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
One day, Priam sends out a message from Troy: he will admit an embassy (a group of Greek generals who will negotiate for Helen’s freedom). The restless Greek soldiers are pleased—something will finally happen. Menelaus and Odysseus go to the Trojan palace, and Achilles and Patroclus speculate about the result. Achilles wonders aloud why Helen chose Menelaus, and Patroclus doesn’t know; he did bring a generous gift, and his brother was married to her sister.
The raids were just a way to force an audience with Priam. The violent raids were supposedly aimed at protecting the honor of Helen, and has been waged against women having nothing to do with her. Meanwhile, the Greeks never initially asked for an audience, as Menelaus wanted, but instead forced Priam’s hand through violence—violence was their first and preferred option. Achilles’s question is timely, and raises the question of whether made her choice for personality, connection, power, or some other reason.
Themes
Achilles also wonders whether Helen voluntarily left with Paris. He thinks that she must have, since her palace was a fortress. She also must have known that Menelaus would be honor-bound to follow. Maybe she wanted to start a war for the fame. Maybe she loves Paris. Maybe she was bored. Maybe Aphrodite forced her. Patroclus thinks that Agamemnon will attack no matter the result of the embassy, and Achilles agrees. He notes that hardly anyone mentions Helen anymore, except in big speeches.
Helen may be a justification for the whole war, but this scene proves that she’s actually pretty insignificant. Agamemnon wanted to invade Troy regardless. Menelaus’s love for Helen was a reason to go to war, but it’s not why the war is happening. Achilles speculation make clear that Helen may have had agency in choosing to leave with Paris, but in the end she has become just another tool for tool for Agamemnon to use.
Themes
Odysseus and Menelaus return at night, reporting that they were warmly received by Priam, Paris, and Hector. Priam said that Helen didn’t want to leave and that they’d defend her; Diomedes thinks this is a clever way for the Trojans to avoid their guilt. Agamemnon announces that this means war, and everyone will fight for honor. Patroclus realizes, suddenly, that as Achilles’s closest companion, he’ll have to fight, too. The Fates haven’t said anything about how long he’ll last. Achilles promises he’ll be with him.
This seems like a cleverly crafted moment of propaganda. Diomedes argues that the Trojan arguments that Helen wants to be there are just ploys to avoid admitting guilt, and Agamemnon uses that argument to cast the Greek war as one of honor (rather than one of pure politics or desire for spoils). Meanwhile, Patroclus has tried to keep himself out of the war but now realizes he and his morals don’t matter: he will be forced to fight. Achilles’s murderous skill, which so upset Patroclus, now is suddenly a good thing again as Achilles will use it—out of love—to protect Patroclus.
Themes
At dawn, Achilles helps Patroclus dress in armor, promising that he’ll get used to the weight. Patroclus feels stupid, like he’s wearing an “older brother’s clothing.” On the field, he joins Achilles in his place of primacy, and Achilles tells him to remain behind him. A trumpet blows. The soldiers start in an ordered rank, but these ranks break as they run, eager to kill real Trojans. During the battle, Patroclus can’t see Achilles, or really anything. He kneels beside a dead Spartan to pray, but the man screams, still alive. His wound is deep and he’s relieved to die. Patroclus closes his eyelids.
Patroclus’s comment about the armor highlights how out of place he is in war, and how war places him in a subservient position to his partner. Patroclus’s moment with the dying Spartan is instructive: he tries to honor the Spartan’s death but is instead forced to watch the man die horribly. Patroclus was trying to add structure and meaning to battle, but finds that warfare is too gruesome for that. War leads to men feeling so much pain that they want to die.
Themes
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Achilles pops up, blood-spattered and grinning. He’s the only thing that Patroclus can look at without feeling dizzy. Patroclus doesn’t kill anyone all day. Bizarrely, he’s always in a region of empty space. He realizes later that this isn’t a coincidence; Achilles can sense when someone will target Patroclus and he kills them first. Patroclus watches Achilles; he’s “a marvel” in battle. Patroclus can’t notice the horror anymore—he sees only how beautiful Achilles is when he fights.
Achilles no longer notices the gruesomeness of war. In fact, he seems to enjoy warfare. But once again, Achilles uses his unnatural skill to protect Patroclus, proving that he’s not a human weapon at all. His love and his murderous skill are intertwined in this scene, which makes things morally complicated for Patroclus. And Achille’s violence, further, is so skillful as to be beautiful; he is born to kill, even if that’s not all he does or wants to do. This used to horrify Patroclus, but in the midst of battle he now accepts its truth.
Themes
A month passes, then two. It’s a strange war—no one gains land or takes prisoners, and instead it’s a battle for honor. The armies begin to adopt a schedule, fighting just seven days in every ten, taking time off for special occasions—no raids. The troops are well-matched, and soldiers from nearby regions continue to pour in to aid the Trojans, eager for glory.
The structure of warfare is now even stricter: there’s a schedule and regulations. Again, this only highlights the strange brutality of war; killing becomes like just a job, with weekends and holidays and honor to be gained like salaries. Everything is honorable because there are rules, but these rules only emphasize how unnatural the war is—killing people on specific days doesn’t change the fact that you’re killing them.
Themes
Achilles thrives in battle, especially in the moments when every man comes at him at once. Then, he’s finally able to prove what he can do. Patroclus hardly goes with him to battle anymore, since he’s not a prince who needs honor or a soldier who’s obligated. Sometimes Achilles asks him to come, just to watch. When Patroclus does, he notices a space near Achilles where no one goes; if he looks at it long enough, Thetis appears. She doesn’t help Achilles, but just stands and watches like Patroclus does. He can’t parse her expression. Maybe it’s grief, maybe pleasure, maybe nothing.
Achilles has fully embraced his destiny. He used to hide his fighting ability. Now he likes to show what he can do. Patroclus and Chiron spent a lot of time accepting Achilles’s fate and helping to prepare him for it, but that Achilles enjoys it complicates matters—Achilles is capable of empathy and kindness, but he’s ignoring the awfulness of war simply because he was born to be so good at it.. Chiron was trying to get him to consider his actions when he asked whether Achilles would fight in someone’s army, but now Achilles seems happy to fight in anyone’s army—he just wants to fight. Thetis’s appearance indicates her mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is what he has to do in order to become a god, and she definitely has no particular attachment to the humans he kills—or humans in general. On the other hand, the more people Achilles kills, the closer he is to death.
Themes
Patroclus learns the Greeks’ fighting styles. Agamemnon hides behind his army and shouts orders, Diomedes fights like an animal, and Odysseus fakes out his opponents and kills at close range. Patroclus notices the Trojans, too: the beautiful Paris casually tosses spears from his chariot, vain in a red cloak. Hector is always alone, practiced and careful. When the armies withdraw, he washes his hands so he can pray without being tainted by blood. He’s pious, and he fights for family instead of fame. Achilles and Patroclus never go near him; Agamemnon often asks Achilles why, and Achilles replies, “What has Hector ever done to me?”
The Greek kings’ fighting styles seem to reflect their personalities. Agamemnon selfishly values his own life over the lives of others and wants to enjoy his power after the war. Diomedes is brash, and Odysseus is cleverer than everyone else and unconcerned with the morality of what he’s doing. Paris appears to live up to his reputation as a beautiful man, but Hector is a surprise. He seems genuinely honorable and appears to have the right priorities, even if he kills just as much as anyone else. In many ways, he’s much more honorable than Achilles, who is fighting to gain personal glory. Hector is fighting to save his city and family, which the Greeks are threatening. Achilles’s canned line about Hector once again feels like tempting fate.
Themes
