Is the song of achilles gay
My Writing on Medium
A retelling of the love story of Achilles and Patroclus. The Song of Achilles follows the story from Patroclus’ point of view, from boyhood, charting his friendship and eventual partnership with Achilles, all the way until their tragic end in the Trojan War. (And I’m not going to apologise for spoilers. That would be silly.) Not a recent publication, but I loved it a lot, so I’m going to stick a review here.
It’s taken me a little while to process this one. Not because I had problems with it, but because the emotions are so huge, they took a little longer to digest than normal sized non-mythic emotions. It is a joy as a story, and also caused me to reflect on the use of titanic emotions in storytelling, and the role tragic stories play in modern literature. As a love story, it is beautiful and well studied, and those epic emotions are heartbreaking at times. I desire the larger than animation quality of it—Miller really captures the mythic essence of the originals, while making it all much more personal and focused. The writing style is simple but lyrical.
There are some changes to the familiar stories, the main one being Patroclus is not a fighter. He chooses t
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
Rating: No Good Genre: Fantasy Representation: Gay men, Greek/Mediterranean cast Trigger Warnings: rape, rape culture, explicit sex scenes, child sexualization, exotified ethnicity, ethics death
I stopped reading The Song of Achilles a third of the way through. I started the novel with high hopes, as The Song of Achilles promised to be an exploration of the affectionate relationship between Achilles and Patroclus—taking what The Iliad only implied and putting it to paper.
Here's what I was hoping for: an honest exploration of the ancient Greek conception of sexuality, taking into account that homoeroticism that we today would call “homosexual” was not considered part of one's sexual identity, simply what one did (in addition to taking a wife, of course). What would a boy growing up in (mythical) ancient Greece, a land where even Zeus took male lovers, think about his own amorous and sexual desires? Does he want only men (in The Song of Achilles this is real of both Achilles and Patroclus), and what does that mean for him personally, as compared to what it would mean for us today?
Here's what I
Goodreads
Summary: The Song of Achilles is a book written by Madeline Miller and is the story of Achilles and Patroclus’ affair . The book is written in first person from Patroclus’ indicate of view. In the manual we are told more about the background of Patroclus, how Patroclus and Achilles met, their training by Chiron, and the Trojan war. It is similar in setting to the Iliad and the Odyssey. The gods and man conspire and battle together and in the finish there is always tragedy.
My take: The book is beautifully written. Ms. Miller is an exceptional writer. Her way of explaining what is happening makes the scenes in my head so much more detailed. Her description of the gods was also very well done. I could see Thetis, Apollo and Chiron so clearly I had to stop several times to soak in the visions. The story was also very entertaining and all the characters involved in the book were very successfully described and developed. The issue I mostly had with this book was the story line, especially towards the end.
The inception of the book tells us about Patroclus and his hardships, and when he is exiled he finally meets Achilles and they develop a strong friendship.
Was Achilles Gay? What We Know From Classical Literature
Published: Feb 3, 2022written by Rosie Lesso, MA Contemporary Art Theory, BA Fine Art
Achilles is one of the greatest war heroes of Greek mythology. Many will probably know he was a warrior by nature, and he staged some of the most ruthless and gruesome battles of the Trojan War. But he was also a deeply complex character, and there are aspects of his life that have remained a mystery. One of the most asked questions of all time is: was Achilles gay? Certain stories suggest this might have been the case, although we don’t really know. Let’s receive a closer glance at the evidence to find out more.
Achilles’ Sexuality Is Never Defined In Classical Literature
Many scholars have speculated about Achilles’ sexuality. One of the main arguments that advise he might acquire been gay is the expression of love between Achilles and his closest friend Patroclus, who he had recognizable since childhood. Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, gives us the most detailed account of their relationship. It describes them as termination companions, but not specifically lovers. Instead, any romantic attachments are implied rather than stated as fact. Centuries la