The Song of Achilles

Patroclus wakes to find Achilles gone. He searches the palace and finds Achilles nowhere. He tries to ask Peleus, but his guards deny entry. Finally, an old counselor, Phoinix, tells Patroclus that Thetis took Achilles while he and Patroclus were sleeping, and no one knows to where. Patroclus is sure Achilles would not have gone willingly and imagines Thetis drugged or tricked her son. Patroclus fears she has taken him somewhere that Patroclus cannot follow and will poison Achilles’s mind against mortals. Grief paralyzes Patroclus, until he recalls Chiron’s final words to him. He returns to Peleus, assumes the position of a suppliant, and asks for Achilles’s whereabouts. Eventually, Peleus tells him that Achilles is on the island of Scyros. Patroclus understands that Peleus told him because of his piety and rules of supplication and feels “something heavy, like anger” (116), between them. He tells the king that he will need money, and Peleus sends him back to Phoinix, who gives him more gold than he needs to pay a ship’s captain for passage.

At Scyros, Patroclus seeks an audience with King Lycomedes but is instead brought to his daughter, the princess Deidameia. Patroclus introduces himself as Chironides, meaning son of Chiron, and explains that he has come in search of his friend from Phthia. The princess flirts with him but claims to be unsure whether Achilles is at the palace. While she thinks on it, Patroclus will stay for dinner, where he will see her dance with her women. She tells him that all kings send their daughters to be fostered at her palace.

At dinner, Deidameia dances flirtatiously with a tall woman. When the women bow at the dance’s end, the tall woman throws herself at Patroclus joyfully. It is Achilles in disguise. Deidameia begins weeping, calling him “Pyrrha” (122). King Lycomedes asks what is happening, and Achilles tells him that Patroclus is his husband who has come to fetch him. Lycomedes asks “Pyrrha” if Thetis, who brought “her” to the palace to be fostered, knows of this husband. Deidameia cries out that she does not and calls Achilles heartless using the masculine form. Lycomedes demands an explanation. Deidameia reveals that “Pyrrha” is a man, and she has married him. She begins screaming his name, Achilles, threatening to tell everyone that he is here.

Thetis appears in the doorway, saying, “You will not” (124). Everyone is stunned into silence except Achilles, who rips off his female disguise and tells her, “No more” (124). He turns to Lycomedes, reveals his true identity, and apologizes for deceiving him. Thetis wished to prevent him from joining the war effort by hiding him at Lycomedes’s palace. Achilles tells him that they will leave, but Deidameia protests, reminding him that Thetis married them. She has “lain with him” (125) as ordered by Thetis and, as a result, lost her honor. Thetis instructs Lycomedes that he will continue to hide Achilles in exchange for his daughter later being able to claim a famous husband. Deidameia announces that she is pregnant, and Patroclus strides out of the room.

Achilles chases after him, explaining that Thetis brought the girl to his room and promised that if Achilles slept with her, she would tell Patroclus where to find him. Patroclus reveals that it was Peleus not Thetis who revealed Achilles’s whereabouts and is disgusted by Achilles’s foolish naïveté. Achilles begs for Patroclus’s forgiveness, saying he “did not like” (127) being with Deidameia. Patroclus tells him there is nothing to forgive.

Later that evening, Lycomedes confronts Achilles, insisting that Deidameia’s child bear his name. Achilles swears to it, and Lycomedes is pacified. Thetis has left the palace. After they are finally alone together, Achilles confirms that Thetis brought him here to hide him from the war not from Patroclus, but he admits that Deidameia was because of Patroclus.

Achilles and Patroclus remain hidden at the palace. During the day, they explore the island, seeking out private places where Achilles can shed his disguise and train. In the evenings, they return to the palace for meals. Patroclus feels sorry for Deidameia, who longs for Achilles’s attention but toward whom Achilles feels no interest.

One morning when Achilles is away, guards come to fetch Patroclus. They deliver him to Deidameia, who blames him for Achilles’s lack of interest. Recalling the hurt that his father’s indifference caused him, Patroclus feels pity for her, even after she slaps him and tells him that she hates him. She reveals that her father is sending her away to keep her pregnancy secret, to protect her honor. When she begins weeping, he comforts her, and she leads him to bed. Patroclus initially resists but does not want to cause her more suffering. After, he realizes that he has not given her what she wanted, though he does not know what that is. Before he leaves, she asks him to tell Achilles goodbye.

Reunited with Achilles, Patroclus tries to convince himself that nothing happened between himself and Deidameia. He tells himself that he imagined it because Achilles shared his own experience with her, but he knows that is not true.

The following day, Deidameia leaves. Achilles and Patroclus are also eager to leave, but as news of the war reaches them, they stay to maintain Achilles’s disguise. They learn that Agamemnon has achieved what no one has before him. He has united the “fractious” (142) kingdoms of the Greek-speaking world and loaded his army with young princes.

One morning, they see a ship on the horizon. Suspecting it carries one of Agamemnon’s messengers, Achilles returns to the women’s quarters in disguise. Back in his room, Patroclus wakes from a nap to find Odysseus, who does not seem to recognize Patroclus, in his room. He has come in search of recruits and promises glory and riches in return. To avoid revealing himself, Patroclus gives his name as “Chironides” (146) and identifies himself as an exile without a patronymic. Before he leaves, Odysseus muses that Patroclus seems familiar and asks him where he is from, then decides he must be confusing him with someone else. Odysseus reminds Patroclus to find him if he decides to join the war effort or if he knows of other suitable candidates.

At dinner, Lycomedes introduces “Chironides” to Diomedes, Argos’ king, and Odysseus, Ithaca’s ruling prince. Lycomedes makes polite conversation with Odysseus, but Diomedes interrupts, goadingly suggesting Lycomedes ask about Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. Odysseus begins to tell the story of how he met her when Tyndareus entertained suitors for Helen. Diomedes interrupts Odysseus’s story to mock him for telling the same story over and over, making him want to “fucking kill myself of boredom” (149). Diomedes’s vulgarity, inappropriate at a state dinner, shocks Lycomedes. Odysseus defuses the tension of the moment, then asks Diomedes for a performance of the famous dancing girls of Scyros.

Lycomedes knows that Thetis wants the girls kept hidden since Achilles is among them, but to refuse Odysseus would be suspicious. He has the girls perform. After, as a token of thanks, Odysseus brings out trunks of treasure—perfumes, mirrors, and jewelry for the girls and shields, spears, and sheathes for the men. In disguise, Achilles sifts through the jewelry. Meanwhile, Patroclus notices Diomedes speaking with one of his servants.

Moments later, trumpet blasts signal imminent danger. While the girls shriek and cling to each other, Achilles tears off his disguise, leaps over the table, and grabs a spear. Odysseus greets him, adding, “We’ve been looking for you” (152). Achilles replies that he is “honored to be the subject of so much effort” (152). Odysseus requests from Lycomedes a room where he and Diomedes can speak privately with Achilles. Lycomedes consents, though Patroclus can see that he is frightened of Thetis’s punishment. Seeing Achilles flick his eyes toward Patroclus, Odysseus tells Achilles to bring his companion with him, adding, “We have business with him, as well” (153).

Achilles accuses Diomedes and Odysseus of tricking him. Odysseus notes that Achilles, too, played a trick and tells him they want him to come to Troy. Diomedes threatens to expose Achilles for disguising himself as a woman, which would disgrace him as a warrior, but Odysseus intercedes, wanting to offer “happier reasons to agree” (154), fame first among them. Achilles says that “[t]here will be other wars,” but Diomedes counters that this one “will be the greatest of our people” (155).

Odysseus reveals that the gods have shared a prophecy with him: Achilles will lose his chance at immortality if he stays behind. He will be unknown, unremarkable, and unremembered, like his host Lycomedes. Fear prickles Patroclus as he realizes that Odysseus is playing on Achilles’s desire for glory.

Suddenly, the door bangs open, revealing an enraged Thetis. Her entry has no effect on Odysseus, who reveals that he has Athena’s blessing for his mission. He tells Achilles to ask his mother what she knows. Thetis admits that the prophecy is true, but adds that if Achilles goes to Troy, he will die there. Back in their room, Patroclus longs to tell Achilles not to go but resists, knowing that being a warrior is Achilles’s identity. Achilles admits that he could not bear to lose his brilliance. Patroclus would not care, but Achilles knows that. He says that he will go to Troy and asks Patroclus to go with him. Patroclus agrees, knowing that it will lead to death. They hold each other and weep.

The next morning, Patroclus rushes out to the cliffs and calls Thetis. Grudgingly, she appears. Falling to his knees, Patroclus asks her how to prevent Achilles’s death. She tells him the only thing she knows: Hector’s death will precede Achilles’s. She warns Patroclus that fame will not be easy for Achilles to gain, that he is too trusting, and that Patroclus must not disgrace him. Hearing Achilles approach, she leaves. Patroclus reveals what Thetis told him of the prophecy and warns Achilles not to kill Hector. Achilles smiles, noting that Hector has done nothing to Achilles. Patroclus begins to feel hopeful.

Before leaving to join Agamemnon’s forces, Achilles visits Lycomedes to deliver a message from Thetis. Deidameia’s child will be a boy, and Thetis will claim him. Patroclus sees Lycomedes’s quiet grief for his daughter, who will be left with neither husband nor son. He tells Achilles that he wishes he had never come.

On the ship, Patroclus admires the prow, and Odysseus explains that it is a likeness of his wife. Patroclus reflects on Odysseus’s love for his wife, calling a love match “rare as cedars from the east” (163). It makes him want to like Odysseus, but Patroclus does not trust him. Diomedes and Odysseus verbally spar, as they did on Scyros. Patroclus begins to see that it is fun for them, a game of one-upmanship among equals, and Achilles provides “an eager audience” (164).

When they make camp for the night, Odysseus provides one tent for Achilles and Patroclus, saying that he has heard they “prefer to share” (165). Achilles and Patroclus are shocked mute. Patroclus reflects that sexual relationships between boys are common and accepted but are expected to be left behind in adulthood, except between men and slaves or servant boys. Patroclus realizes what Thetis meant when she warned him not to disgrace Achilles and denies Odysseus’s implication. He warns Patroclus that “true” is simply “what men believe” (165). Later, Patroclus suggests that he and Achilles should be more careful to hide their relationship, but Achilles replies that no talk will detract from his role as “Aristos Achaion. Best of the Greeks” (166). Besides, he adds, they have taken enough from Achilles, and he “will not give them this” (166).

The following day, Achilles asks Odysseus about the various leaders in Agamemnon’s and the Trojans’ armies. Odysseus describes Menelaus as fearless, well-liked, and a good man who has rallied many kings to his cause. Nestor of Pylos, who sailed with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece, is an old man but esteemed for his good counsel. On the Trojan side, Priam is pious and loved by the gods. Aphrodite loves Priam’s son Paris, who is known for his beauty, and is the mother of Aeneas, another Trojan royal.

Achilles asks about Hector. Odysseus tells him that Hector is a favorite of Apollo, and Achilles will earn the greatest glory through Hector’s death. Achilles asks why he should kill someone who has committed no offense against him. Odysseus laughs, saying that such thinking would make war obsolete, then musing that if it were Odysseus could be “Aristos Achaion” (168) instead of Achilles. Finally, Achilles asks about Agamemnon. Odysseus tells him of the cursed House of Atreus, who is the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus and grandson of Tantalus. Tantalus suffers eternal punishment for his arrogance. Wanting to prove that the gods do not know all, he murdered his son, Pelops, and attempted to feed his roasted flesh to the gods. Recognizing the trick, Zeus seized him and threw him into Tartarus. Zeus restored Pelops to life, but his sons Thyestes and Atreus continued their grandfather’s ambitious ways, committing rape and murder.

Odysseus notes that through Menelaus and Agamemnon the house seems to be restored to good fortune. The Greeks are fortunate to have him as their general. Achilles balks, saying that he will accept “Agamemnon’s counsel, but not his orders” (170). Odysseus shakes his head, hoping the gods will save them from themselves and their insatiable hunger for honor. Alone later that night, Achilles and Patroclus discuss the men Odysseus described. Patroclus admits that he does not trust them and privately wonders how much time he and Achilles have left.