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 relationship 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 petty longer to digest than normal sized non-mythic emotions. It is a pleasure as a story, and also caused me to mirror on the operate of epic emotions in storytelling, and the role tragic stories play in modern literature. As a love story, it is charming and well studied, and those titanic emotions are heartbreaking at times. I love the larger than life quality of it—Miller really captures the mythic nature of the originals, while making it all much more personal and focused. The writing style is easy but lyrical.

There are some changes to the familiar stories, the main one being Patroclus is not a fighter. He chooses t

Goodreads

Summary: The Song of Achilles is a book written by Madeline Miller and is the story of Achilles and Patroclus’ bond. The book is written in first person from Patroclus’ direct 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 conclude there is always tragedy.

My take: The book is beautifully written. Ms. Miller is an exceptional writer. Her way of characterizing 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 adequately described and developed. The obstacle I mostly had with this book was the story line, especially towards the end.

The launch 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.

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, traits 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 passionate 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 quixotic and sexual desires? Does he longing only men (in The Song of Achilles this is genuine 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

Was Achilles Gay? What We Know From Classical Literature

Published: Feb 3, 2022written by Rosie Lesso, MA Contemporary Art Theory, BA Decent 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 ethics, 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 propose this might have been the case, although we don’t really know. Let’s take a closer see at the evidence to find out more.

Achilles’ Sexuality Is Never Defined In Classical Literature

Many scholars include speculated about Achilles’ sexuality. One of the main arguments that suggest he might have been same-sex attracted is the expression of love between Achilles and his closest friend Patroclus, who he had famous since childhood. Homer’s grand poem The Iliad, gives us the most detailed account of their affair . It describes them as close companions, but not specifically lovers. Instead, any romantic attachments are implied rather than stated as fact. Centuries la