Achilles

Achilles was the greatest Greek warrior in Homeric tradition and the central martial figure of the Iliad. His withdrawal from the fighting after a quarrel with Agamemnon and his return after the death of Patroclus shape the poem’s account of the Trojan War. Achilles kills Hector but remains marked by grief, anger and the knowledge of his own early death.

In Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, Patroclus is an exiled prince sent to the court of Peleus, where he forms an unlikely bond with the king's brilliant son Achilles. In Peter Tonkin’s The Anger of Achilles, Achilles and his Myrmidons occupy the ruined city with Odysseus and Aias, but Princess Briseis is the only survivor of the royal house. Other novels featuring Achilles include Peter Tonkin’s Beware of Greeks, Susan C Wilson’s Helen’s Judgement, David Gemmel’s Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow, David Gemmel’s Troy: Shield of Thunder, and David Gemmel’s Troy: Fall of Kings.