Achilles later suggests to Patroclus that his mother did this to drive a wedge between the two of them. But in The Song of Achilles, Achilles must be coerced by his mother and Deidamia into sleeping with her to produce a son, which he does not want to do. This is a major departure from the Achilles mythos, which depicts Achilles as an enthusiastic lover of women and Patroclus’ “closest companion.” On the isle of Skyros, Achilles was said to have fallen desperately in love Deidamia before raping her in a sacred grove and begetting his only son Neoptolemus. Specifically, Achilles and Patroclus’ emphasis on monogamy and more-or-less exclusive homosexuality. But it’s not quite perfect to my mind, and I wanted to talk about what I see as the novel’s greatest flaw: the imposition of modern western relationship values onto ancient Greek characters. Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles is a fun, accessible, and largely accurate retelling of the Achilles’ mythos and I enthusiastically recommend it. Another short writeup for A Swimming-Pool Library I wanted to share.
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