Heracles' Bow

by Madeline Miller

A short story published in a Waterstones Special Edition of The Song of Achilles & 'We Love This Book'.
About the Author

Madeline Miller is an American novelist, whose debut novel was The Song of Achilles.
Miller spent ten years writing the book while she worked as a Latin and Greek teacher. The novel, set in Greece, tells the story of the love between Achilles and Patroclus.
The Song of Achilles won the Orange Prize for Fiction, making Miller the fourth debut novelist to win the prize.

Genres: Mythology, Greek Mythology, Fantasy, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, Retellings, Fiction

10 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches and writes. The Song of Achilles is her first novel.

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would read anything written by Madeline Miller, especially if it’s Greek mythology, but this short story really was tiny and the ending was very abrupt. Too abrupt for my tastes, although I didn’t care much for Philoctetes. I already knew he would be left behind on the way to Troy, but I expected Miller’s take to be a little more tied up. Although I guess you could say the ending of this book was as quick as the venom coursing through his veins.

[S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Heracles would have chided him. Did you learn nothing from the Hydra? You must kill your enemies at the root, or they will come back."

Philoctetes, companion of Heracles, was summoned to defend Helen of Sparta's marriage. He honors his word and, with his help, Heracles' arrows may find a way to pierce the armor of Trojan Prince Paris.

"Stupidest bloody thing I’ve ever heard. Swear to defend another man’s marriage? He can defend it himself, or fuck off."


Galatea 9.5/10 ⭐
Circe 9/10 ⭐
Heracles' Bow 8.5/10 ⭐
The Song of Achilles to-read

[freda · Rating 1 out of 5]

read this but nothing went in my brain ajbdjand

[joe (hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genuinely, disrespectfully, Agamemnon; fuck you.

“Well?” Agamemnon demanded. “Can you do it?”

Shoot him through the balls, Heracles urged. That will show them.

I agree with Heracles.

Anyway, as a die-hard fan of Madeline (I still am), I was really2 excited to read this story. I thought, maybe as the story progresses, I would come to like it— as I did for her past few books. Unfortunately it ended so abruptly that I reloaded the pages to see for sure if that was rly the ending.

I am hating myself sm rn because how cld I ever rate any of Madeline's books less than 4 stars?? It is simply unthinkable.

I actually wanted to rate this 3 stars instead of 2 then lie, but alas I pride myself on my genuine reviews😕 (#honestyisNOTthebestpolicy bc u will feel like shit)

All in all, I am having an existential crisis.

Goodbye.


p.s. Madeline I love you♡

[No' · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short-story in 10 pages only. It's written on the description's page of Goodreads but somehow, people seem surprised or diappointed that it ends so abruptly? I mean, come on, folks, it was never meant to be exhaustive or whatever.
Anyway, that being said, I was rather curious to read this story, having been pleasantly surprised by Madeline Miller's other short-story, Galatea. Here, we follow Philoctetes and I can't say much without spoiling it (though, can we still spoil greek mythology?) I loked Heracles' presence and how it kinda haunted the narration and also the non linear timeline, making the story feels almost as hazy as our MC's mind. I think the story progresses nicely, sure it's short, but it's still well-constructed. And the last sentence packs the punch you've been waiting for, with even more efficiency that although you know it's coming, you're reading it from the perspective of someone who's not, and the story ends before he can make sense out of it; it's kinda like coming down from a staircase and expecting a last step but your feet hit the floor instead, it's unsettling and abrupt, and yet you knew the end was coming.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

honestly kinda mid. I love miss madeline but this was not my fav. I know it was only 10 pages but I felt like there was no real movement


did not make me cry

[zee reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

i've officially read everything by madeline miller.....it's time for her to release those tempest and persephone retellings!!!

[emelie!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Did you learn nothing from the Hydra? You must kill your enemies at the root, or they will come back."

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

These ancient Greeks and their M/M romances....

Philoctetes was a companion to Heracles, and now alone, he is the keeper of Heracles' bow.

Called to take back Helen from Paris and to topple Troy, Philoctetes joins ranks but isn't like the other men, he's quiet and a bit of a loner which can be his downfall or his salvation.

Short, but thought provoking story.

[Bawy{•_•} · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was confusing 😒, even after looking up some information about the original myth, I still felt like nothing happened in this short story 🫤.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A delirious Philoctetes reminisces about his Heracles. However, we don't know whether they were lovers or just friends. It's a stream of consciousness piece, but I wasn't moved. It feels like Miller wrote it simply because she could. You'd read this for completion rather than merit.

[⋆𐙚₊ lexii˚⊹♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ass

[Mirella Ivanova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 29 of 2023

Super short story which left me confused more than anything lol

[Sneha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but fun to read. I wasn’t familiar with Philoctetes prior to reading this so the ending came as a surprise.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just found it hard to really get into with it being a short story, but still great none the less.

We already know the story but madeline always makes it heartbreaking.

[anaideia · Rating 4 out of 5]

if odysseus has no haters, it means I’m dead :)

too short and too painful at the same time, but I enjoyed the pain ofc

[Ioanna Stefani · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first not interesting writing from Miller.

[spalanai ⛤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was broken, but the story pulled it through.

[Dawnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

After loving Galatea and being blown away how someone managed to give so much with so little, i was excited to see what this little story could offer.

I can't say i enjoyed this too much.

It is very much a greek mythology story in the sense that its very male focused and similar to her other writings in the way that it does have a darker tone and an ending that wraps it up but also leaves it open at the same time. (If you haven't read anything by Miller before she just has this way of ending stories that make sense but also at the same time leave me always thinking "Wait... thats it? But i still have all those questions!")

Its not a bad little story, but to me its the weakest of her works i read so far and tells the least of it all.

And maybe i am just a little disappointed because Galatea has become a bit of a comfort story for me in the sense that if i have no idea what to read but i want to read something... i go to that story and it just works for me.

So maybe even though i didn't go into this story expecting anything, maybe i did go into it expecting something similarly "wow-ing" in the sense that i will be blown away, in all the ways.

Instead i just got a story that is well written but overall nothing that couldn't also be found very similarly elsewhere within the Greek mythologies or re-telling of those.

[Kiely Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for the sake of reading more of Miller's work and... well yes! not sure if she wrote this before or after Song of Achilles but loved the overlap. only so much can be done with a short story, and this one doesn't truly serve much of a purpose but wow o wow I love Miller's writing. super short so will definitely read again when I can muster the heart to reread SOA. Thank u Madeline Miller (my best friend)

[Kaya Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, quick story that packed a punch at the end. I didn't know anything about this myth so I was shocked and surprised.

[Stella Schaefer-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuck Odysseus

[Amin Bachari · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit confusing

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a few pages and still, it leaves an emotional impact.
Said from Philoctetes POV Heracle's tragic end during the Greek's march towards Troy...

[Ida Raffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
An interesting short story (only 10 pages!) that is quick & abrupt in its ending.
If you go into it knowing that AND you enjoy Greek mythology, you'll like it.

It's not a short story that wants to give many details of plot, but rather one that focuses on the mysteriousness & complexities of human nature. Therefore it ends by representing a tragic and full-circle theme ("You must kill your enemies at the root, or they will come back"), instead of telling us what happens next.

Philoctetes was not a Greek mythology character I really knew about in these tales that I love, so it was a good, new story to me. I'm mostly stricken by Miller's ability to make me empathise for him (with so few details) when he seeks healing for his grief from a horrifying memory by "scrub[bing] it all clean" with the sea-salted wind (from a distracting journey) AND the blood of another certain famous Greek Mythology character. It's such a common & flawed human trait to really only be doing something harmful to get rid of or forget your own pain.

Thanks to this short story, I've researched the 'what happens next' myself & am grateful to it for making me even more excited to tackle the rest of the story of Philoctetes (& Heracles and Paris, for that matter) in The Illiad (which I've always planned to read when I'm more free!!).

[Ari Reads]

I WILL READ ANYTHING BY MADELINE MILLER.
she is a WONDER 🙌✨❤

[Halls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything MM writes destroys me emotionally. Don't ever stop 🥲

[Blake Milstead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeline Miller is always fun to read and this fun short story is no different. It’s similar in length to Galatea but definitely shorter and definitely less impactful. It doesn’t try to do anything special, just a short glimpse into Philoctetes and his place in the Trojan war as well as a couple Hercules cameos. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that either, it’s a good time and nothing more.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Patroclus in The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller has done a fantastic job of casting light upon a more minor character in Greek mythology. I didn’t know much in terms of Philoctetes, and this story, if anything, inspired me to do more intensive research on his history and background. The dialogue and timeframe jumping around did get confusing at times, but it was overall well-written.

[FJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“That men worshipped him like a god, but no one mourned.”

Madeline Miller is an incredible author. Even though I wish the story was longer, I still really enjoyed it. I actually found the abrupt ending, which some people have complained about, to be unexpectedly pleasing :)