You&rsquo\;re invited to a fascinating exp loratory conversation with Madeline Miller\, bestselling author of \;T he Song of Achilles \;and \;Circe\, as she chats with us about her body of work and her process in retelling Greek classics into modern epic s in fiction. \;
\nIn \;The Song of Achilles\, Achilles\, "t he best of all the Greeks\," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the l egendary king Peleus\, is strong\, swift\, and beautiful\, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince\, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance\, t hey forge an inseparable bond\, despite risking the gods' wrath.
\nW hen word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped\, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the p romise of a glorious destiny\, Achilles joins their cause\, and torn betwe en love and fear for his friend\, Patroclus follows. Little do they know t hat the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terri ble sacrifice.
\nIn \;Circe\, to Helios\, god of the sun and mig htiest of the Titans\, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--n either powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Tu rning to the world of mortals for companionship\, she discovers that she d oes possess power: the power of witchcraft\, which can transform rivals in to monsters and menace the gods themselves.
\nThreatened\, Zeus bani shes her to a deserted island\, where she hones her occult craft\, tames w ild beasts\, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology\, including the Minotaur\, Daedalus and his doomed son Icaru s\, the murderous Medea\, and\, of course\, wily Odysseus. But there is da nger\, too\, for a woman who stands alone\, and Circe unwittingly draws th e wrath of both men and gods\, ultimately finding herself pitted against o ne of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what s he loves most\, Circe must summon all her strength and choose\, once and f or all\, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mo rtals she has come to love.
\nAbout the Author: \;Madeline Mille r is the #1 \;New York Times \;bestselling author of two novels:&n bsp\;The Song of Achilles\, which won the Orange Women&rsquo\;s Prize for Fiction 2012\, and \;Circe\, which was \;short-listed for the Wome n&rsquo\;s Prize for Fiction 2019. Her books have been translated into ove r thirty two languages. Miller holds an MA in Classics from Brown Universi ty\, studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama\, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms\, and tau ght Latin\, Greek\, and Shakespeare to high school students for over a dec ade.
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