In anticipation of Madeline Miller’s new novel, Circe, being released (it just arrived in the mail!) I decided to do a reread of The Song of Achilles, which was one of my favorite reads from the past couple of years. And I will say, it was just as good the second time around, if not a little more painful in seeing more of the foreshadowing and understanding the deeper meaning of certain lines earlier in the novel before the course of action takes place. Okay, […]
“Name one hero who was happy.”
This isn’t going to be a long review. Sometimes I read books and I just want to sit with them and not talk about them at all. This book felt like that, like a little gift I’d been given and I just want to keep it to myself for a while. But I haven’t been behind in reviews at all in 2018 and I want to keep it that way. I’m so proud of my little self. So I will try to bust something out. […]
What’s More Manly than a Manly Man? TWO Men! (So Said the Ancient Greeks)
Achilles: No wonder the sky is so gray today, bro. Patroclus: Why, bro? Achilles: Because all the blue is in your eyes. Patroclus: Bro. There are a number of different interpretations as to what the exact nature of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus was in Greek Mythology. I mean, we know that they loved each other. For real. But was it a brothers-in-arms kind of deal? Nah. It’s pretty widely accepted that they were in fact lovers. Yet Patroclus is often seen as little […]
Think “Brokeback Trojan War,” only BETTER
Maybe because I grew up in Christian private school, or because I’m just oblivious, or because Hollywood has succeeded in shaping my view of classical literature, I did not know until reading this book that many scholars agree that Achilles and Patroclus were not friends, or cousins, or brothers-in-arms, but lovers. Ooh la la! In fact, most of the time I was reading this book, I thought that the author, Madeline Miller, had taken a modern artistic liberty that was an interesting spin on the source material […]