The Song of Achilles

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following best describes the relationship between Patroclus and his father?

A) Emotionally fulfilling

B) Healthily competitive

C) Dismissively disapproving

D) Physically draining

2. Which words best describe Patroclus’s initial meeting with Achilles?

A) Electric

B) Dignified

C) Parsimonious

D) Ordinary

3. During Achilles and Patroclus’s time together on Mount Pelion, Chiron remarks, “Perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth, when another is gone. Do you think?” (Chapter 9). Based on the novel’s ending, which of the following literary terms best describes the impact of this quote?

A) An allusion to the great love stories of Aphrodite

B) A metaphor for the pain of loss

C) A paradox to the nature of love and grief

D) A foreshadowing of the end of the story

4. Which of the following phrases best summarizes how Miller depicts the character Thetis throughout the novel?

A) Austere and benevolent

B) Cold and foreboding

C) Generous and suppliant

D) Loving and nurturing

5. Which of the following ideas best summarizes what Mount Pelion represents for Achilles and Patroclus?

A) A carefree and blissful existence

B) A shameful place of hiding and sorrow

C) A turning point in their development as surgeons

D) An escape from the horrors of battle

6. Which of the following phrases best describes the initial encounter between Achilles and Agamemnon in Chapter 17?

A) A reunion of exuberance

B) A negotiation of power

C) An assessment of ability

D) A council of strategy

7. What is ironic about Achilles’s reaction to the first death he witnessed?

A) He is ashamed at the sight of death, yet he is bred for killing.

B) He is hungry for blood, but it makes him sick after.

C) He dreams of killing Patroclus in his sleep yet loves him passionately during the day.

D) He is an aggressive leader and commander but a pacifist on the battlefield.

8. In Chapter 22, Achilles remarks, “A thousand ships have sailed for [Helen of Troy].” In this quote, Miller alludes to a famous quote by playwright Christopher Marlowe, who described Helen as “The face that launched a thousand ships” in his play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. Which of the following literary terms does Marlowe use in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Metonymy

C) Metalepsis

D) Malapropism

9. Which of the following phrases best describes how the Greek armies saw their identity after many years of fighting together?

A) United by a common enemy

B) Disjointed by their separate cultures

C) Split between the Spartans and the Myceneans

D) Divided by the linguistic differences between north and south Greece

10. Which of the following words best describes Patroclus’s feelings towards Briseis in Chapter 25?

A) Enamored

B) Conflicted

C) Disgusted

D)  Apathetic

11. Which of the following emotions best describes Patroclus’s use of the word hubris in Chapter 26?

A) Loathing

B) Fear

C) Shame

D) Pride

12. Which of the following terms best depicts how Achilles reacts to the faltering Greek armies in Chapter 30?

A) Concern

B) Empathy

C) Loyalty

D) Obstinance

13. Which phrase best describes Patroclus’s offer to Achilles in Chapter 30?

A) An act of love

B) A moment of panic

C) A step in the right direction

D) A sacrifice for the good of the Greek people

14. By the novel’s end, how does Achilles feel about death?

A) He is frightened by the underworld.

B) He is afraid to leave Patroclus behind.

C) He is fascinated by his posthumous fame.

D) He welcomes it with open arms.

15. As Paris and Apollo confer on where to shoot the arrow at Achilles, Paris asks, “‘Where do I aim? I heard he was invulnerable. Except for—’ ‘He is a man,’ Apollo says. Not a god. Shoot him and he will die’” (Chapter 32). Which of the following phrases best explains why Miller included this sentence in her novel?

A) To emphasize the invulnerability of Achilles’s status

B) To allude to the myth that Achilles’s only vulnerable spot was his heel

C) To extrapolate the intense hatred of the Trojans and the Greeks

D) To provide insight into the Trojans’ preferred method of warfare

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Consider the narration style of the novel. Who is the narrator? Does this change at any point?

2. Throughout the novel, Patroclus frequently references which body part of Achilles? Why do you think Miller focuses on this part of the body?