This thesis sets out to discover how Achilles is portrayed in modern literature, more specifically in the way his duality (mortal and divine) is depicted, in comparison to Homer’s epic. This will...Show moreThis thesis sets out to discover how Achilles is portrayed in modern literature, more specifically in the way his duality (mortal and divine) is depicted, in comparison to Homer’s epic. This will be done by close-reading Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles (2011), Elizabeth Cook’s Achilles (2001), and Wolfgang Petersen’s film Troy (2004). In analysing these texts, I will focus on moments which spark an emotional reaction from Achilles. By comparing the moments from the three contemporary texts both to each other and in relation to the Iliad, in the translation made by Robert Fagles in 1990, I wish to explore in what way Achilles’ divinity and humanity is depicted. This will be done by using the methodological frameworks of intertextuality and the notion of adaptation and appropriation.Show less
