Ms. Hen reviews Song of Achilles

 

Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

Harper Collins

2012

Ms. Hen decided to read this book, because she was chatting with her hen coworker, and Ms. Hen told her she had read another book by this author, CIRCE. Ms. Hen's hen coworker lent her the book, and they talked about it a little bit when she started it. They both agreed that the beginning was slow, but then it gets juicy.

This novel is about Patroclus, a companion of Achilles. Patroclus is an odd child when he is young, whose mother is simple, and his father sends him into exile when he accidentally kills a boy because the boy wanted to steal his dice. Patroclus is sent to the home of Peleus, who adopted boys in order to build his army. Patroclus befriends Achilles, and they become companions. The boys are sent to stay with the Centaur Chiron in the forest where they are supposed to learn fighting and medicine. 

Achilles is fated to be the greatest warrior of his generation, "The Best of the Greeks." Patroclus and he become lovers while they stay with Chiron. Achilles' mother, Thetis, does not like Patroclus. She thinks he is a danger to her son. The boys eventually go to fight in Troy to bring back the beautiful Helen to her husband. The war goes on for ten years. Achilles is a fierce warrior and nobody can beat him. Patroclus stands by him until the end.

Ms. Hen does not know that much about Greek mythology, but she did some research about Patroclus. He is a lesser known figure, some experts say that he and Achilles weren't lovers, but some newer scholars disagree. Ms. Hen thinks that Patroclus is similar to Circe, in the way that they are not as prominent, but are important in their own right.

Ms. Hen found her mind wandering while she read parts of this novel, especially at the beginning. She wondered why it took Patroclus so long to find his way to medicine while the soldiers were at Troy; she thinks he should have been working as a healer the whole time. The book did not describe in depth Chiron's surgery lessons with Patroclus and Achilles, they were more implied.

Ms. Hen thinks that Patroclus and Achilles were good people, and they wanted to do the right thing. Ms. Hen doesn't know how scholars would interpret this story, but stories are just that, stories, they can be passed down through the generations, and they can change, and become something entirely different from what they started out to be.

Ms. Hen thinks this is a lovely novel about two men who are heroes, who were in love. They fought against their enemies, even though some of the enemies were on the same side. Sometimes, people have to learn who they should trust, and it's not always obvious. Love should be able to solve everything, but it doesn't always happen that way.