My mental health misses the days when Achilles’ heel was his actual heel and not his husband, Patroclus.

I sobbed like a baby.

queer couples are so far-fetched like what do you mean "he's half my soul as the poets say" WHICH FUCKING POET SAID THAT???

like cite your sources bro

"He is half my soul, as the poets say." - In One Universe Or The Other 

 "Name one hero who was happy." 

"You can't." 

"I'm going to be the first. Swear it." 

"Why?"

 "Because you're the reason. Swear it." 

"I swear."

Love is Enough: Patroclus in “The Song of Achilles”

Note on the text: I used The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller as published in 2012 by HarperCollins

Madeline Miller has crafted a near masterpiece here. Not quite as good as Circe but how many books are. And at the center of this one is another great protagonist, Patroclus, who learns how to truly tap into his potential and become the best version of himself.

When we first meet Patroclus he is just a little kid craving for his father’s love and attention. His mom has passed away and it is clear that he is nothing but a “disappointment [to his dad]: small, slight. I was not fast. I was not strong. I could not sing” (1). He knows deep in his bones that he is unloved and unwanted: a failure. This not only affects him psychologically, but stunts his growth as a human being. Love is the most important thing for a child to experience. More than anything else he needs to know that he is loved and accepted if he is to become who he is meant to be. That is why Patroclus isn’t able to grow while living with his father, but Achilles is. It’s obvious from the beginning that King Minoetius despises Patroclus while King Peleus loves Achilles.

When he goes to live with King Peleus, Patroclus is something of a disappointment, and runs a real risk of being just another royal brat who never met his potential. In fact he is being sent away because he brought shame on his family name, but the moment King Peleus sees him he tells Patroclus that he is welcome to stay and that he may “still make a good man” someday (29). It’s Peleus’ belief in Patroclus that starts Patroclus on the path to becoming the hero that Briseis will later say is worth 10 of Achilles. Achilles also loves Patroclus and even from the very beginning treats Patroclus with a respect that his father never gave him. When he and Patroclus are learning to play the lyre, instead of simply mocking Patroclus he encourages him to keep practicing. Similarly, when Chiron decides to take on Achilles as a pupil, he also teaches Patroclus everything he knows about medicine so that he can become the best doctor the world had ever seen. The love and acceptance that Patroclus experiences here is what allows him to evolve into the man that he later becomes.

In some sense you could say that Patroclus becomes doubly great. Not only because what he himself accomplishes as a doctor and a soldier (he kills the renowned Trojan warrior Sarpedon) but because of the way that he influences and changes Achilles.

Achilles has been told all of his life that he is destined to become a great warrior, a hero. Odysseus himself says that Achilles is “a weapon, a killer. . . . The best that the gods have ever made” (207). Achilles believes that with such conviction that it has blunted his ability to really empathize with other people. He thinks he’s above it all. That’s why he tells Patroclus again and again, when he begs Achilles not to kill Hector because the prophecy says that Achilles will die next, “why should I kill him? He’s done nothing to me” (171). It is the statement of an innocently arrogant person who has never experienced any major pain and believes that he is above it all. He’s struggled to really empathize with others which is why he’s willing to let all the Greek suffer and die while he looks on from the sidelines when King Agamemnon insults him by taking away all of his war prizes. The degree to which Achilles is able to have any kind of compassion is directly a result of his relationship with Patroclus. There is a scene where Achilles approaches Patroclus in the aftermath of a battle. Now just prior to that battle, Patroclus chided Achilles for being an unfeeling, ruthless killing machine. This time however when he approaches Patroclus it is to tell him that he

left one son alive. . . . The eighth son. So that the line would not die’

Strange that such kindness felt like grace. Yet what other warrior would have done as much?. . . . The surviving son would have children, he would give them his family name, and tell their story. They would be preserved, in memory of not in life (254).

Patroclus is the one who is able to give this “Tin Man”, this unfeeling war machine, a heart, and the value of that is so high that Achilles later admits that he would give up everything to have Patroclus with him again. More than that, he agrees with Briseis when she says that she hopes Hector kills him. Without Patroclus and his love, life, for Achilles, isn’t worth living.

The beautiful thing about this book is how it really is all about love. We all need love, in all its forms, to become the best version of ourselves. Patroclus was only able to become the best version of himself because of the love of people like Peleus, Briseis, Chiron, and Achilles. Even Achilles was only able to be the hero that he was because of the love of people like Peleus and Patroclus. Love is so important. It is the soil in which we grow, and what plant doesn’t need the right kind of soil to flourish. Love really is the answer.

My “Age of Mythology” stack (Ancient Greece, Norse, and Egyptian mythology/lit) Haven’t figured out the best way to display them yet. Circe and Song of Achilles are probably the most beautiful ones I own, but David Gemmel’s Troy trilogy is my favorite hands down! #troy #davidgemmell #historicalfiction #trojanwar #ancientgreece #madelinemiller #greekmythology #illiad #circe #songofachilles #norsemythology #egyptianmythology #boomstagram #spencerrussellsmithauthor https://www.instagram.com/p/CnGbNLBu-ZX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world. #songofachilles #madelinemiller #patroclus #achilles #patroclusandachilles #gaypride #pridemonth https://www.instagram.com/p/CfftNZnrgzo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

“Rainy days should be spent with carajillos and a good book.” 🥃📖 #rainydays #goodbook #songofachilles #rainyweather #summerrains #summervibes (en Hacienda La Laborcilla) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgXxwm8pwSx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

“He is half of my soul, as the poets say.”

- The Song of Achilles

REVIEW: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

My goodreads rating: * * * This book is in the genres, LGBTQ+ and fantasy. This book is mainly set in Greek mythology times. So if you are a book lover of those. This is for you. I am a new lover to fantasy I must admit. Compared to other books, fantasy is not one I have fully explored yet. However that doesn’t mean to say I don’t know a good book when I read one. This book begins with…

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i want someone to love me so much that when i die the gods have to intervene in order to save the world from my lover’s wrath

He leaned forward. Our mouths opened under each other, and the warmth of his sweetened throat poured into mine. I could not think, could not do anything but to drink him in, each breath as it came, the soft movement of his lips. It was a miracle.

Chapter 11, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Thank you to SongOfAchilles on FR for this beautiful art of my dragon Goddess! I am OBSESSED!! <3

“Hello Hero” - Another new collage I made this week. 

"I am made of memories"

His memories, his songs, the way his feet stuck the earth. I am made of his memories.

#thesongofachilles #achilles #greek #greekmythology #romance #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #achillesandpatroclus #songofachilles