writing transported me. It took her ten years to write this and the effort she put into her research shows; the development of Patroclus and Achilles and all of the different events in the story exemplifies her passion for classics. Achilles, Patroclus, and even side characters like Thetis and Briseis received human qualities that allowed them to remain true to their portrayals in history while making them easier to relate to at the same time. Achilles and Patroclus's relationship won me over and made me cry, but this book succeeds in several other areas as well, like its description of settings and battles.

Highly recommended for history/classic buffs or anyone searching for a story with a romance that will leave you breathless. It left me sobbing and gasping for breath at 8 AM in the main lobby of my college dorm, and I am confident it will evoke a similar reaction in other readers who come across it.

*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice ...more

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Mar 01, 2021 emma rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: diverse, non-ya, eh, to-review, historical, 3-stars, unpopular-opinion, fantasy

me and madeline miller just don't get along.

review to come / 3 stars

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that day has arrived.

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saving this for a day i want to cry during ...more

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Jul 19, 2020 C.G. Drews rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, 5-star, read-2020, historical-fiction, best-of-2020

I still do not have the words to describe how broken I am right now. I knew what would happen, I knew it already, and yet you know who is lying in two broken pieces on the floor? I AM. I won't be getting up don't wait for me. 😭😭

I think the two things I can possibly cobble together are:
(1) my unending love for the first half of the book. How deeply and wholly Patroclus and Achilles loved each other, as silly little boys and then as gangly teens and then as proud young men. They made each other w ...more

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Feb 22, 2018 Sabrina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“ACHILLES, it reads. And beside it, PATROCLUS”

“IN THE DARKNESS, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun”

This book was just utterly heartbreaking and breathtakingly beautiful. I’m in love with every aspect of it.
The end, the end broke me💔! In the best and worst way possible.

BR with Khadidja (sorry, I just couldn't wait, had to finish this💗). ...more

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Sep 17, 2019 Hamad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: paperbacks, good-covers, 2019-reads

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“Chiron had said once that nations were the most foolish of mortal inventions. “No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from.”

🌟 I have heard a lot of great things about Madeline and this book and I did not read it for the longest time. When she released her second book, I jumped immediately into it and I liked her writing but I was a bit bored and the plot could not capture my full attention then. I decided to give this book a ch ...more

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About Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller

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Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of ...more

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Trivia About The Song of Achilles

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Quotes from The Song of Achilles

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” — 3801 likes

“Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.
"You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward.
"I can't."
"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.
We sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned.
"I feel like I could eat the world raw.” — 2347 likes

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