The Song of Achilles Literary Devices

Explanation and Analysis—Sexuality and Aggression:

Throughout The Song of Achilles, sexuality, attraction, violence, and aggression are all intertwined. This motif is most apparent in Achilles and Patroclus's relationship: the two often wrestle or roughhouse as a means of expressing feelings of intimacy. Note an example of this in the following passage from Chapter 10:

He let out an ooph of surprise. We struggled that way for a moment, laughing, my arms wrapped around him. Then there was a sharp cracking sound, and his branch gave way, plunging us into the river. The cool water closed over us, and still we wrestled, hands against slippery skin. When we surfaced, we were panting and eager. He leapt for me, bearing me down through the clear water. We grappled, emerged to gasp air, then sank again.

As the boys mature into men, this aggression intertwines with affection in more violent ways. Both Achilles and Patroclus inflict violence on others and on one another in the process of expressing love, hurt, and emotion. As men raised in a masculine-centric, war-centric society, physical aggression is one of the only means they have available to them for externalizing complicated emotions.

Even as young boys, with their intimacy still in its early stages, Patroclus learns of his attraction to Achilles through aggressive physical contact. The two boys wrestle in Chapter 5, Achilles pinning Patroclus beneath him:

“Let me go!” I yanked my wrists against his grip.

“No.” In a swift motion, he rolled me beneath him, pinning me, his knees in my belly. I panted, angry but strangely satisfied.

Patroclus is "angry but strangely satisfied." His satisfaction comes not from being dominated, but from the physical contact their fighting allows. Violence becomes a conduit for intimacy; later on in the novel, this process reverses, and intimacy becomes a conduit for violence.

Explanation and Analysis—Statuesque Achilles:

Patroclus frequently compares Achilles to a statue throughout the novel, imagining him as a person deliberately sculpted by the divine. Note the following instances of this motif from Chapter 5:

In the moonlight, I could just make out the shape of his face, sculptor-perfect, across the room. His lips were parted slightly, an arm thrown carelessly above his head. He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight. I found myself wishing he would wake so that I might watch the life return.

Patroclus views Achilles as "sculptor-perfect," laid out like an artistic vision for his eyes to feast upon. This beauty, though divine, appears as effortless and solid as a marble statue to Patroclus. He continues to compare Achilles to marble in Chapter 6:

He cupped a hand against his chin; his features looked finer than usual, like carved marble.

In Chapter 7, as well, Patroclus points out the preternatural beauty of his friend and future lover, noting that Achilles's features appear "drawn" or engraved with "the sharpest of knives":

His features are drawn with a firm hand; nothing awry or sloppy, nothing too large—all precise, cut with the sharpest of knives. And yet the effect itself is not sharp. He turns and finds me looking at him. “What?” he says.

In a sense, Patroclus worships Achilles, placing him on a pedestal directly through metaphor. This deification of Achilles is a core component of Patroclus's youthful love for him. Over time, this deification transitions to a more mature, realistic view of his lover.

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Explanation and Analysis—Youth and Springtime:

In general, throughout The Song of Achilles, Miller uses figurative language and imagery associated with springtime to speak about Achilles and Patroclus's youth. This is a common motif in Western literature, given the fact that spring carries connotations of newness. For example, in the following excerpt from Chapter 6, Patroclus uses simile to compare his friendship with Achilles to "spring floods":

Our friendship came all at once after that, like spring floods from the mountains.

The boys' youth and eagerness causes their intimacy to bubble forth rapidly, like the surge of water descending from the mountains when the winter snows melt.

This springtime motif is used not only to indicate youth and innocence, but new realizations. Take, for example, the following passage from Chapter 12:

Something shifted in me then, like the frozen surface of the Apidanos in spring. I had seen the way he looked at Deidameia; or rather the way he did not. It was the same way he had looked at the boys in Phthia, blank and unseeing. He had never, not once, looked at me that way.

Patroclus newly realizes the devotion Achilles feels for him and him alone. This realization appears like a crack in the ice in springtime—a thawing lake. It is in this moment that Patroclus learns how truly special he is to Achilles, singular amongst all others, male and female alike.

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Explanation and Analysis—Statuesque Achilles:

Patroclus frequently compares Achilles to a statue throughout the novel, imagining him as a person deliberately sculpted by the divine. Note the following instances of this motif from Chapter 5:

In the moonlight, I could just make out the shape of his face, sculptor-perfect, across the room. His lips were parted slightly, an arm thrown carelessly above his head. He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight. I found myself wishing he would wake so that I might watch the life return.

Patroclus views Achilles as "sculptor-perfect," laid out like an artistic vision for his eyes to feast upon. This beauty, though divine, appears as effortless and solid as a marble statue to Patroclus. He continues to compare Achilles to marble in Chapter 6:

He cupped a hand against his chin; his features looked finer than usual, like carved marble.

In Chapter 7, as well, Patroclus points out the preternatural beauty of his friend and future lover, noting that Achilles's features appear "drawn" or engraved with "the sharpest of knives":

His features are drawn with a firm hand; nothing awry or sloppy, nothing too large—all precise, cut with the sharpest of knives. And yet the effect itself is not sharp. He turns and finds me looking at him. “What?” he says.

In a sense, Patroclus worships Achilles, placing him on a pedestal directly through metaphor. This deification of Achilles is a core component of Patroclus's youthful love for him. Over time, this deification transitions to a more mature, realistic view of his lover.

Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

Explanation and Analysis—Statuesque Achilles:

Patroclus frequently compares Achilles to a statue throughout the novel, imagining him as a person deliberately sculpted by the divine. Note the following instances of this motif from Chapter 5:

In the moonlight, I could just make out the shape of his face, sculptor-perfect, across the room. His lips were parted slightly, an arm thrown carelessly above his head. He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight. I found myself wishing he would wake so that I might watch the life return.

Patroclus views Achilles as "sculptor-perfect," laid out like an artistic vision for his eyes to feast upon. This beauty, though divine, appears as effortless and solid as a marble statue to Patroclus. He continues to compare Achilles to marble in Chapter 6:

He cupped a hand against his chin; his features looked finer than usual, like carved marble.

In Chapter 7, as well, Patroclus points out the preternatural beauty of his friend and future lover, noting that Achilles's features appear "drawn" or engraved with "the sharpest of knives":

His features are drawn with a firm hand; nothing awry or sloppy, nothing too large—all precise, cut with the sharpest of knives. And yet the effect itself is not sharp. He turns and finds me looking at him. “What?” he says.

In a sense, Patroclus worships Achilles, placing him on a pedestal directly through metaphor. This deification of Achilles is a core component of Patroclus's youthful love for him. Over time, this deification transitions to a more mature, realistic view of his lover.

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Explanation and Analysis—Time and Relativity:

Throughout The Song of Achilles, the relativity of time emerges as a motif. When Patroclus is grief-stricken at Achilles's disappearance in Chapter 12, time "fold[s] in on itself," ceasing to progress in a linear fashion:

Time folded in on itself, closed over me, buried me. Outside my window, the moon moved through her shapes and came up full again. I slept little and ate less; grief pinned me to the bed like an anchor. It was only my pricking memory of Chiron that finally drove me forth.

When Chiron speaks of Thetis's prejudices in Chapter 8, the relativity of time again rears its head:

[Thetis] is also young and has the prejudices of her kind. I am older and flatter myself that I can read a man more clearly. I have no objection to Patroclus as your companion.

Chiron refers to Thetis, an immortal goddess, as "young," a seemingly ridiculous statement to make to two teenage mortals. In reality, time and age are relative when dealing with gods, or grief, or loss. Time changes, losing and gaining meaning depending on the circumstance.

Time also loses its linear coherence in the face of certain strong emotions: grief (in the quotation from Chapter 12 where Patroclus mourns Achilles's absence) or joy. When Patroclus and Achilles reside in Chiron's cave on Mount Pelion, time passes quickly both for the characters and the reader. Patroclus is at his happiest in these moments, sequestered from the world with Achilles. Time flies by during this joyous interlude, only to move slowly, like viscous syrup, when Patroclus later laments Achilles's foretold death.

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Explanation and Analysis—Sexuality and Aggression:

Throughout The Song of Achilles, sexuality, attraction, violence, and aggression are all intertwined. This motif is most apparent in Achilles and Patroclus's relationship: the two often wrestle or roughhouse as a means of expressing feelings of intimacy. Note an example of this in the following passage from Chapter 10:

He let out an ooph of surprise. We struggled that way for a moment, laughing, my arms wrapped around him. Then there was a sharp cracking sound, and his branch gave way, plunging us into the river. The cool water closed over us, and still we wrestled, hands against slippery skin. When we surfaced, we were panting and eager. He leapt for me, bearing me down through the clear water. We grappled, emerged to gasp air, then sank again.

As the boys mature into men, this aggression intertwines with affection in more violent ways. Both Achilles and Patroclus inflict violence on others and on one another in the process of expressing love, hurt, and emotion. As men raised in a masculine-centric, war-centric society, physical aggression is one of the only means they have available to them for externalizing complicated emotions.

Even as young boys, with their intimacy still in its early stages, Patroclus learns of his attraction to Achilles through aggressive physical contact. The two boys wrestle in Chapter 5, Achilles pinning Patroclus beneath him:

“Let me go!” I yanked my wrists against his grip.

“No.” In a swift motion, he rolled me beneath him, pinning me, his knees in my belly. I panted, angry but strangely satisfied.

Patroclus is "angry but strangely satisfied." His satisfaction comes not from being dominated, but from the physical contact their fighting allows. Violence becomes a conduit for intimacy; later on in the novel, this process reverses, and intimacy becomes a conduit for violence.

Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

Explanation and Analysis—Time and Relativity:

Throughout The Song of Achilles, the relativity of time emerges as a motif. When Patroclus is grief-stricken at Achilles's disappearance in Chapter 12, time "fold[s] in on itself," ceasing to progress in a linear fashion:

Time folded in on itself, closed over me, buried me. Outside my window, the moon moved through her shapes and came up full again. I slept little and ate less; grief pinned me to the bed like an anchor. It was only my pricking memory of Chiron that finally drove me forth.

When Chiron speaks of Thetis's prejudices in Chapter 8, the relativity of time again rears its head:

[Thetis] is also young and has the prejudices of her kind. I am older and flatter myself that I can read a man more clearly. I have no objection to Patroclus as your companion.

Chiron refers to Thetis, an immortal goddess, as "young," a seemingly ridiculous statement to make to two teenage mortals. In reality, time and age are relative when dealing with gods, or grief, or loss. Time changes, losing and gaining meaning depending on the circumstance.

Time also loses its linear coherence in the face of certain strong emotions: grief (in the quotation from Chapter 12 where Patroclus mourns Achilles's absence) or joy. When Patroclus and Achilles reside in Chiron's cave on Mount Pelion, time passes quickly both for the characters and the reader. Patroclus is at his happiest in these moments, sequestered from the world with Achilles. Time flies by during this joyous interlude, only to move slowly, like viscous syrup, when Patroclus later laments Achilles's foretold death.

Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

Explanation and Analysis—Youth and Springtime:

In general, throughout The Song of Achilles, Miller uses figurative language and imagery associated with springtime to speak about Achilles and Patroclus's youth. This is a common motif in Western literature, given the fact that spring carries connotations of newness. For example, in the following excerpt from Chapter 6, Patroclus uses simile to compare his friendship with Achilles to "spring floods":

Our friendship came all at once after that, like spring floods from the mountains.

The boys' youth and eagerness causes their intimacy to bubble forth rapidly, like the surge of water descending from the mountains when the winter snows melt.

This springtime motif is used not only to indicate youth and innocence, but new realizations. Take, for example, the following passage from Chapter 12:

Something shifted in me then, like the frozen surface of the Apidanos in spring. I had seen the way he looked at Deidameia; or rather the way he did not. It was the same way he had looked at the boys in Phthia, blank and unseeing. He had never, not once, looked at me that way.

Patroclus newly realizes the devotion Achilles feels for him and him alone. This realization appears like a crack in the ice in springtime—a thawing lake. It is in this moment that Patroclus learns how truly special he is to Achilles, singular amongst all others, male and female alike.

Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles: Motifs 4 key examples