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As far as first impressions go, one would think that there's no way that someone who looks as young as Madeline Miller could possibly hold both a BA and MA in both Latin and the Greek classics.
Having fallen in love with Greek myths and legends from a young age, she quickly proves me wrong.
Her wealth of knowledge is incredible; and when speaking to her, you can tell that she has a genuine passion for Greek Mythology. Her debut novel,
The Song of Achilles is a beautifully rendered story about Achilles and the Trojan War, through the eyes of his best friend, Patroclus.
I sat down with her to ask her a few questions.
Q: Coming from a background in the Classics, how did you first decide to tackle the story in a way that would make this story accessible for both readers who are familiar and unfamiliar with the story?
A: Well, I think that that the key here was that I wanted it to be accessible. Greek mythology has often been portrayed as being intimidating and for me, these Greek myths are such great stories to tell, so I decided to approach it from that angle.
I think it helped to have Patroclus as a protagonist because he starts out as a little boy and he, as a young boy, doesn't really understand the world that he is in either so as he figures it out, hopefully, in doing so, it helps the reader figure it out.
The things that he explains or would need to be explained to him, is also explained to the reader as the story progresses.
I'm also a teacher. I teach Latin and Greek and Greek mythology to high school students, so maybe I'm used to thinking in those terms of how to make it more exciting and simplifying it without losing the essence of the story.
Q: What do you think were the biggest lessons that Achilles and Patroclus learnt from the war, considering that they both knew what Achilles's fate would be?
A: Well, I think the positive lesson that they learn is that it gives them this intense appreciation of living in the moment. Of course if you have only have a certain amount of time left, then you're really going to value that time.
And Patroclus clearly feels that way about Achilles in that each day feels like a new gift to him with Achilles.
I would also say, and I don't know if it's because of his destiny, that Patroclus learns that even though he is a person who doesn't have a lot of power, he can still have a positive impact.
I think in the beginning of the novel, Patroclus feels very impotent. He sort of feels like: "I can't do anything," and "I'm lost in this world and Achilles is a half-god" and that the forces around him are too big to contend or engage with.
And I think he discovers that through his healing abilities, and more of his power, that even though he is this ordinary person, he can make a difference. And that was really important to me.
Q: Considering that your novel is an adaptation, how challenging was it for you to take a previously known world and make it your own?
A: Well, for me, as I was doing it, there were a lot of ways for me to approach something like adapting the Iliad. You can approach it from a clever, post-modern way, and I think that's what someone like Margaret Atwood did in
The Penelopiad where she's engaging with the ancient myth, but it's Penelope talking from the Underworld in a very witty, knowing fashion. It's fabulous and an amazing, amazing book.
But I was looking to write it in such a way that it would go smoothly into the story. So I didn't want to stand in opposition to the story, I just wanted to pull back the curtains on the behind the scenes.
So this is what happens in The Iliad and I'm sort of presenting a version of how it actually gets to The Iliad. I was really thinking carefully about that.
Also, I direct theatre and it's almost like thinking about characterisation and how, you know, by act 5 the character kills himself, so where are we in the beginning? So I was really trying to look at that aspect.
There have been a number of adaptations that I've come across and some of them I read when I was younger. But while I was working on the book, if I knew it was going to be a similar approach, I would actually stop reading it because I didn't want to be influenced.
If I needed inspiration, I went back to the original works and I would look there.
Q: The presence of the gods came across as being quite understated, which in turn, placed an emphasis on the very human aspect of the novel. Was it your intention to limit the roles they had to play?
A: Absolutely. In a lot of the Greek myths, you hear about the gods and in terms of interacting with Heracles and the great heroes, they come in, but for an ordinary human, they don't really care about them.
Unless they interacted with something that they wanted, or someone that they cared about, then suddenly they'd come down like a lightning bolt. But basically, they don't care about humans and are very self-absorbed.
And so Patroclus, he's not in any of their way, so they just ignore him. He's just another mortal who will eventually die. I wanted to really preserve the feeling of how capricious and cruel they are and that they are not these benevolent creatures who are watching over and caring for humans.
They have their own agenda, and as you say, that makes it more realistic.
Q: Song and music plays quite a significant role in the book. How did you come up with the title of the book?
A: In the ancient world of Greek and Rome, the word for poem was actually song. They didn't actually have a word for poem, because poetry was actually sung.
The Iliad in Greek means The Song of Troy, so it made sense to think about it in those terms because I think Patroclus has a very poetic voice. I also like the ambiguity in the title. Is it Achilles singing or is it Patroclus singing about Achilles?
It was actually not my original title. My original title was In the armour of Achilles, but as circumstances would have it, I ended up thinking more about the title and I just kept coming back to the word song, because at the end of the day, it is such an important aspect of the novel.
You know it took me to 10 years to write the book, so I've just been kind of living with it and I've always thought of it as The Achilles book or The Patroclus book and I didn't come up with the title first. So when I finally got there, it just felt like it fit.
You can read my review of The Song of Achilles here.
Having fallen in love with Greek myths and legends from a young age, she quickly proves me wrong.
Her wealth of knowledge is incredible; and when speaking to her, you can tell that she has a genuine passion for Greek Mythology. Her debut novel,
The Song of Achilles is a beautifully rendered story about Achilles and the Trojan War, through the eyes of his best friend, Patroclus.
I sat down with her to ask her a few questions.
Q: Coming from a background in the Classics, how did you first decide to tackle the story in a way that would make this story accessible for both readers who are familiar and unfamiliar with the story?
A: Well, I think that that the key here was that I wanted it to be accessible. Greek mythology has often been portrayed as being intimidating and for me, these Greek myths are such great stories to tell, so I decided to approach it from that angle.
I think it helped to have Patroclus as a protagonist because he starts out as a little boy and he, as a young boy, doesn't really understand the world that he is in either so as he figures it out, hopefully, in doing so, it helps the reader figure it out.
The things that he explains or would need to be explained to him, is also explained to the reader as the story progresses.
I'm also a teacher. I teach Latin and Greek and Greek mythology to high school students, so maybe I'm used to thinking in those terms of how to make it more exciting and simplifying it without losing the essence of the story.
Q: What do you think were the biggest lessons that Achilles and Patroclus learnt from the war, considering that they both knew what Achilles's fate would be?
A: Well, I think the positive lesson that they learn is that it gives them this intense appreciation of living in the moment. Of course if you have only have a certain amount of time left, then you're really going to value that time.
And Patroclus clearly feels that way about Achilles in that each day feels like a new gift to him with Achilles.
I would also say, and I don't know if it's because of his destiny, that Patroclus learns that even though he is a person who doesn't have a lot of power, he can still have a positive impact.
I think in the beginning of the novel, Patroclus feels very impotent. He sort of feels like: "I can't do anything," and "I'm lost in this world and Achilles is a half-god" and that the forces around him are too big to contend or engage with.
And I think he discovers that through his healing abilities, and more of his power, that even though he is this ordinary person, he can make a difference. And that was really important to me.
Q: Considering that your novel is an adaptation, how challenging was it for you to take a previously known world and make it your own?
A: Well, for me, as I was doing it, there were a lot of ways for me to approach something like adapting the Iliad. You can approach it from a clever, post-modern way, and I think that's what someone like Margaret Atwood did in
The Penelopiad where she's engaging with the ancient myth, but it's Penelope talking from the Underworld in a very witty, knowing fashion. It's fabulous and an amazing, amazing book.
But I was looking to write it in such a way that it would go smoothly into the story. So I didn't want to stand in opposition to the story, I just wanted to pull back the curtains on the behind the scenes.
So this is what happens in The Iliad and I'm sort of presenting a version of how it actually gets to The Iliad. I was really thinking carefully about that.
Also, I direct theatre and it's almost like thinking about characterisation and how, you know, by act 5 the character kills himself, so where are we in the beginning? So I was really trying to look at that aspect.
There have been a number of adaptations that I've come across and some of them I read when I was younger. But while I was working on the book, if I knew it was going to be a similar approach, I would actually stop reading it because I didn't want to be influenced.
If I needed inspiration, I went back to the original works and I would look there.
Q: The presence of the gods came across as being quite understated, which in turn, placed an emphasis on the very human aspect of the novel. Was it your intention to limit the roles they had to play?
A: Absolutely. In a lot of the Greek myths, you hear about the gods and in terms of interacting with Heracles and the great heroes, they come in, but for an ordinary human, they don't really care about them.
Unless they interacted with something that they wanted, or someone that they cared about, then suddenly they'd come down like a lightning bolt. But basically, they don't care about humans and are very self-absorbed.
And so Patroclus, he's not in any of their way, so they just ignore him. He's just another mortal who will eventually die. I wanted to really preserve the feeling of how capricious and cruel they are and that they are not these benevolent creatures who are watching over and caring for humans.
They have their own agenda, and as you say, that makes it more realistic.
Q: Song and music plays quite a significant role in the book. How did you come up with the title of the book?
A: In the ancient world of Greek and Rome, the word for poem was actually song. They didn't actually have a word for poem, because poetry was actually sung.
The Iliad in Greek means The Song of Troy, so it made sense to think about it in those terms because I think Patroclus has a very poetic voice. I also like the ambiguity in the title. Is it Achilles singing or is it Patroclus singing about Achilles?
It was actually not my original title. My original title was In the armour of Achilles, but as circumstances would have it, I ended up thinking more about the title and I just kept coming back to the word song, because at the end of the day, it is such an important aspect of the novel.
You know it took me to 10 years to write the book, so I've just been kind of living with it and I've always thought of it as The Achilles book or The Patroclus book and I didn't come up with the title first. So when I finally got there, it just felt like it fit.
You can read my review of The Song of Achilles here.
