Madeline Miller Quotes & Sayings

They leaned towards him, like flowers to the sun, drinking in his luster. It was as Odysseus had said: he had light enough to make heroes of them all. — Madeline Miller

The heat rose up my neck, wrapped fingers over my face. His hair fell around me, and I could smell nothing but him. The grain of his lips seemed to rest a hairsbreadth from mine. — Madeline Miller

There are no bargains between lion and men. I will kill you and eat you raw. — Madeline Miller

I saw then how I had changed. I did not mind anymore that I lost when we raced and I lost when we swam out to the rocks and I lost when we tossed spears or skipped stones. For who can be ashamed to lose to such beauty? It was enough to watch him win, to see the soles of his feet flashing as they kicked up sand, or the rise and fall of his shoulders as he pulled through the salt. It was enough. — Madeline Miller

This was a man who moved like the gods were watching: every gesture he made was upright and correct. There was no one else it could be but Hector — Madeline Miller

Chiron had said once that nations were the most foolish of mortal inventions. No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from. — Madeline Miller

Later, Achilles pressed close for a final, drowsy whisper. 'If you have to go, you know I will go with you.' We slept. — Madeline Miller

I almost did not come, because I did not want to leave it."
He smiled. "Now I know how to make you follow me everywhere."
The sun sank below Pelion's ridges, and we were happy. — Madeline Miller

When I am dead, I charge you to mingle our ashes and bury us together. — Madeline Miller

He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight. I found myself wishing he would wake so that I might watch the life return. — Madeline Miller

We are all there, goddess and mortal and the boy who was both. — Madeline Miller

Wealth and reputation were the things our people had always killed for. — Madeline Miller

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. — Madeline Miller

In making Achilles and Patroclus lovers, I wasn't trying to speak for all gay men, just as when I write straight characters, I don't claim to speak for all straight people. My job as an author is to give voice to these very particular characters - these two men, in this time, and in this place — Madeline Miller

The rosy gleam of his lip, the fevered gleam of his eyes. There was not a line anywhere on his face, nothing creased or graying; all crisp. He was spring, golden and bright. Envious death would drink his blood, and grow young again. — Madeline Miller

People are people, whatever age they're living in. The circumstances may have changed - we go to war with planes instead of chariots - but experiences of grief, longing, rage and love remain the same. — Madeline Miller

Later Achilles would play the lyre, as Chiron and I listened. My mother's lyre. He had brought it with him.
'I wish I had known,' I said, the first day when he showed it to me. 'I almost did not come, because I did not want to believe it.'
He smiled. 'Now I know how to make you follow me everywhere. — Madeline Miller

We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory. — Madeline Miller

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. — Madeline Miller

We reached for each other, and I thought of how many nights I had lain awake loving him in silence. — Madeline Miller

Patroclus, he says, Patroclus. Patroclus. Over and over until it is sound only. — Madeline Miller

Name one hero who was happy. — Madeline Miller

Odysseus inclines his head. "True. But fame is a strange thing. Some men gain glory after they die, while others fade. What is admired in one generation is abhorred in another." He spread his broad hands. "We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory. Who knows?" He smiles. "Perhaps one day even I will be famous. Perhaps more famous than you. — Madeline Miller

Do you think Aristos Achaion fights in hopeless wars? — Madeline Miller

She wears a cape, and it is this that undoes her - that allows her to be pulled, limbs light and poised as a cat, from her horse. — Madeline Miller

Perhaps he simply assumed: a bitterness of habit, of boy after boy trained for music and medicine, and unleashed for murder. — Madeline Miller

This is what Achilles will feel like when he is old. And then I remembered: he will never be old. — Madeline Miller

I gaped at the cold shock of his beauty, deep-green eyes, features fine as a girl's. It struck from me a sudden, springing dislike. I had not changed so much, nor so well. — Madeline Miller

I wish he had let you all die — Madeline Miller

He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature. — Madeline Miller

One morning, I woke to find Chiron gone. This was not unusual. He often rose before we did, to milk the goats or pick fruits for breakfast. I left the cave so that Achilles — Madeline Miller

This, I say. This and this. The way his hair looked in summer sun. His face when he ran. His eyes, solemn as an owl at lessons. This and this and this. So many moments of happiness, crowding forward. — Madeline Miller

There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles," Chiron said. "And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think? — Madeline Miller

Those seconds, half seconds, that the line of our gaze connected, were the only moment in my day that I felt anything at all. — Madeline Miller

He is more worth to you, perhaps. But the stranger is someone else's friend and brother. So which life is more important? — Madeline Miller

Swear it.
Why me?
Because you're the reason. — Madeline Miller

We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other. — Madeline Miller

Achilles' eyes were bright in the firelight, his face drawn sharply by the flickering shadows. I would know is in dark or disguise, told myself. I would know it even in madness. — Madeline Miller

His fingers touched the strings and all my thoughts were displaced. The sound was pure and sweet as water, bright as lemons. It was like no music I had ever heard before. It had warmth as a fire does, a texture and weight like polished ivory. It buoyed and soothed at once. — Madeline Miller

This is how I think of us, when I remember our nights at Troy: Achilles and I beside each other, Phoinix smiling and Automedon stuttering through the punch lines of jokes, and Briseis with her secret eyes and quick, spilling laughter. — Madeline Miller

Who was he if not destined for fame? — Madeline Miller

The flames surround me, and I feel myself slipping further from life, thinning to only the faintest shiver in the air. I yearn for the darkness and silence of the underworld, where I can rest. — Madeline Miller

My mind is filled with cataclysm and apocalypse. I wish for earthquakes, eruptions, flood. — Madeline Miller

I would still be with you. But I could sleep outside, so it would not be so obvious. I do not need to attend your councils. I - '
'No. The Phthians will not care. And the others can talk all they like. I will still be Aristos Achaion.' Best of the Greeks.
'Your honor could be darkened by it.
'Then it is darkened.' His jaw shot forward, stubborn. 'They are fools if they let my glory rise or fall on this. — Madeline Miller

There was more to say, but for once we did not say it. There would be other times for speaking, tonight and tomorrow and all the days after that. He let go of my hand. — Madeline Miller

I am made of memories. — Madeline Miller

Nothing could eclipse the stain of his dirty, mortal mediocrity. — Madeline Miller

It seemed absurd even to think of it, foolish and improbable as a dream is by dinner. — Madeline Miller

And perhaps you should get some new stories, so I don't fucking kill myself of boredom. — Madeline Miller

I know, now, how I would answer Chiron. I would say: there is no answer. Whichever you choose, you are wrong. — Madeline Miller

He is half my soul, as the poets say. — Madeline Miller

It was almost like fear, in the way it filled me, rising in my chest. It was almost like tears, in how swiftly it came. But it was neither of those, buoyant where they were heavy, bright were they dull. — Madeline Miller

The greater the monument, the greater the man. The stone the Greeks quarry for his grave is huge and white, stretching up to the sky. A C H I L L E S, it reads. It will stand for him, and speak to all who pass: he lived and died, and lives again in memory. — Madeline Miller

There is no honour in betraying your friends. — Madeline Miller

Success in such a war as this comes only through men sewn to a single purpose, funnelled to a single spear thrust rather than a thousand needle-pricks. — Madeline Miller

He smiled, and his face was like the sun. — Madeline Miller

It is right to seek peace for the dead. You and I both know there is no peace for those who live after. — Madeline Miller

And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. — Madeline Miller

He is lost in Agamemnon and Odysseus' wily double meanings, their lies and games of power. They have confounded him, tied him to a stake and baited him. I stroke the soft skin of his forehead. I would untie him if I could. If he would let me. — Madeline Miller

Achilles' eyes lift. They are bloodshot and dead. I wish he had let you all die. — Madeline Miller

Peleus acknowledged this. "Yet other boys will be envious that you have chosen such a one. What will you tell them?"
"I will tell them nothing." The answer came with no hesitation, clear and crisp. "It is not for them to say what I will do. — Madeline Miller

I shift, an infinitesimal movement, towards him. It is like the leap from a waterfall. I do not know, until then, what I am going to do. — Madeline Miller

When he speaks at last, his voice is weary, and defeated. He doesn't know how to be angry with me, either. We are like damp wood that won't light. — Madeline Miller

Indeed, he seemed utterly unaware of his effect on the boys around him. — Madeline Miller

Name one hero who was happy. You can't. — Madeline Miller

Achilles weeps. He cradles me, and will not eat, nor speak a word other than my name. — Madeline Miller

A surety rose in me, lodged in my throat. I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me. — Madeline Miller

When he died, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with him. — Madeline Miller

And I wanted to be able to listen, to digest the bloody images, to paint them flat and unremarkable onto the vase of posterity. To release him from it and make him Achilles again. — Madeline Miller

He was watching me, his eyes as deep as earth.
"Will you come with me?" he asked.
The never-ending ache of love and sorrow. Perhaps in some other life I could have refused, could have torn my hair and screamed, and made him face his choice alone. But not in this one. He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death. "Yes," I whispered. "Yes. — Madeline Miller

I have done it," she says. At first I do not understand. But then I see the tomb, and the marks she has made on the stone. ACHILLES, it reads. And beside it, PATROCLUS.
"Go," she says. "He waits for you. — Madeline Miller

She wants you to be a god," I told him.
"I know." His face twisted with embarrassment, and in spite of itself my heart lightened. It was such a boyish response. And so human. Parents, everywhere. — Madeline Miller

He is half of my soul, as the poets say. — Madeline Miller

The sound was pure and sweet as water, bright as lemons. — Madeline Miller

Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.
"You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward.
"I can't."
"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.
We sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned.
"I feel like I could eat the world raw. — Madeline Miller

Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free. — Madeline Miller

I will go," he said. "I will go to Troy."
The rosy gleam of his lip, the fevered green of his eyes. There was not a line anywhere on his face, nothing creased or graying; all crisp. He was spring, golden and bright. Envious death would drink his blood, and grow young again.
He was watching me, his eyes as deep as earth.
"Will you come with me?" he asked.
The never-ending ache of love and sorrow. Perhaps in some other life I could have refused, could have torn my hair and screamed, and made him face his choice alone. But not in this one. He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death. "Yes," I whipsered. "Yes."
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.
Tears came, and fell. Above us, the constellations spun and the moon paced her weary course. We lay stricken and sleepless as the hours passed. — Madeline Miller

Divine blood flows differently in each god-born child. — Madeline Miller

I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me.
If I had had words to speak such a thing, I would have. But there were none that seemed big enough for it, to hold that swelling truth.
As if he had heard me, he reached for my hand. I did not need to look; his fingers were etched into my memory, slender and petal-veined, strong and quick and never wrong.
"Patroclus," he said. He was always better with words than I. — Madeline Miller

I am air and thought and can do nothing. — Madeline Miller

When I first started studying Greek, one of my absolute favorite parts was realizing that so many English words had these old, secret roots. Learning Greek was like being given a super-power: linguistic x-ray vision. — Madeline Miller

As for the goddess's answer, I did not care. I would have no need of her. I did not plan to live after he was gone. — Madeline Miller

The very dull truth is that writing love scenes is the same as writing other scenes - your job is to be fully engaged in the character's experience. What does this mean to them? How are they changed by it, or not? I remember being a little nervous, as I am when writing any high-stakes, intense scene (death, sex, grief, joy). — Madeline Miller

Perhaps such things pass for virtue among the gods. But how is there glory in taking life? We die so easily. Would you make him another Pyrrhus? Let the stories of him be something more. — Madeline Miller

This and this and this. — Madeline Miller

Divine blood purified our muddy race, bred heroes from dust and clay. — Madeline Miller

Achilles makes a sound like choking. "There are no bargains between lions and men. I will kill you and eat you raw." His spearpoint flies in a dark whirlwind, bright as the evening-star, to catch the hollow at Hector's throat. — Madeline Miller

And her skin shone luminous and impossibly pale, as if it drank light from the moon. — Madeline Miller

Prince Achilles! Aristos Achaion! As — Madeline Miller

He waits for you. — Madeline Miller

He did not fear ridicule, he had never known it. — Madeline Miller

Our men liked conquest; they did not trust a man who was conquered himself. — Madeline Miller

Where there is greed, there is hope. — Madeline Miller

The never-ending ache of love and sorrow. Perhaps in some other life I could have refused, could have torn my hair and screamed, and made him face his choice alone. But not in this one. He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death. — Madeline Miller

That is - your friend?"
"Philtatos," Achilles replied, sharply. Most beloved. — Madeline Miller

Her mouth was a gash of red, like the torn-open stomach of a sacrifice, bloody and oracular. Behind it her teeth shone sharp and white as bone. — Madeline Miller

Life for women in ancient Greece was hard - you had to fight for every inch of ground you got. Both Thetis and Briseis are strong, passionate women and in another time and place their lives would have been very different. Part of the tragedy of their characters is how much they have to offer - and how little of that they get to realize. Thetis spends the whole novel fighting the limitations placed on her, desperately trying to eke out the best she can from a bad situation. This makes her fierce and terrifying. — Madeline Miller

I began to suprise Achilles, calling out to these men as we walked through the camp. I was always gratified at how they would raise a hand in return, point to a scar that had healed over well.
After they were gone, Achilles would shake his head. 'I don't know how you remember them all. I swear they look the same to me.'
I would laugh and point them out again. 'That's Sthenelus, Diomedes' charioteer. And that's Podarces, whose brother was the first to die, remember?'
'There are too many of them,' he said. 'It's simpler if they just remember me. — Madeline Miller

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. This and this and this! I taught him how to skip stones, and he taught me how to carve wood. I could feel every nerve in my body, every brush of air against my skin. — Madeline Miller

Go," She says. "He waits for you. — Madeline Miller