Quotes from Madeline Miller

I loved his certainty, his world that was an easy place of right action divided sharply from wrong, of mistake and consequence, of monsters defeated. It was no world I knew, but I would live in it as long as he would let me.

Name one hero that was happy.

the drowsy tangle of his limbs.

For who can be be ashamed to lose to such beauty? It was enough to watch him win.

I listened and did not speak. Achilles' eyes were bright in the firelight, his face drawn sharply by the flickering shadows. I would know it in dark or disguise, I told myself. I would know it even in madness.

Distaste ran over her face. Her eyes were not like a human's; they were black to their center and flecked with gold. I could not bring myself to meet them.

I don't either," he said. "I thought I might, but I don't." The days turned, and the months, and two years passed.

Él mismo se encarga de recoger mis cenizas, incluso aunque eso sea tarea de mujeres. Las guarda en una urna dorada, la mejor de todo el campamento, y se vuelve a los griegos que le observan. —Os encomiendo una misión para después de mi muerte: mezclar nuestras cenizas y enterrarnos juntos.

I see his face as if through water, as a fish sees the sun.

He is half of my soul, as the poets say. He will be dead soon, and his honor is all that will remain.

Good." Carelessly, as if to herself, she added, "You will be dead soon enough." She turned and dove into the sea, leaving no ripples behind her.

Hevesli o?lum ve hiç kimse olmay? seçmi? bu adam.

there is no answer. Whichever you choose, you are wrong.

He is such a flood, I thought.

Sevmemi? olanlar, hayatlar? ac? ve deh?etle geçmi? olanlar içinse insan?n içip unutabilece?i kara nehir Lethe vard?. Bir parça teselli.

It was spring, and we were surrounded by the profusion of Anatolian fertility. For three weeks the earth would paint herself in every color, burst every bud, unfurl each rioting petal.

La sangre divina purificaba la sangre sucia de nuestra raza y era capaz de forjar héroes solo con barro y arena.

Achilles," I said. HIs eyes opened, and he was beside me before I could speak again. "Are you all right?" ... The skins whispered against each other as they parted for him, then slipped shut again.

He was not so easy and even as he pretended. Living with him was like standing beside the sea. Each day a different color, a different foam-capped height, but always the same restless intensity pulling towards the horizaon.

I DID NOT GO straight back to the palace. I could not. I went to the olive grove instead, to sit among the twisting trunks and fallen fruits. It was far from the sea. I did not wish to smell the salt now.

It softened him. This was a more pleasing tale: the princess swooning at his feet, forswearing her cruel father to be with him. Coming to him at night, in secret, that face of hers the only light. Who could say no?

El príncipe decía lo que pensaba y se sorprendía cuando tú no lo hacías. Algunas personas habrían tomado esta actitud como una muestra de simplicidad, pero ¿no es una muestra de genialidad buscar un atajo al corazón?

Soy aire y pensamiento, y nada puedo hacer.

I stopped watching for ridicule, the scorpion's tail hidden in his words.