Having someone to love is an amazing feeling. Since lovers empower heroes to do their best, love stories enhance hero stories. When heroes have love, they have a reason to keep going. In most hero stories, there is one single hero who outshines everyone, but that is not always the case. Even though Achilles is one of the main heroes in The Song of Achilles by Madelin Miller, other characters also display heroic abilities, and Patroclus is one of them. All heroes should have a love interest because it adds motivation, strength, and originality to the story. Some of the factors in The Song of Achilles are examples of how this is illustrated effectively. The lovers that heroes have are willing to do anything for the hero, which makes the story …show more content…
Before Achilles left, his mother Thetis threatened Patroclus to stay away from Achilles. Hours after Achilles left to be trained by Chiron, Patroclus escapes the place where he was exiled and is struggling to catch up to Achilles. By the time it gets dark out, “[His] muscles grow wobbly and weak, [his] feel jumbled together” (Miller 69). Since Patroclus is so passionate about Achilles, he is on the verge of exhaustion. Patroclus puts a toll on his body and emotional health due to Thetis’ threat. Despite Theitis’ warning to Patroclus, he is willing to withstand any punishment just to be with Achilles again. Patroclus risks being more fugitive for leaving the place he was sent to atone for killing someone. This example connects to when Patroclus can not bear watching his comrades fight the war without Achilles anymore. Later in the book, a war starts because Helen, a princess of Sparta, gets kidnapped by Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, because of her beauty. Patroclus discovers an idea that will help influence the win of Greece. Patroclus says, "'I would save the men; I would save him from himself'" (Miller