IN CLASS: The Song of Achilles

Please read the provided excerpt from Madeline Miller’s Iliad-based novel The Song of Achilles and  respond to the following questions, which are arranged in order of importance.

To set the scene:

The action of this chapter takes place on the island of Scyros. When Agamemnon begins to gather armies for his war against Troy, Thetis secretly takes Achilles away to this island and forces the local king Lycomedes to take him in and hide him, in the guise of a girl. Lycomedes’ daughter, Deidamia, runs a dance school of sorts for noble girls, and Achilles puts on a dress and pretends to be one of them. This story is not in the Iliad, but it is not invented by Miller—Achilles’ sojourn on Skyros, hidden among the girls and dressing like one, is attested in multiple sources, in somewhat different forms depending on the source. The next part is also attested: Achilles is found and exposed through a trick by Odysseus and other Achaean leaders (in Miller’s book, Diomedes). In the Song of Achilles the trick is an alarm signal, which is sounded while everyone is feasting. Achilles reveals himself by grasping a sword and rushing to the company’s defense.

            What is different in Miller’s novel is the presence of Patroclus on Skyros. In this novel, Achilles and Patroclus are lovers and have just spent three happy years growing up, discovering who they are, and transitioning from close friendship to passionate love in the mountains of Thessaly under the tutelage of the centaur Chiron. When Thetis takes Achilles away, Patroclus is bereft but eventually he finds Achilles on Skyros and the two spend their days in hiding while waiting for the threat of war to blow over. Neither of them wants to go to war. Achilles is already the best fighter of his age and has heard that he is destined for glory, but he is not yet ready for war and thinks there will be other chances to win his glory in the future.

The scene you are reading takes place immediately after Achilles is found out. The "I" of the narrative is Patroclus.

1. Does Miller’s dramatization of Achilles’ choice make sense in terms of the Iliad? Does it help you make sense of the Iliad?
2. Miller’s Thetis dislikes and despises Patroclus from the beginning, yet she appears and talks to him in this chapter. How would you describe the similarities and differences between the Iliadic Thetis and the Thetis you meet here, in the Song of Achilles? Does the antagonism between Miller’s Thetis and Patroclus make sense to you?
3. What (other) points of contact to you see between this scene in Miller’s novel and the books you have read of the Iliad? Can you remember any passages in the Iliad that might have inspired or informed Miller in this chapter?
4. Comment on anything you find worthy of note in this part of Miller’s novel.

Please work collectively on the google doc for your group. You may write a collective text or each contribute an individual paragraph. 

PLEASE RECORD YOUR NAMES ON TOP OF THE DOC AND EACH SUBMIT THE ENTIRE GOOGLE DOC INDIVIDUALLY TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT.

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