richardbakare 's review for:

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

4.0

adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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If you have read “Circe,” then you know just what you are getting into with Madeline Miller’s “The Song of Achilles.” Miller’s interpretive re-imaginings of Greek lore are equal parts perplexing and refreshing. Especially if you have had the chance to read any of the original source materials. Many of the characters, especially the Gods, read almost 2-dimensional in “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” Whereas, Miller adds meat and bone to a broth of stories and characters that has steeped for centuries. 

 

For those who are hell-bent on only having literal and faithful extensions of the original material, you are just looking at it all the wrong way. Yes, events and characters have been artfully reimagined and break from source. But the changes are intentional, and the result is a breath of fresh air into works that may be incompatible with the tastes of modern audiences. Moreover, there have been many inspired creations that have spanned from the old stories over the centuries. Miller’s are just one more in that tradition. 

 

Miller’s efforts level up the old and read like a book 2 or 3 to “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” and even “The Aeneid.” For her part, we end up with more 3-dimensional representations of many of the characters. Their wants, needs, motivations, moral failings, and redemptions create story and character arcs that more closely reflect the turbulence of modernity while respecting the context in which these events are taking place. I wish that Miller’s books had been taught alongside the original materials when I was a student. I believe they round out a learner’s perspective of Ancient Greek mythology.