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He is half of my soul, as the poets say
—Patroclus, about Achilles
- Developing Doomed Characters: Patroclus and Achilles are vastly well known characters of Greek Myth, and so is their tragic fate, dying one after the other, but the novel goes to great length to develop their character and relationship to each other.
- Driven to Suicide: Patroclus makes it clear in his narration several times that he had no intention of outliving Achilles for long, not realizing that this wouldn't be necessary. Achilles reacts similarly to Patroclus' death, only fighting after he successfully kills Hector in search of someone who can kill him.
- Genre Savvy: Achilles and Patroclus delay Achilles' death significantly and play with the prophecy's ambiguities about the timing, but neither of them entertain the hope that they can get around it and leave Troy with Achilles alive. This is pretty wise of them, since prophecies in Greek mythology are never wrong, just occasionally misleading as hell.
- Together in Death: Played for Drama. Patroclus dies first, but without a proper burial and a marked headstone, he can't go on to the Underworld. Then Achilles dies, and gets the burial and headstone... so he's in Hades, but Patroclus isn't. Finally played straight in the end, when after Thetis and Patroclus bonds, she finished his burial rites, and the final paragraph of the story depicts their shades meeting each other again.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Patroclus dislikes fighting and violence; he is often empathetic to other people's needs and is known for his kindness. Achilles is the physically more able of the two and a model warrior, and can be pretty oblivious to the feelings of others.
Patroclus
An exiled prince and Achilles's right-hand man turned lover.
- Abusive Parents: Patroclus' father constantly criticizes him and effectively disowns and exiles Patroclus when he's not even a teenager. His mother is clearly mentally disabled (though what kind of disability she has is unclear) and thus is unable to raise Patroclus or do anything about her husband's harsh treatment of their son.
- Ambiguously Bi: Though Patroclus is deeply in love with Achilles, his attachment to Briseis seems a little more than platonic. (For instance, he fantasizes about having a child with her.) He also has sex with a woman at one point, and, while he is not romantically attracted to her, he does admit that he finds beautiful and her body pleasing.
- Ambiguous Situation: Was his attempt to climb the walls of Troy him running high on adrenaline and battle praise or was that some kind of supernatural effect of Apollo's doing?
- Ascended Extra: Patroclus, who was not one of the truly major characters in the Illiad, is the narrator of the book and a central character.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: This lets Patroclus down badly when he dons Achilles' armour. It's the first time he's been in battle since the early days of the war when he was a terrified nobody being protected by Achilles, and the adrenaline rush that he experiences as Trojans flee him and Greeks cheer him (assuming a god isn't influencing him more directly) make him reckless.
- Barred from the Afterlife: Patroclus is unable to enter Hades and be with Achilles because his name was left off the funeral monument, at least until Thetis relents and carves his name onto it.
- The Heart: Patroclus is a morally upstanding person who cherishes the lives of the men in the army in a way that Achilles won't. Once he becomes a war medic, he becomes well loved by the men whose lives were saved by him. he also acts as the consciousness for Achilles's loose grasp in human morality and empathy.
- Helpless Observer Protagonist: Patroclus becomes one at the end of the book, dying in battle and being forced to watch as a spirit as his lover Achilles goes mad with grief and fulfills the prophecy that leads to his death. He then sees Achilles' sociopathic son come in, kill Briseis, and disrespect Achilles' final wishes by refusing to put Patroclus' name on their grave, keeping Patroclus from joining Achilles in the Underworld. He is still able to communicate with Thetis.
- Ironic Name: "Patroclus" means "Father's Glory" - ironic because Patroclus' father considers his son a huge disappointment.
- Non-Action Guy: Patroclus is a trained healer, not a fighter - which makes his ultimate death only that much more predictable.
- The Medic: Patroclus' time studying with Chiron makes him a knowledgeable doctor, and he has a knack for surgery. He feels connected to the men that he heals, a connection that Achilles doesn't get.
- Morality Pet: While not evil, Achilles really only has two driving forces: his desire for fame and his love for Patroclus, and the latter's upstanding morals make Achilles a much better person by extension due to him often nudging his lover into better actions.
- The Resenter: Patroclus starts out this way towards Achilles, but he soon gets over it.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Patroclus. A prophecy states that Hector will die after the best of the Myrmidions does. This makes a dilemma, as Achilles is widely believed to be this, and his death is meant to happen after Hector's own. Then it is revealed it was in fact soft spoken, loyal and kind Patroclus who was meant to die first all along.
Achilles
Prince of Phthia and a demi-god, destined to greatness at the war of Troy.
- The Ace: Achilles was prophesied to be the greatest warrior of his generation, and by the time he's a teenager, despite being largely self-taught, Chiron - who trained the likes of Heracles - readily pronounces him as the greatest warrior alive. He's also frequently noted to be extremely handsome and popular, beloved by nearly everyone he meets.
- Adaptational Heroism: Achilles didn't claim Briseis purely to save her from rape in the Iliad. There's no indication he treated her any differently from how the others treated their slaves.
- All for Nothing: Ironic, because it's not exactly for nothing; Achilles gets exactly what the gods promised him. He's the greatest warrior the Greeks ever had, and he becomes so famous that we're still talking about him 3000 years later - but by the end of the novel it's clear that he'd trade every bit of glory he earned for one more minute with Patroclus. Later in the Odyssey (and in Madeline Miller's second novel, Circe), Odysseus travels into the Underworld where he meets Achilles' ghost, and Achilles says he regrets living too pridefully and that he would rather be alive as a serf than be the most revered dead man there is.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: While disguised on Scyros, Achilles as "Pyrrha" is apparently not only a convincing woman but also a very attractive one. Probably that divine blood at work. (Then again, it is the smitten Patroclus doing the narrating, so...)
- Bungled Suicide: Achilles' immediate reaction to seeing Patroclus' dead body is to reach for his knife to slit his own throat, but since he had previously given the knife to Patroclus, he fails to do so.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: His mother hates Patroclus with a passion, believing him to hinder her plans for Achilles's greatness. Leaving him is one of the only things he wouldn't do for her.
- Death Seeker: Achilles, after Patroclus' death. He only keeps fighting because he wants to meet someone who can kill him, and even makes the work easier by using continuously less armor. By the time he finally dies, he is bare chested in the battlefield, and only dodges attacks out of reflexes he can't help.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: While pursuing Hector, Achilles' path is barred by a god. Even though it is a minor river god rather than one of the Olympian heavyweights, it is still impressive that Achilles is able to wound him badly enough that he has to retreat.
- Go Out with a Smile: When he is finally struck down by Paris's arrows he smiles at finally being killed and allowed to meet Patroclus in death.
- It's All About Me: Not quite, as Achilles does genuinely love Patroclus, but his indifference to the suffering of the common soldiers, and his willingness to let Briseis be raped by Agamemnon because it will give him an excuse to kill him, horrify his lover. When Patroclus is killed in an attempt to salvage Achilles' standing and glory, a heartbroken and furious Briseis accuses Achilles of caring more for Patroclus dead than he ever did when he was alive, and that he only loves himself.
- Single-Target Sexuality: While Patroclus displays a very passing interest in women, Achilles is never shown as anything but completely and utterly Patroclus-sexual. Patroclus also concludes that his love for Achilles precludes serious attraction to anyone else — it's just that unlike Achilles, he can imagine pursuing other relationships, albeit quite briefly and abstractedly.
- Sleeps in the Nude: This is considered a norm in summer. Patroclus finds this torturous once he's sixteen and shares a bed with Achilles.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When we first meet Achilles as a child he's honest, cheerful, sweet natured and although he's fairly self-absorbed, there's no malice in him. After ten years of war where he's triumphed effortlessly over everyone he meets and all of the Greeks are constantly fawning over how great he is, his pride has grown into a monster that he will put before every single Greek life except one. He is also willing to let Agamemnon rape Briseis just so he will have an excuse to kill him, when earlier in the war he tried to protect her and other women, and seemed somewhat ashamed of having hurt the innocent by killing their families.
- You Should Have Died Instead: Agamnemon tries to console Achilles about Patrcolus' death by saying that in his final fought he had slain a demigod. Achilles only answer is that he would rather Patroclus let the army of men die instead of him.
Greeks
Odysseus
- Happily Married: Odysseus truly loves his wife Penelope. Patroclus says this kind of marriage is "as rare as cedars in the east."
- No-Sell: Thetis tries to obliterate Odysseus to stop him from recruiting Achilles - but as the former is protected by Athena, nothing happens.
- Smug Snake: Odysseus comes across as a bit too satisfied with his own cleverness at times, manipulating Achilles into joining the war, over the protests of Thetis, turning a blind eye to Agamemnon sacrificing Iphigenia, and being incredibly glib about the whole thing when Patroclus confronts him over it.
Agamemnon
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even he, who ritually sacrificed his own unwitting daughter, is disquieted by Pyrrhus's brutal murder of Hector and Andromache's child.
- It's All About Me: When the only way to stop the disease that's killed a sizable fraction of his army in only a week is to admit that he's wrong, Agamemnon digs in his heels and refuses to budge. When Achilles publicly calls him out he becomes even more stubborn. It's more important for Agamemnon to save face than to even submit to the gods themselves.
- The Neidermeyer: Downplayed; Agamemnon isn't hated by his men, nor is he cowardly, he is just not revered the way Achilles is, nor as brilliant as Odysseus, and his own massive ego cause huge problems for everyone. This insecurity causes him to come dangerously close to becoming this trope fully, and he is very lucky that Achilles' own hubris and stupidity cause him to overreach and disgrace himself first.
Pyrrhus
Achilles' son with Deidamia. He is taken by Thetis to be raised in the underwater caverns of the nereids.
- Evil Counterpart: Pyrrhus to his father Achilles, as they both share their supernatural athleticism and power, and a desire to become famous. Achilles is somewhat disconnected from human morality, but thanks to Patroclus acting as a Morality Pet and the limited relation to his mother, having been raised among humans, he is still loving and has a real capacity for goodness. Pyrrhus, who has no one like Patroclus and was raised by gods in the underwater caves, is a violent, sociopathic Glory Hound that only cares about satisfying his lust and becoming a hero with praise lavished upon him.
- Evil Redhead: Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, has unnaturally bright red hair and is very likely a sociopath.
- Gone Horribly Right: Thetis raised Pyrrhus to be an even better version of his father. The result is an exceptional warrior... who is so cold and sadistic that the Greek leaders, despite being utterly jaded by ten years of warfare, are horrified by him. Even his own grandmother seems to be appalled by him in the end.
- Hate Sink: A sociopathic Glory Hound whose foul tactics put off even the desensitized Greek leaders. His dismissal of Patroclus also almost prevents him and Achilles from meeting again in death.
- Loving a Shadow: Platonic version for Achilles, and Played With, as Pyrrhus doesn't seem to be capable of real love). Pyrrhus seems to have a very high opinion of his father as an abstract concept, but doesn't know anything about him as a person. In regards to his request to be buried with Patroclus, Pyrrhus speaks only of his fathers honour, never of his wishes or feelings. His refusal to make a memorial to both him and Patroclus as he wished or his decision to make a human sacrifice on top of it both would upset and disgust his father.
- The Unfavorite: While Thetis raised him, by the end of his life, Pyrrhus was simultaneously a massive disappointment and a frightening sociopath. The final moments of the book heavily hint that even she was scared by the kind of person her grandson had become and much preferred Achilles.
Chiron
An ancient centaur that teaches many Greek heroes. He takes both Patroclus and Achilles for a few years into the wilds to teach them.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Although it's only brought up once, in passing, Chiron considers other centaurs to be barbarians. This is due to Chiron not actually being related to other centaurs, being a fully divine son of Cronus while the other centaurs were fathered by a mortal man.
- Parental Substitute: Patroclus takes to calling himself Chironides, the son of Chiron, instead of his own father's name.
Trojans
Hector
A prince of Troy and their most powerful warrior.
- Anti-Villain: Only in the context of Achilles being the hero can he be called a villain. Otherwise, he is an honorable warrior who is siding with his family in a complicated conflict that is mostly out of screen and therefeore subject to discussion and interpretation.
- Desecrating the Dead: One of the most famous examples in fiction is repeated in this retelling. Once Achilles kills him and still in a blind rage, he drags Hector's body from the back of his chariot three times around the walls of Troy.
Briseis
- Ascended Extra: Briseis is given a larger role in the story as the voice of the women who were claimed by Achilles to avoid being raped by the other Greek warriors.
- Romantic Runner-Up: She fell for Patroclus, and even suggested that she would love to be his wife and carry his child and he can keep dating Achilles, not wishing to break them up, which makes Patroclus consider, but ultimately, he can't really see himself with anyone but Achilles.
Gods
Thetis
Achilles' mother. A sea nymph that is eager for her son to reach greatness and godhood.
- Audience Surrogate: Played with in a meta sense. In the end of the novel, she asks Patroclus to tell her about Achilles, to which he respondes by telling her everything (which means the content of the book the reader just went through), making her experience the same story the reader has just about finished reading.
- Ethereal White Dress: Patroclus describes seeing Thetis like this on the battle field, watching Achilles. He notes that he can barely see her or understand her facial expression, so she very much seems like a ghost.
- Mama Bear: Thetis wavers between this. On one hand, she's fiercely protective of her son. On the other, it's hard to tell whether she's protective because she truly cares for him or she just wants his fame. It is shown in the end, though, that she regrets at least some of her actions and wishes that Achilles had lived.
- My Beloved Smother: Thetis is on the... overbearing and controlling side, towards Achilles. Not to mention her very obvious disapproval of Patroclus, whom she regards as unworthy of her son. She relents, kind of, at the very end.
Apollo
God of the Sun. He is an adored deity in Troy.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did he do something to make Patroclus try to climb the walls of Troy? It's left unclear how much he was involved in Patroclus's final acts.
- Divine Intervention: He guides Paris and his arrow into killing Achilles.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears physically twice in the story in brief scenes, though he is mentioned once more, but his presence and actions, although distant, are central to the plot, being behind the plague that caused the rift between Agamemnon and Achilles, as well as involved in the death of the two main characters.
