Quotes from Madeline Miller

She is also young and has the prejudices of her kind. I am older and flatter myself that I can read a man more clearly. I have no objection to Patroclus as your companion.

When we opened the front door, we found Elpenor sprawled upon the flagstones. He had fallen from my roof at last. We gazed down at his bluing lips, the ugly angle of his neck.

Es posible domesticar a una serpiente para que coma de tu mano, pero nadie le va a quitar nunca el gusto por morder.

Alla luce della luna, riuscivo a vedere il profilo di Achille, perfetto come quello di una statua, dall'altra parte della stanza. Aveva le labbra appena socchiuse, un braccio abbandonato sopra la testa. Sembrava diverso mentre dormiva. Bellissimo ma freddo come luce lunare. Mi ritrovai a desiderare che si svegliasse per poter osservare la vita che tornava in lui.

Come, I have fed you well. Will you tell me your names?" They looked up. Their eyes darted like ferrets to their leader. He rose, the bench scraping on the stone. "Tell us yours first." There was something in his voice. I almost said it then, the spell-word that would send them to sleep. But even after all the years that had passed, there was a piece of me that still only spoke what I was bid. "Circe," I answered.

Let me say what sorcery is not: it is not divine power, which comes with a thought and a blink. It must be made and worked, planned and searched out, dug up, dried, chopped and ground, cooked, spoken over, and sung. Even after all that, it can fail, as gods do not. If my herbs are not fresh enough, if my attention falters, if my will is weak, the draughts go stale and rancid in my hands.

Helen's former suitors had honored their vow, and Agamemnon's army was rich with princely blood. It was said that he had done what no man before him could: united our fractious kingdoms with common cause.

Misericordia», era una; otra fue «sí», y también «por favor». Y también conocía la frase «¿Qué ordena?». El padre le había enseñado a ser una esclava.

Briseis," I said. "If I ever wished to take a wife, it would be you." "But you do not wish to take a wife." "No," I said, as gently as I could.

La envidiosa muerte se bebería su sangre y sería joven de nuevo.

Later, we lay on the riverbank, learning the lines of each other's bodies anew. This, and this and this. We were like gods at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.

Give us both peace. Burn me and bury me. I will wait for you among the shades.

Transcurrieron las horas. A la luz de la luna, apenas podía distinguir el semblante perfecto de Aquiles al otro lado de la habitación. Tenía los labios entreabiertos y un brazo puesto con descuido encima de la cabeza. Dormido bajo aquella luminosidad tan tenue parecía diferente: hermoso pero frío. Me descubrí deseando que despertara para de ese modo poder contemplar cómo revivía.

Ma in un'esistenza solitaria, sono rari i momenti in cui un'altra anima si fonde con la tua, così come le stelle sfiorano la terra una volta all'anno. Una tale costellazione era stato lui per me.

He's half of my soul, as the poets say.

we were only twelve, too young to brood.

Quando sorrideva, la pelle attorno ai suoi occhi si increspava come carta tenuta vicino a una fiamma.

When I was born, the word for what I was did not exist

No es una muestra de genialidad buscar un atajo al corazón?

Je le reconnaîtrais rien qu'au toucher, ou à son odeur, je le reconnaîtrais si j'étais aveugle, aux seuls bruits de sa respirations et de ses pas martelant le sol. Je le reconnaîtrais dans la mort, à la fin du monde.

Es correcto buscar la paz para los muertos. Tú y yo sabemos bien que no la hay para quienes sobreviven.

His voice was quiet. "You do not give things up so easily now as you once did," he said.

What I desire will come to pass. There is no mitigation." That voice again, like shearing metal. I had stood in the presence of great gods before: my father and grandfather, Hermes, Apollo. Yet her gaze pierced me as theirs had not. Odysseus had said once she was like a blade honed to a hair's fineness, so delicate you would not even know you had been cut, while beat by beat your blood was emptying on the floor.

He holds me all night long, pressing my cold hands to his mouth.