Achilles In Disguise I

ELENA CRISTINA BANCIU

MARIA DEL MAR MARTINEZ CESPEDES
Index

● THE AUTHOR AND THE BOOK.

● SUMMARY.
● MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE PLOT.
● CHARACTERS.
● TOPICS AND IDEAS.
● STYLE OF WRITING.
● CRITICAL OPINION / OWN EXPERIENCE AS A
READER.
 The author and the book:
Madeline Miller
● Grew up in New York City and Philadelphia.
● Attended Brown University, bachelor’s and master’s
degree in Classics.
● Taught and tutored Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to
high school students for over fifteen years.
● Studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on
Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at
Yale School of Drama.
● The Song if Achilles (2011) is her first novel, was
awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a
New York Times Bestseller .
● Her second novel was Circe (2018).
● Her novels have been translated into over twenty-five
languages.
● Her essays have appeared in a number of
publications.
● She currently lives outside Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
 Summary
Thetis brings Achilles Thetis forced Achilles Deidamia Achilles disguises himself
to Scyros, wishing to to marry Deidameia will give birth as a woman at the court of
break the young and she hid Achilles to Achilles' Lycomedes, Deidameia's
people's relationship among Deidameia’s son, father, but Lycomedes did
and stop Achilles from ladies-in-waiting Pyrrhus. not know that Achilles
fighting. disguised himself as a
woman at his court.

One of Agamemnon’s Due to an They went into the room

Patroclus decides accident that with Achilles following
captains, called Odysseus
to follow Achilles happened at court, them and Odysseus told
goes to talk with
to Scyros. Chironides, (the name Achilles was him to bring Patroclus
Patroclus took to avoid discovered too to discuss business
being recognized). alongside as well.
Patroclus.
 Most important features of the plot

● THE MORTALITY OF PATROCLUS ● LOVE / FORCED LOVE

- Patroclus was the son of a mortal. - Achilles and Patroclus had a special relationship.

- Thetis tried to separate him from Achilles since she - Thetis forced Achilles to marry Deidameia, the
daughter of Lycomedes, the king of Scyros.
hated mortals.
- As forced love is not real, Achilles still loved
- Thetis put her children in boiling water to check if they
Patroclus, since in the text they were already lovers.
were mortal, but she killed everyone, except Achilles
who his father Peleus could save.
Main Characters

● Achilles: Son of the king Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis. He was
the greatest warrior of his generation, as well as the most beautiful.
He was raised by the centaur Chiron, and took the exiled prince
Patroclus as his constant companion. As a teenager, he was offered
a famous choice: long life and obscurity, or short life and fame. He
chose fame, and sailed to Troy along with the other Greeks.
However, in the ninth year of the war he quarreled with Agamemnon
and refused to fight any longer, returning to battle only when his
beloved Patroclus was killed by Hector. He was eventually killed by
the Trojan Prince Paris, assisted by the god Apollo.

● Patroclus: Son of King Menoitius. He is also Achilles’ friend and

lover. They had a very close relationship although Thetis tried to
break their relationship because he was a mortal.
 Minor Characters
● Deidameia: Daughter of King Lycomedes, and
princess of the island kingdom of Scyros. To keep
Achilles from the war, Thetis dressed him as a girl,
and hid him among Deidameia’s ladies-in-waiting.
● Lycomedes: King of Scyros and father of Deidameia.
Without knowing it he sheltered Achilles disguised as
a woman in his court.
● Odysseus: Prince of Ithaca. He proposed the famous
oath requiring all Helen’s suitors to swear a vow to
uphold her marriage. As his reward, he claimed her
clever cousin Penelope as his wife. During the Trojan
War, he was one of Agamemnon’s chief advisors.
● Thetis: She is Achilles' mother and Peleu's wife. She
forces Achilles to marry Deidameia to separate him
from Patroclus and disguises him as a woman to
avoid going to war.
● Lord Diomedes: King of Argos and he is known for both his guile
and his strength. He was one of the most valued warriors in the
Greek army. Like Odysseus, he was a favorite of the goddess
Athena.
● Agamemnon: He is Menelaus´ brother and he ruled Mycenae. He
also served as the over-general of the Greek expedition to Troy.
During the war he quarreled often with Achilles, who refused to
acknowledge Agamemnon’s right to command him. Upon his return
home after Troy's fall, he was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra.
● Menelaus: Agamemnon's brother. He was more memorable than
his brother. Helen of Troy was his wife.
● Helen: Princess of Sparta, daughter of the queen Leda and the
god Zeus (in the form of a swan). She is known for being the most
beautiful woman in the world. Many men sought her hand in
marriage, but she was given to Menelaus. However she later was
captured by the Trojan prince Paris, setting in motion the Trojan
War. After the war, she returned home with Menelaus to Sparta.
 Topics and ideas
● THE TROJAN WAR: Began after the capture of queen Helen, Menelaus convinced his brother
Agamemnon to lead an expedition to retrieve her. Later Achilles and Odysseus joined Agamemnon and a
fleet of a thousand ships. In this text we find the consequences that will lead to this war.
● THE LOVE BETWEEN ACHILLES AND PATROCLUS: In Miller’s version of the story,
Patroclus is defined by his love for Achilles, by his promise to never leave him. It is not only a story of war
and suffering, but also of true love and loyalty.
● THE SEXUALITY OF ACHILLES: In Ancient Greek times the relationship between Achilles and
Patroclus would be seen as a normal platonic friendship between two comrades in war. However,
nowadays we would think that Achilles was homosexual.
 Style of writing
● First person singular.
● Perspective of Achilles’ lover, Patroclus.
● Descriptions, easy vocabulary and style: reading approachable to everyone.
● Miller’s knowledge of ancient Greek history and affinity towards classic myths: intensifies the
novel and heightens the experience for the reader.
● Captures the world of ships, heroes, gods, blood, war, oceans. Simple and completely reminiscent
of the time, but told with a voice we can understand.
 Critical opinion

Books
● The Song of Achilles.
● Circe was the daughter of a sea nymph and the sun
god Titan Helios.
● Circe falls in love with a mortal.
● Feminist literature with powerful themes such as
female friendship, self-determination, toxic
masculinity, and personal growth.
● Miller also wants to give importance to women
empowerment, in which females are capable of
anything despite the opinions from others.
Films ● Troy is an adaptation of Homer's great epic.

● Follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and tells the
fates of the men involved.

● Paris and Hector are brothers, both princes of Troy, (sons of Priam)
Paris steals Helen, (the queen of Sparta) or Menelaus' (king of
Sparta) wife.

● Menelaus gets his big brother Agamemnon to join forces with him and
attack Troy.

● To win the war, Agamemnon knows he has to have the best (and in
that time period it was Achilles) the greatest warrior that ever lived.

● Agamemnon recruits Achilles to fight with the Greeks.

● The soldiers find Briesis (cousin of Hector and Paris) hiding in the
temple and bring her to Achilles to "amuse him." He starts off playfully
provoking her but she and he fall for each other, which creates trouble
for himself and the royal family in "The war that will be remembered
for one thousand years."
● 11-minute stop motion animation by the
british puppet animator and theater director
Barry Purves.

● It is somehow provocative but faithful to the

Homeric text as well as the classical
iconography.

● This very short film focuses on the

homoerotic relationship between Achilles and
Patroclus and its influence on their
experience of the Trojan War.
Painting
● Achilles discovered among the Daughters of
Lycomedes by Peter Paul Rubens.

● Scene in which Achilles is discovered disguised as a

woman at the Lycomedes court.

● As we know, Thetis had taken her son Achilles to the

island of Scyros to prevent him from accompanying
the Greek army to Troy.

● Disguised as a woman, Achilles lived on Scyros

among the daughters of King Lycomedes until the
Greeks discovered his whereabouts and sent
Odysseus and Diomedes to the island to fetch him.
 Own experience as a reader
● Name of Chyronides: This name was invented by Patroclus and usted by him to avoid being recognized in Scyros. The name
Chyronides comes from Chiron, the centaur who had Achilles and Patroclus as his disciples in his school.

● Name of Pyrrha and Pyrrhus: In the text Achilles in disguise II, Achilles is disguised as a woman at the court of Lycomedes,
under the name of Pyrrha because of his light red hair. This name derives from the Ancient Greek “pûr (πῦρ) Púrrhā (Πῠ́ρρᾱ)”,
meaning “flame colored, red fire”. In Greek mythology, Pyrrha was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of
Deucalion. What is more, Achilles´ son was called Pyrrhus, proceeding from the previous name.

● Homosexual and heterosexual relationship: In Achilles in disguise I, the two main characters have a homosexual relationship as
both of them are men. However, this relationship is covert with the appearance of a heterosexual relationship because Achilles was
disguised as a woman. Also, in Achilles in disguise II Achilles has a homosexual relationship with Deidameia who thinks he is a
woman since Achilles dresses himself as woman in the court of Lycomedes and also has a heterosexual relationship since Achilles
and Deidameia are married.

● Young and adult love: Throughout the story Achilles and Patroclus are in a relationship but Achilles’ mother was against it. He always
obeyed his mother but in this case their love was stronger. Another interesting thing is that when Achilles is represented as an adult in
other books or films, he is braver than before and became the most famous and glorious Trojan warrior.
 Author interview
“I have loved ancient Greece since I was five and my mother began reading me the
Greek myths. I was enthralled: by the larger-than-life gods, the epic adventures, and
most particularly by the stories of the Trojan War, with its noble and deeply flawed
heroes. "Sing, goddess, of the terrible rage of Achilles," begins The Iliad. The words
resonated in me, lingering long after my mother had closed the book and turned out
the light.

Years later, when I became a student of Greek and Latin, I immediately sought out The
Iliad. The poetry and language were gorgeous, the story even more compelling than I
remembered. I spent a summer in Greece working on an archaeological dig, and my
copy of the The Iliad came with me. There, wandering in olive groves and swimming in
the beautiful Aegean, I began to think of how I, too, could sing of these ancient tales.

I had always been especially moved by Achilles, and his desperate grief over the loss
of his companion Patroclus. But who was Patroclus? I searched the ancient texts for
every mention of his name, and discovered an amazing man: exile and outcast, loyal
and self-sacrificing, compassionate in a world where compassion was in short supply.
I had not thought The Iliad had a love story; I was wrong.

It has been the deepest privilege and pleasure to spend the last ten years sailing in
Homer's wine-dark waters. I very much hope you will enjoy reading this book as much
as I have loved writing it.”
References

● http://madelinemiller.com/the-song-of-achilles/mortals/

● https://www.bookbrowse.com/read-
alikes/index.cfm/author_number/2141/madeline-
miller#readalikes

● https://animatedantiquity.com/2018/01/10/achilles-1995-11-
min-nsfw/

● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles_on_Skyros
THE END