Circe or Song of Achilles?

 

The Song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller

Published by Ecco; 37696th edition (August 28, 2012) and Little, Brown and Company; 1st Edition (April 10, 2018)

Genre: literature

Format: I audiobooked both via Audible

divine and refreshingly human

Madeline Miller took 10 years to write The Song of Achilles, writing during and after studying and teaching Classics. Six years later, Circe debuted. 

Song of Achilles parallels the Illiad, narrated by a character who serves as a minor character in the Trojan War, though he plays a bigger role in this retelling. Circe parallels the Odyssey, narrated by the witch who turned Odysseus's troops into pigs. 

THE SONG OF ACHILLES

When Patroclus accidentally kills a bully, his father disowns him, sending him as an orphan to live with other orphans sponsored by Achilles' father, Peleus. Over time, Achilles notices the orphan Patroclus, and the two become brothers-in-arms-- and eventually more. It's not a spoiler to write that history credits Achilles with the Greeks' victory in the Trojan War. Madeline Miller muses about Patroclus's role. Could this orphan boy who loved Achilles have played a part in how Achilles' life --and thus the Trojan War-- turned out?  It's war, proud warriors, love, and legacy.

Some critics of Achilles consider the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles distracting. I admire Miller's keen eye on historical texts. Please Critics, read Vergel in Latin, you try noticing a glittering thread in historical texts, and spin an entire tale with it. I think Miller's whole purpose was to show the human side of a demigod. 

CIRCE

Though I appreciated Achilles, there is something about Miller's Circe that strummed deeper. I spend time reading parts of The Odyssey translations with students every year, so I enjoyed learning about why Helios actually treasured his cattle, how Odysseus escaped being turned into a hog, what a visit from Hermes might have been like, and what Pasiphae saw in the Minotaur.

Circe was born with a hawk-like squawk and an unimpressive appearance. Her eyes, unlike those of her deity father, did not glow to the point of starting fires. Compared to her family members, Circe is by all accounts, a dud. Eventually, Circe is exiled and makes her way through her life on an island, visited most notably by Odysseus. I ended this book with a warm admiration for a sorceress who makes peace with herself and learns to celebrate her strengths. The world told her she was weak and ugly. She discovered she was strong.

It seems like this book inspires strong devotion or contempt. If you are a plot lover who needs each chapter to end with an explosion, this is not the book for you. Perhaps, if you have no interest in or background knowledge of mythology, this might not be the book for you, though many have enjoyed it as a standalone story. If you appreciate following the personal growth of a complex fictional character, you'll likely love it. If you're empathetic, and you've ever felt a sense of solitude, you may relate to Circe.

LOVELY BIT

“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”

“It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”

RATING FOR CIRCE

I pick Circe over Achilles, but I'll read anything Madeline Miller writes. Last word was that HBO Max had optioned the book for an 8-episode mini-series, but the clock is ticking. Fingers crossed they follow through.