my favorite quotes from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
i wrote them in the order they appeared in the book, i made my top ones balder (and putš¦next tothem). also for obvious reasons i couldnt type all of the first kiss, first time (cave scene), the whole āI donāt think Iāve ever told you about...ā scene or the deaths, so just know that if i could post those pages, i would because those scenes are absolutely iconic.
Those seconds, half seconds, that the line of our gaze connected, were the only moment in my day that I felt anything at all.
There was a vividness to him, even at rest, that made death and spirits seem foolish.
When he smiled, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled like a leaf held to flame.
Some people might have mistaken this for simplicity. But is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart?
As if he heard me, he smiled, and his face was like the sun.
This feeling was different. I found myself grinning until my cheeks hurt, my scalp prickling till I thought it might lift off my head. My tongue ran away from me, giddy with freedom. This and this and this, I said to him. I did not have to fear that I spoke too much. I did not have to worry that I was too slender or too slow.
I lean forward and our lips land clumsily on each other. They are like the fat bodies of bees, soft and round and giddy with pollen. I can taste his mouthāhot and sweet with honey from dessert. My stomach trembles, and a warm drop of pleasure spreads beneath my skin. More.
He smiled. āNow I know how to make you follow me everywhere.ā The sun sank below Pelionās ridges, and we were happy.
āYou would not be displeased, I think. With how you look now.ā My face grew warm, again. But we spoke no more of it.
I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me.š¦
We were like gods at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.
āDoes it matter? I would not stop.ā His voice was warm with desire. I felt an answering flush across my skin.
āName one hero who was happy.ā āYou canāt.ā āI canāt.ā āI know. They never let you be famous and happy. āIāll tell you a secret.ā āTell me.ā āIām going to be the first.ā He took my palm and held it to his. āSwear it.ā āWhy me?ā āBecause youāre the reason. Swear it.ā
We reached for each other, and I thought of how many nights I had lain awake in this room loving him in silence.
Later, Achilles pressed close for a final, drowsy whisper. āIf you have to go, you know I will go with you.ā
Had she really thought I would not know him? I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.
His eyes flicked around the hall, catching for a moment on my face. I could not help myself. I smiled.
āI would not care,ā I said. The words scrabbled from my mouth. āWhatever you became. It would not matter to me. We would be together.ā āI know, I know,ā he said quietly, but did not look at me.
When he died, all things swift and beautiful and bright would be buried with him. I opened my mouth, but it was too late.
He was spring, golden and bright. Envious Death would drink his blood, and grow young again.
He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death. āYes,ā I whispered. āYes.ā Relief broke in his face, and he reached for me. I let him hold me, let him press us length to length so close that nothing might fit between us.
You must not kill Hector,ā I said. A sly smile spread across his face; he had always loved defiance. āWell, why should I kill him? Heās done nothing to me.ā For the first time then, I felt a kind of hope. (this is just hearbreaking for obvious reasons!!! the forshadowing!!)
āYour honor could be darkened by it.ā āThen it is darkened.ā His jaw shot forward, stubborn. āThey are fools if they let my glory rise or fall on this.ā āBut Odysseusāā His eyes, green as spring leaves, met mine. āPatroclus. I have given enough to them. I will not give them this.ā After that, there was nothing more to say.
He had light enough to make heroes of them all.
You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature.
He is half of my soul, as the poets say.
The last thing I think is: Achilles.
āThat isāyour friend?ā āPhiltatos,ā Achilles says, sharply. Most beloved. š¦
I am made of memories āGo,ā she says. āHe waits for you.ā IN THE DARKNESS, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.
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