“From Song of Achilles”
“Song of Achilles” is a novel written by Madeline Miller. It was published in 2011 and rapidly became a New York Times best seller. It is an action packed love story and tale of the challenges of coming of age. Cast in the early years of the Ancient Greeks, many of the issues her characters struggle with are the same today. Among other things, finding a balance between one’s quest for recognition on the one hand and the deeper satisfactions of meaning through service on the other. Loyalty to those you love even when they do not espouse your own values. Discovering the need for setting boundaries while learning how to be flexible. When is protection coercive and constraining. When is deceit noble? What is truly godly and what is just a label? The struggle to find balance between the needs of the community one lives in vs. the needs of the individual. And soon on.
I was asked by a friend and collector of my work to do a large painting inspired by the book…..if I liked it. I bought a copy and fell in love.
It is a visual feast. In fact, I’m surprised no one has done an illustrative version of the book. I began doing sketches of various scenes in many different styles.
Eventually I settled on a few of the more intense and dramatic moments in the story. But this was to be a large painting for my friend’s gorgeous newly remodeled home … in the living room. Did he really want a painting that would feature bloodied bodies in the midst of a dramatic moment that would be stunning to look at but maybe not something one would want to live with.
Yep … that’s what he wanted. He even recommended a scene that was on my list of favorites to paint…a scene near the end of the novel where Achilles is holding the dead body of his lover … a kind of Pieta.
Eventually I choose a scene that I felt would challenge me more with its additional figures, more complex action and dynamics. It is the scene where Achilles has finally acquiesced to being a leader in a military charge and has killed another human for the first time. They have landed on the beaches of Troy and to terrorize the Trojans he and his men were commanded to raid the surrounding farms. During that day he killed many innocent non-combatants including the father of the young woman who was dragged back to camp to be claimed as a prize.
Achilles does not want her since he is in love with Patroclus, the young exhaled Prince who is even now here at the scene of the battle for Troy, his constant companion. Patroclus knows the girl will be raped and murdered by the General if Achilles does not claim her so he begs Achilles to do so. He does. And they bring her back to their Tent. She is understandably terrified not knowing they are gay lovers and have no intent to harm her. They don’t speak the same language so Patroclus can not tell her of his intent.
Achilles is in shock himself. He has killed for the first time. The day was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. Patroclus is equally horrified and yet relieved Achilles was not killed in the raids. And now they have this young woman in their Tent.
The painting is the moment they arrive. Achilles has removed some of his armor and tilted back his helmet. He holds a knife to cut the ropes binding the woman’s wrists. But his shock and stance make it unclear what is his intent. Patroclus raises his arm to protect the Braises while at the same time trying to comfort her while she lies on the ground. An old man arrive from behind with an urn of water and is shocked to see the seen. He and Achilles also see the visage of Achilles mother, a sea goddess, appear in the water basin that is on the floor in the foreground.
I told my friend that I would do a small oil sketch about 3’ x 2’ to establish the color pallet and work out the arrangements of the figures. And so I did. In the process I became clear about many things. Some important and some less so. But I was still not clear what Patroclus was doing.
In the novel he raises up to give Achilles a solid kiss in an attempt to convey to Braisses that they are in love and she has nothing to fear.
It works.
But as a painting I couldn’t find a composition in which all three figures were engaged in flow of energy. But that left Patroclus with the specially awkward job of linking everything together.
Having established many other elements to my satisfaction and being better at working large, I decided to stretch the large canvas and work out this important component on the canvas. It worked. I quickly saw Patroclus in a protective mode. And while I had to give up the kiss, it allowed him to stay connected to Braises while also bringing him special tight up to Achilles and highlighting the tension of the moment right before the kiss.
The old man is not in the novel. But I wanted him there for some reason from the very beginning of my decision to paint this scene. At first he appears as a dwarf. But later I decided to make him a full size person.
At that time I also realized he was bringing water which also will allow me to add another level of story telling in the scene depicted on the urn.
And finally, the visage of the goddess completed the circle. The old man’s gesture will also help complete the telling of the drama. The goddess makes several appearances in the story and each time she causes terror for everyone, even her son. It is she that compels him to focus on glory and power with total disregard for other qualities.
I will add photos to this website as the painting progresses.
This is a stretch for me. I usually convey the content of my paintings through the power of the figure itself, often times not including heads and hands in order to put more emphasis on the power of the body itself to communicate and to in fact minimize story telling.
Here, the facial expressions and hand gestures will work alongside the position of the figures as well as the power of the figures themselves to convey the themes and details of the story.
Let’s see how it goes.