The Song of Achilles

S

I think I have turned into a number one fan of  Greek story telling. I loved all the myths as a kid and have happily returned to them.  This book was a retelling of the Iliad by Homer from the perspective of Patroclus, Achilles friend and lover. I have an extremely jumbled and muddled idea of what the Iliad was about and the characters in the Trojan war but now I kind of get it. There is no way I could wade through the poetry of the original so this book was perfect. What a great story!  Even though the original was written nearly 3000 years ago it all seems so relevant with topics on love, lust, pointless wars being fought in the East, honour, pride, families and friendships.

This is a time when Greek gods lived, walked and talked with humans and I loved how the author incorporated gods and goddesses into the story. The boys, Achilles and Patroclus are taken away for three years to live high up on a mountain with a centaur and Achilles water nymph mother is an angry, bitter and jealous goddess who knows Achilles is the strongest man in the war but also knows her son will die whilst fighting. She can't change his destiny. 

This story fleshes out Achilles and Patroclus' life. The joy of their childhood and then the pain of having to partake in such a long and pointless war. I liked the other characters too; the diplomacy of Oddyseus, the kindness and charm of Briseis, and the power crazy madness of Agamemnon. Achilles comes across as selfish and egotistical to be honest, but as soon as he finds out about the death of Patroclus he goes on a crazed , vengeful, killing spree around Troy. What I liked about this version was how the story easily came alive. Even though some of the dialogue seemed a bit unnatural it was still a great read. 

 I've checked characters on Google to see if they really were in the Iliad and it all seems based on the original. A kind of alternative viewpoint.  ( Apart from the fact that Patroclus  should have been older than Achilles and although it was implied that they were lovers, it was never definitely stated. ) I especially liked the ending. I love a good, bloodbath chariot battle and for me Patroclus was the real hero.