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”This will be the greatest war of our people, remembered in legend and song for generations.��

”He had chosen to become a legend, and this was the beginning.��

The tale of Achilles and his rise to fame as the greatest warrior of all time, told tenderly through the eyes of his friend and lover Patroclus. 💟

We first meet them as young boys, when Patroclus is exiled to Phthia for bringing shame on his family. Phthia is the home of Achilles, and we follow them as they grow from youth to men. Eventuating in the Trojan War (which ran for ten years).

A standout for me is where Chiron (a Centaur* who lived in an a rose quartz cave in the mountains) taught Achilles and Patroclus about archery, hunting, herbs, medicine, generously sharing his knowledge. This was a particularly happy period for both Achilles and Patroclus, and becomes more poignant in light of the ending of both their stories.

The descriptions of life in the camps of the various armies during the Trojan War is spectacularly done. The sheer hard slog of daily life, and the violence of it. This portion of the book rises to a crescendo, and is quite amazing.

What I enjoy about Madeline Miller’s writing is that she makes reading about mythological figures easy to follow and gives them human frailty. You may not like them, but you can perhaps understand them. All of the usual suspects are here: Odysseus, Ajax, Diomedes, Agamemnon, Menelaus & Hector). Ah, Hector! I wish someone would write a book about him.

The part of the book describing the actual (physical) fighting of the Trojan War was sickening. So much tragedy. For men and women alike. From Patroclus�� viewpoint ”At the end of the morning, hours and hours of nauseating chaos, my eyes were sun-blind and my hand ached with gripping my spear �� though I had used it more often to lean on than to threaten. My helmet was a boulder crushing my ears slowly into my skull.��

This really brought home to me how much people (nations) can be driven by greed, pride & revenge, and how many wars are the result of that. Nothing’s really changed through the ages.

There is tragedy and brutality, but there is also tenderness and love. You know what the ending will be, and what an ending it is. It is just SO incredibly sad. But it’s still well worth joining Achilles and Patroclus on their journey.

From having read Madeline Miller’s books out of order (having read “Circe�� first), I can see just how much she’s grown as a writer. A solid 3.5✩s.

I’m very much looking forward to whatever her next book is, as I’m sure she’ll bring another classic story to life beautifully.

* Centaur - in Greek mythology, a race of creatures, part horse and part man, dwelling in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia.

*** Shout out to my reading buddy Jus (Super-Exclusive-Bookclub)***
As usual, I've lagged far behind in finishing this.