Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Song of Achilles, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Honor, Pride, and Legacy
Fate, Belief, and Control
Gender, Power, and Agency
Love, Violence, and Redemption
Selfhood and Responsibility
Summary
Analysis
On the way to Troy, the Phthians first dock in Aulis, a jutting strip of land where the entire Greek army will convene before sailing to Troy together in a show of strength. As the Phthians ships arrive, the Myrmidons—Achilles’s soldiers—begin chanting his name, and soldiers from the other Greek armies join them. One man loudly introduces him as Aristos Achaion, and suddenly the air changes: Achilles’s skin turns gold in the sun, his body suddenly larger. The transformation causes even more pandemonium, but Patroclus realizes that it’s Thetis heightening Achilles’s fame. Achilles doesn’t know what’s happening, but the crowd’s reaction doesn’t seem strange to him.
Thetis laughed at Patroclus when he said he wanted to try to change Achilles’s fate, but she’s also doing her part to try to influence fate. The difference is that Patroclus wants to stop Achilles fate in order to keep him alive, and at this point Thetis is focused on maximizing Achilles’s fame. That Achilles simply accepts the acclaim shows the degree to which he has simply accepted the prophecy..
Themes
As they disembark, Agamemnon waits for them on the beach, standing next to Odysseus, Diomedes, and Menelaus. Agamemnon has a harsh and commanding presence; Menelaus’s gives a somewhat softer impression than his brother. Nestor, supposedly the oldest man alive, is also there. Agamemnon steps forward and opens his arms, and is clearly expecting Achilles to kneel, but Achilles simply stands. Just as Odysseus is about to step in, Achilles introduces himself, saying that he’s come to bring the Greeks victory. The crowd cheers. Warning Achilles with a glance, Odysseus says that he’s brought Achilles to pledge his allegiance. Rather than taking Odysseus’s lead, though, Achilles says that he’s come to offer help. Agamemnon responds that it’s a shame that Achilles was so slow to come. After the interaction is over, Phoinix, in a way that suggests he is disapproving of Achilles’s behavior, tells him that their camp is ready.
This scene introduces Agamemnon and establishes him as a commanding, charismatic man who expects those in the army he has gathered to offer him obedience. It’s also clear from this scene that Agamemnon’s expectation of subservience is going to create strain with Achilles, who has no intention of being subservient to anyone. Odysseus and Phoinix seem to think Achilles is being over proud and out of line in refusing to accede to Agamemnon’s demands. But, on the one hand, Achilles is here for glory, and on the other may be mindful of Chiron’s advice about fighting for others. Also worth noting is the way that Agamemnon responds to what he perceives as Achilles’s slights against him by attacking Achilles honor through a sly reference to Achilles’s being late because he was hiding as a woman from the war. Honor will be on the line in the fight against the Trojans, but also in Achilles and Agamemnon’s struggles for control.
Themes
In the camp, one of Menelaus’s heralds greets them; Menelaus couldn’t come in person. Patroclus and Achilles realize that Menelaus is playing both sides, loyal to his brother but careful not to offend Achilles. They explore the camp. Everywhere they go, people watch Achilles. Patroclus thinks, at first, that it’s Thetis’s influence again, but no—it’s just Achilles. They’ve all heard that he’s Greece’s greatest warrior, and now that they’ve seen him, they believe it.
Menelaus might be an honorable man, but honor and craftiness aren’t mutually exclusive. Clearly, the war is going to be a political battlefield as well as a literal one. While Thetis earlier amped up Achilles’s fame through a kind of spell or glamour, this scene makes clear that Achilles is impressive in his own right.
Themes
