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Thetis
Briseis is a Trojan citizen captured during the Greek army’s early raids on Troy. At Patroclus’s urging, Achilles claims her as a war spoil, but the two give her free reign in the Phthian camp. She eventually becomes Patroclus’s closest friend and falls in love with him, offering to have his children even as he remains with Achilles. Though Patroclus refuses, he wonders if he could have loved her if he’d never met Achilles. Briseis is extremely beautiful, deeply intelligent, and funny. She admires Patroclus for his bravery and kindness and dislikes Achilles for his pride and his relationship with Patroclus. While living in the Phthian camp, she and Patroclus teach and care for other captured Trojan women, whom Achilles “claims” whenever he can in order to save them from being raped by other Greek soldiers. But after Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon, Agamemnon seizes Briseis, assuming she’s Achilles’s “bed-slave.” The ease with which he captures Briseis proves that, while Patroclus and Achilles allowed her freedom in their camp, she never had any real agency. Achilles plans on allowing Agamemnon to assault Briseis so that Achilles will have an excuse to kill him—but Patroclus prevents this by betraying Achilles’s confidence to Agamemnon. Briseis isn’t allowed to return to the Phthian camp, however. Before Troy falls, she tells Patroclus that if the Greeks lose, she’ll claim him as her husband. When Patroclus is killed in battle, Briseis is devastated and blames Achilles for his death, claiming that he never deserved Patroclus. When Achilles’s son, Pyrrhus, arrives in Troy, he attempts to rape Briseis, thinking she belonged to Achilles. She tries to kill him and swims into the ocean, but he hits her with his spear, and she drowns. Throughout all of these experiences, Briseis never has a say in what happens to her, despite her associations with high-status men.
Briseis Quotes in The Song of Achilles
The The Song of Achilles quotes below are all either spoken by Briseis or refer to Briseis. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 21 Quotes
It turned out that she did know a little Greek. A few words that her father had picked up and taught her when he heard the army was coming. Mercy was one. Yes and please and what do you want? A father, teaching his daughter how to be a slave.
During the days, the camp was nearly empty but for us. We would sit on the beach and halt through sentences with each other. I grew to understand her expressions first, the thoughtful quiet of her eyes, the flickering smiles she would hide behind her hand. We could not talk of much, in those early days, but I did not mind. There was a peace in sitting beside her, the waves rolling companionably over our feet. Almost, it reminded me of my mother, but Briseis' eyes were bright with observation as hers had never been.
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Chapter 26 Quotes
“Her safety for my honor. Are you happy with your trade?”
“There is no honor in betraying your friends.”
“It is strange,” he says, “that you would speak against betrayal.”
There is more pain in those words, almost, than I can bear. I force myself to think of Briseis. “It was the only way.”
“You chose her,” he says. “Over me.”
"Over your pride."
[…]
“My life is my reputation,” he says. His breath sounds ragged. “It is all I have. I will not live much longer. Memory is all I can hope for.” He swallows, thickly. “You know this. And would you let Agamemnon destroy it? Would you help him take it from me?”
“I would not,” I say. “But I would have the memory be worthy of the man. I would have you be yourself, not some tyrant remembered for his cruelty.”
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Chapter 28 Quotes
It is strange how well she fits there. How easily I touch my lips to her hair, soft and smelling of lavender. She sighs a little, nestles closer. Almost, I can imagine that this is my life, held in the sweet circle of her arms. I would marry her, and we would have a child.
Perhaps if I had never known Achilles.
[…]
She draws down the blanket, releasing me into the air. She cups my face in her hands. “Be careful tomorrow,” she says. “Best of men. Best of the Myrmidons.”
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Briseis Character Timeline in The Song of Achilles
The timeline below shows where the character Briseis appears in The Song of Achilles. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 21
...and he goes to leave. Before he does, she points to herself, saying her name: Briseis. It’s the start of something.
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Patroclus discovers that Briseis does know some Greek: Mercy, please, what do you want, all phrases her father taught...
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...and Diomedes jokes that he didn’t even know Achilles liked girls. Each girl goes to Briseis first, and then Phoinix and Patroclus help teach them. Achilles stays away; he was part...
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Chapter 23
...but if anything, their visits have become longer. While Achilles is gone, Patroclus waits with Briseis, who is curious about what Achilles is doing. In response, Patroclus reveals that Achilles’s mother...
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When Achilles returns, Briseis departs. Achilles tells Patroclus that Thetis is worried, because the gods are taking sides in...
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...afraid at every moment. The Phthian camp becomes a family. As they eat dinner together, Briseis tells stories about her gods, who are half-man, half-animal. Later, Achilles puts some of those...
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One day, Achilles asks Briseis what she knows about Hector. She says that she knows more about his beloved wife,...
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Chapter 24
...just remember his. The female captives in the Phthian camp begin to take husbands. Only Briseis remains single, though not for want of attention.
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Patroclus begins to teach Briseis medicine, and in return she teaches him about local herbs. One day when they are...
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That night, Patroclus keeps thinking about the child he’d have with Briseis, but he feels an emptiness in the thought: where is Achilles in this vision? And...
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...and as if Patroclus wants kids. When Achilles doesn’t, he asks Achilles if he likes Briseis. Achilles is confused. Does Briseis want a child with Achilles? Patroclus says no, and Achilles...
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Chapter 25
...He says that he’ll punish Achilles for it by taking his war prizes, beginning with Briseis. Agamemnon says that Briseis is a “living embodiment of Achilles’s honor”; taking her is the...
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...Hector, so they don’t need him. He also reveals that Agamemnon’s men are coming for Briseis. Patroclus suggests that they hurry and hide Briseis, but Achilles, who is about to leave...
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When Briseis sees Patroclus’s expression, she asks if he and Achilles are all right. Ashamed, Patroclus tells...
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Chapter 26
...do anything to stop them, and Patroclus clenches his teeth. When Patroclus quietly apologizes to Briseis, she doesn’t say that it’s all right, but she kisses him briefly. She turns back...
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Patroclus asks how Achilles can let Briseis go. His face blank, Achilles goes to speak with Thetis. Patroclus thinks that he doesn’t...
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Patroclus sees Briseis immediately; she’s in the corner with her hands tied. Agamemnon is triumphant at Patroclus’s appearance,...
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...it, which delights him. Nothing will hurt Achilles more. Finally, Agamemnon says that he’ll release Briseis if Achilles kneels. Patroclus frees her wrists and tells Agamemnon to be kind to her.
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...Patroclus’s wound. When Patroclus reveals what happened, Achilles is furious. He accuses Patroclus of trading Briseis for Achilles’s honor, but Patroclus responds that Achilles’s plan was never honorable. Achilles interprets this...
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Chapter 27
Patroclus goes to see Briseis. Achilles told Patroclus to say sorry to her on his behalf, though it’s not clear...
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Chapter 28
...eat dinner, and afterwards, Odysseus begins to list objects they can offer Achilles: horses, armor, Briseis. Then he lists dead men. He reveals that the Trojans are close to the Greek...
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Patroclus goes to see Briseis, which is dangerous, because Agamemnon is so furious at Achilles. She hides him in her...
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Briseis tells Patroclus that the men now blame Achilles for Greek deaths in battle, which Agamemnon...
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Chapter 31
...soul is still present in the room, though he’s dead and invisible—can almost feel him. Briseis enters, sees what happened, and wails. Menelaus tells Achilles that Hector did this. When Achilles...
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Achilles receives visitor after visitor. Agamemnon comes to return Briseis, not realizing that she already came to see Patroclus’s body. Agamemnon seems to expect gratitude...
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Briseis comes to clean the corpse. Achilles yells at her to leave, but she insists that...
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Chapter 33
...pyre, they weep at the loss of beauty. But some onlookers don’t cry at all: Briseis watches until the last flame dies. Thetis and all the soldiers stand, impassive and tearless....
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...Scyros’s symbol, not Phthia’s, but he claims the Myrmidon army as his own. He notices Briseis and recognizes her name—that she’s the reason that Achilles refused to fight. That night, he...
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Pyrrhus doesn’t believe Briseis. She pauses and then asks if Pyrrhus has heard about Patroclus—Pyrrhus says no, because Patroclus...
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Now Briseis runs all the way into the ocean and begins to swim. Pyrrhus grabs a spear...
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