Pythagoras and Achilles: A Hidden Thread in The Song of Achilles

In Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, the ancient Greek world comes alive with its gods, heroes, and philosophical undercurrents. While Achilles is best known as the fiercest warrior of the Trojan War, Miller paints him as a deeply feeling, intellectually curious man—qualities that may have been influenced by the early stirrings of Greek philosophy. Though Pythagoras was born after the traditional Trojan War era, his ideas about harmony, the soul, and the divine order of the world echo subtly through the themes of Miller’s novel.

Here’s how Pythagorean thought may have shaped the emotional and spiritual journey of Achilles in The Song of Achilles.

## The Music of the Spheres and the Warrior’s Soul

One of Pythagoras’s most enduring ideas is that the universe is governed by mathematical harmony—a concept known as the "music of the spheres." This belief in an underlying order to all things resonates with Achilles’ longing for meaning beyond the battlefield. In The Song of Achilles, Achilles is not just a warrior; he is a seeker of glory and legacy, driven by a need to be remembered. This pursuit of eternal fame can be seen as a search for his own cosmic harmony, a place in the grand order of things.

In many ways, Achilles lives by a code not unlike the Pythagorean ideal: that the soul must strive for balance, even in chaos. His bond with Patroclus, which forms the emotional core of the novel, suggests a belief in a higher kind of love—one that transcends the physical and touches the divine. It is a harmony of souls, not unlike the harmony of the cosmos.

## The Soul’s Immortality and the Weight of Fate

Pythagoras believed in the transmigration of the soul—that the soul is immortal and passes through many lives. While this idea is not explicitly part of the Homeric tradition, it surfaces in Miller’s retelling through Achilles’ awareness of his own fate. He knows he is destined for a short but glorious life, and he chooses it knowingly. This choice echoes the Pythagorean idea that the soul’s journey is more important than the body’s temporary existence.

In one of the most moving passages of the novel, Achilles contemplates what will remain of him after death. He is not content with mere physical legacy; he seeks remembrance in song, in story. This is akin to the Pythagorean view that the soul, not the body, is the true self—and that its journey continues beyond death. His yearning for a kind of spiritual eternity, expressed through his love and through poetry, suggests a deeper philosophical undercurrent.

## Numbers, Patterns, and the Shape of Destiny

Pythagoras is perhaps best known for his theorem, but his broader philosophy revolved around the idea that numbers and patterns govern the universe. In The Song of Achilles, patterns emerge in the form of prophecy, omens, and fate. Achilles is constantly aware of the path laid before him, and though he rages against it, he also seems to accept its structure.

This fatalism is not entirely foreign to Pythagorean thought. The belief that the universe unfolds according to a hidden mathematical design mirrors the idea of destiny in Greek tragedy. Achilles, like a Pythagorean student, tries to understand the shape of his life—not just as a warrior, but as a being caught in a cosmic pattern. His relationship with Patroclus becomes a kind of constant in that pattern, a fixed point in a life otherwise dictated by war and prophecy.

## Friendship as Sacred Geometry

For the Pythagoreans, friendship was a sacred bond, rooted in shared pursuit of truth and harmony. In The Song of Achilles, the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is not only romantic but deeply spiritual. Their friendship transcends the expectations of their time, becoming a space of emotional and intellectual intimacy.

This bond mirrors the Pythagorean ideal of friendship as a union of souls that elevates both individuals. It is not based on utility or pleasure, but on mutual understanding and growth. Through Patroclus, Achilles finds a sense of balance and meaning that he cannot achieve alone—a kind of spiritual equation that completes him.

## Talking to Achilles Today

While Pythagoras came after Achilles in time, the philosophical ideas attributed to him would later shape the Greek worldview. In The Song of Achilles, these ideas are woven into the emotional and spiritual fabric of the story. Achilles may not have studied under Pythagoras, but the echoes of his philosophy are there—in the way Achilles seeks harmony, in his belief in the soul’s journey, and in the sacred geometry of his bond with Patroclus.

To explore these themes more deeply, you can talk to Achilles on HoloDream and ask him how he sees his own fate, what he believes survives after death, and how love and glory shaped his choices.