Readers of AAPC will remember that ktell had recommended Ms. Miller’s other book, “Circe,” which we enjoyed and reviewed: https://groups.google.com/g/alt.arts.poetry.comments/c/c4iqm0FvXyM/m/2GUg95U5CAAJ
“The Song of Achilles” was written before “Circe” (2012 vs. 2018). Below is a link to the paperback version that we read (HarperCollins 2012):
https://www.amazon.com/Song-Achilles-Novel-Madeline-Miller/dp/0062060627/ref=sr_1_1?crid=30HTCLF5VHUAG&keywords=the+song+of+achilles&qid=1685911761&sprefix=the+son%2Caps%2C355&sr=8-1 The book is listed on Amazon in Folklore and also in the categories of LGBTQ+ Romance and LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction. If that offends your delicate sensibilities, don’t read the book.

We liked “The Song of Achilles.” “You have seen the movie, now read the book!” We all may know the basics of the story, but this is a novelized version, narrated by Patroclus. (There are three different pronunciations of the name, but the author says “Pa TROW clus.”) If the reader doesn’t know who Patroclus is at the start of the novel, that’s okay--he will be a friend by the end of the book. Madeline Miller is an elegant writer and an expert on the ancient Greek language and myths.

Achilles and Patroclus grew up together, friends and then lovers. Achilles was a prince and half-god. Patroclus was a prince but mortal. Who was the best of the Greeks? It possibly was Patroclus. We wondered who would narrate the story after Patroclus was killed, but that complication was deftly handled by the author. We were surprised that Achilles was not shot in his famous heel, but Ms. Miller explained in the notes for the book that: “Achilles’ most famous myth—his fatally vulnerable heel—is actually a very late story. In the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ Achilles isn’t invincible, just extraordinarily gifted in battle.” (p. 374)

We particularly liked this sentence: “He was spring, golden and bright. Envious death would drink his blood, and grow young again.” (p. 168) Include his name on the monument.