Quotes from Madeline Miller

Dovrei forse prenderti come esempio e rinnegare ogni cosa? - Sì. Funziona proprio così, Circe. Io dico a nostro padre che la mia magia è stata un caso, lui finge di credermi e Zeus finge di credere a lui, e così il mondo torna in equilibrio. La colpa è tua, per aver confessato. Perché tu l'abbia fatto, non lo capirò mai.

But for the sea-nymph Thetis nothing could ever eclipse the stain of his dirty, mortal mediocrity.

There are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth.

We have fled great evil, and to escape it we have done great evil. We are tainted.

Your son is not yet a man." Tyndareus' voice seemed far away. I could detect nothing in it.

His voice was resonant, warm, with a pull to it that reminded me of ocean tides.

I looked down at his thick, black hair, shining in the sunset light, his strong shoulders bowing low. This is what all those gods in our halls longed for, such worship. I thought perhaps he had not done it right, or more likely, I had not. All I wanted was to see his face again.

No soul wished to be sent early to the endless gloom of our underworld. Exile might satisfy the living, but it does not appease the dead.

It wasn't my only gift. I had found a seasoned piece of ash and began to fashion it secretly, carving off its soft layers. Over nearly two months a shape had emerged—a boy playing the lyre, head raised to the sky, mouth open, as if he were singing. I had it with me now, as I walked.

Agamemnon nods, a dismissal, and we turn to go. Iphigenia. A tripping name, the sound of goat hooves on rock, quick, lively, lovely.

He fought to save you, and your darling reputation. Because he could not bear to see you suffer!

It was one thing to wear a dress out of necessity, another thing for the world to know of it. Our people reserved their ugliest names for men who acted like women; lives were lost over such insults.

True. But fame is a strange thing. Some men gain glory after they die, while others fade. What is admired in one generation is abhorred in another." He spread his broad hands. "We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory.

You have never deserved him. I do not know why he ever loved you. You care only for yourself!

The crowd shouted its approval--they liked their commanders generous, their heroes bold and lusty.

This and this and this

The tears of those of naiad blood can flow for eternity, and I thought it might take an eternity to speak all my grief.

Be witness to the power of Circe, witch of Aiaia.

Teti: "Non sono riuscita a far di lui un dio" Patroclo: "Ma hai fatto lui

I have heard that men who live by a waterfall cease to hear it——in such a way did I learn to live beside the rushing torrent of his doom. The days passed, and he lived. The months passed, and I could go a whole day without looking over the precipice of his death. The miracle of a year, then two.

there is a story you should hear.

Evoco il ragazzo che conoscevo. Achille che sogghigna mentre i fichi diventano una macchia sfocata tra le sue mani. Gli occhi verdi che ridono nei miei. Prendi, dice. Achille, che si staglia contro il cielo, aggrappato a un ramo sopra il fiume. Il denso calore del suo respiro assonnato contro il mio orecchio:

Quei secondi, quei mezzi secondi, in cui i nostri sguardi si toccavano erano gli unici momenti della giornata in cui sentissi qualcosa".

Nel mio petto vibrava qualcosa a cui non riuscivo esattamente a dare un nome".