The Song of Achilles

by

Madeline Miller

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Song of Achilles makes teaching easy.

The Song of Achilles Symbols

The Lyre

The lyre represents innocence, which Achilles and Patroclus must eventually cast aside. When Patroclus is exiled from his kingdom to Phthia, his father sends a lyre as payment, which the young prince Achilles takes. This…

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Achilles’s Spear

Achille’s handmade ash spear represents his inhumanity, which will always be part of him due to his inevitable, violent destiny. But it also symbolizes the part of him that remains childlike and innocent. When…

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The Dice

Patroclus’s dice symbolize the ancient Greeks’ flawed understanding of honor. As a young child, Patroclus accidentally kills a young boy, Clysonymus, when Clysonymus tries to steal the dice. Patroclus doesn’t know where the…

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