The Song of Achilles characters

Appears from the start

The narrator, a young prince of a small Greek kingdom, small and awkward and a disappointment to his royal father. After a fatal accident in his boyhood he is exiled and sent to be fostered in another king's court, cut off from home and expecting little of his life. Gentle, watchful, and no natural warrior, he tells the story of the great hero Achilles from the inside, as the boy who becomes Achilles's inseparable companion and, in time, his love.

First appears in chapter 2

The golden, extraordinarily gifted son of King Peleus and a sea-goddess, raised as the prince of Phthia. Beautiful, swift, and effortlessly skilled at everything, especially fighting, he is marked from birth as exceptional, said to be destined to become the greatest warrior of his generation. Despite his fame and his half-divine blood he is warm and unguarded with Patroclus, choosing the exiled boy as his companion, and the two grow up together under the same tutors.

First appears in chapter 3

Achilles's mother, a cold and powerful sea-goddess who was married against her will to the mortal Peleus. Fiercely ambitious for her son's immortal glory and contemptuous of ordinary humans, she distrusts and dislikes Patroclus from the start, seeing him as unworthy of Achilles and a threat to the destiny she wants for her child. She moves in and out of the story like the tide, always watching over Achilles.

Appears from the start

The aging king of Phthia, father of Achilles and once favored by the gods. Kind and even-handed, he takes in the exiled Patroclus as one of the many foster boys raised at his court, and treats him with more warmth than Patroclus is used to. He is proud of his remarkable son.

First appears in chapter 5

A centaur, wise and ancient, who lives on Mount Pelion and has tutored many heroes. Peleus sends Achilles, and then Patroclus, to be schooled by him. Chiron teaches the boys medicine, music, hunting, and the arts of war, and the time under his care in the mountains is a peaceful, formative idyll for them both.

Appears from the start

Patroclus's father, a hard, disappointed king who finds his small, unimpressive son a poor heir. It is his judgment that sends Patroclus away into exile after the boy is involved in another child's death.

First appears in chapter 9

A young princess of the island of Scyros, lively and eager, whose court becomes important when Achilles spends time there. Her involvement with Achilles has lasting consequences, and she resents Patroclus's place at his side.

First appears in chapter 9

The clever, plain-spoken king of Ithaca, famous for his cunning. He is one of the leaders gathering the Greek kings for the war against Troy, and he arrives to draw Achilles into the coming campaign, reading people and situations with a shrewdness that unsettles those around him. He is watchful, persuasive, and always several steps ahead.

First appears in chapter 13

The powerful king of Mycenae and the high king who commands the assembled Greek forces sailing against Troy. Proud, jealous of his authority, and quick to feel slighted, he leads the alliance of kings but chafes at sharing glory, especially with the young Achilles whose fame threatens to eclipse his own.

First appears in chapter 22

A young woman taken captive when the Greeks raid the towns around Troy, and awarded to Achilles as a prize of war. Patroclus intervenes to protect her and others like her, and she becomes a gentle, valued friend to him within the Greek camp, learning the healing arts and easing the harshness of the war years.

First appears in chapter 22

The crown prince of Troy and its greatest defender, a formidable warrior devoted to his city and family. As the champion of the Trojans he is the counterpart to Achilles across the battlefield, and a prophecy hangs over the two of them: their fates are bound together, so that the death of one heralds the death of the other.