The book “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, published in 2011, is a historical fictional romance novel based on Homer’s epic poem, “The Iliad.” It follows the story of Patroclus, a Greek hero of the Trojan War, as he grows up with well-known Greek hero Achilles. The story starts off with Patroclus being sent to Pthia after accidentally killing another boy. After he meets Achilles, readers see the relationship develop from Patroclus’s perspective. The book then follows the story of Achilles and how Patroclus helped him fulfill his prophecy to lead the Greeks to victory in the Trojan War.
The author, Madeline Miller, is from New England and primarily writes mythological and historical novels. She spent ten years writing “The Song of Achilles” while working as a teacher and tutor of Latin, Greek, and Shakespearean literature for high school students. Six years after the release of this book, she released “Circe,” another historical fiction novel based on Greek mythology.
This book piqued my interest because I am very intrigued by history and curious about mythology. Miller’s writing is absolutely beautiful and she writes characters with an extreme amount of depth. Her use of imagery in the book is incredible and greatly captures the essence of Ancient Greece. It’s important for readers to understand that while the novel follows the original story of “The Iliad,” it is not completely historically accurate. The novel is still very enjoyable for readers that don’t know much about mythology or “The Iliad,” but isn’t the best choice if the objective is educational. There are many speculations about some of the relationships in the novel, and this novel shows how Miller interprets the story.
“The Song of Achilles” is a great choice for fans of books like “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid and “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by Victoria E. Schwab, which also include strong themes of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance. I strongly recommend interested readers and people who enjoy this novel to check out “Circe.” I would rate this novel five out of five stars because I loved reading it and I think that it’s exciting to learn about multiple interpretations of historical events like this.
