Madeline Miller on making the Classics feminist, modern America and writing Circe

Madeline Miller is the best-selling author of Circe and Song of Achilles. Her books reimagine the ancient myths of The Iliad and The Odyssey, bringing previously neglected characters to the fore.
She talks to Krishnan about what drove her to write them, how she's tried to make the Classics a feminist space, and her despair at modern America.
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[@craiglore1821]

Madeline Miller is the real thing. She is intelligent and articulate. She knows her classics, and she's aware of the current state of the world we live in here in America. She is engaged and engaging, striving to increase empathy through stories and make the world a better place. Circe is a masterpiece of storytelling and lyricism. We need more people like Madeline Miller.

[@belhypotheque6417]

I love her saying that what makes you ‘weird and nerdy’ as a child ‘makes you’ as an adult.

[@elenaluzz]

I’ve just read both books and loved them. She is so on point in so many ways. Thank you, Madeline Miller, for bringing back the classics to the mainstream.

[@Annabel-ew5nx]

I met her! She came to my school and spoke to us, I feel so lucky

[@TeresaDupuis]

It's so refreshing to hear a like mind articulate the issues in America, the disparities(and the consequences), insecurities, empathy and lack of, media and the social issues, the hope to overcome problems by exposing them and taking actions to correct them. Not only is there beautiful work in both books, but the "mythological realism" in the stories is needed and greatly appreciated. the complexity of the retellings, and the way Circe resonates with women is made richer for me by hearing someone else state these exact issues, (I've felt preachy and alone on) and the complexities of subjects that I take to heart in my academic writing and research. The level of inaction and ignorance that stems from fear and a lack of empathy for the struggles of others, has been a major problem for progress In the U.S. Miller is Such an upstanding woman!

[@richardlevy1459]

I adore her work and she was wonderful to meet. Her language is perfect and approach so needed.

[@pablozewoppa]

A fascinating and interesting person. I'll re-read Circe in light of this interview. Her next book will be killer.

[@maydini5259]

I'm not finished with Circe but man I don't want to let it go.

[@HandthatRockstWorld]

Every chapter, I began to dread that it would end. So I got the audiobook after I finished. And then it happened again exactly as it had before. I knew the story this time and I was terrified that this would all end.

[@janesmit2226]

Great interview. I wanted to listen to it before I read her book.

[@selinbadem4007]

I loved her and it made me feel very good to read these old stories from a women charecter’s perspective. I think Madeline Miller will be my favorite writer after Ursula Le Guin

[@eileensmithe2766]

Loved both of Madeline Miller’s books - particularly The Song of Achilles on audible. Through this interview w/Krishna, learned a great deal about Miller not only as a writer, but also as a passionate person in her everyday life in Philadelphia, PA-USA. However, the interviewer veered off subject matter into USA politics and I would have much preferred him staying on topic. Really wanted to hear much more Miller as a writer, tutor.

[@saramanning7630]

Have any of you actually read her books or are you just deciding to be pissed for no good reason?

[@kadijahamad9862]

I love her work. She’s my favourite author. I was introduced to her through Circe and when I finished I felt like there was a hole in my heart and I needed more from her. That’s when I discovered The Song of Achilles and I couldn’t believe it was her debut novel. She’s so incredibly articulate I adore her work

[@vikimagwaffeln]

@@kadijahamad9862 samee but if you read The Song of Achilles there's definitely going to be another hole in your heart XD

[@kadijahamad9862]

@@vikimagwaffeln hahaha. i guess i felt a yearning in my heart for more of her writing. i’ve never seen anyone write about love the way she does. it isn’t too flowery, but you feel the weight of Achilles and Patroclus’ love for each other. and the thing is, they don’t just profess the love. they show it through their actions. I just adore her work. But also, Natalie Haynes A Thousand Ships and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls are some of my favourite pieces of work about the Trojan War. I can’t recommend them highly enough

[@iisimplyamy8031]

I've read Circe, but when I finished reading the book I found that something was missing- like a hole in my heart. Then, like many others, I found The Song of Achilles and I am halfway through the book already. I can definitely tell you that it is worth it to spend all day reading books written by her, I love her books soooo much

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

people these days are snowflakes... it's a book for god sakes... These are the same people who'll probably start trying to ban books like these...

[@reidbarraza7144]

INCREDIBLE HUMAN!!!! Incredibly refreshing to see someone never miss a beat and stand for TRULY every oppressed person

[@adrianac3258]

Interesting interview ♥️!!

[@neverfrogget]

i love her work! i love the way she handles every interview too!

[@TinyEpics]

Circe is one of my favorite books 📚 It’s nice getting to know its author a little bit here!

[@kkok9666]

Just how does the interviewer come across as so bored and uninterested? This woman is charming, smart and interesting as heck, her way of giving answers so engaging, and yet when the camera is on him he seems kinda 'meh'

[@bibir6170]

I agree! He also keeps on interrupting her when she’s talking. Geez.

[@vikimagwaffeln]

@@bibir6170 frr

[@callumfisher8101]

Hes well known as being a terrible person.

[@jamesmccarthy6764]

He's a narcissistic & he wants everything to be about him! He's notorious for his under-handed interview tactics.

[@katierush6830]

I think you must have been watching a different interview??

[@beluga11129]

I adore Miller! Such a well-spoken, intelligent and incredibly articulate woman.

[@MythopoeicNavid]

Would LOVE to read something Madeline writes for DC Comics' Wonder Woman books, and after that, The Sandman.

[@erdenetuyab.8816]

I love "Circe"

[@guillaumecds5833]

She is outstanding is every single way 🏆

[@whitepanties2751]

19.04 'If you read the Iliad in the original Greek you learn all the vocabulary for the internal organs because men's bodies are being torn apart throughout the entire Iliad...Homer...is so clear about the physical violence and what happens to men's bodies in war and how brutal and disgusting and gory it is. 19.30 'I wanted to bring in the collateral damage. How do the Greeks stay there at Troy for 10 years? They stay there because they are attacking all the villages around Troy, burning them, stealing from them, stealing their daughters as slaves, killing them, there's basically wholesale slaughter going on.'

[@jackiegmb8653]

i love her so much

[@user-ic4ce8xb5v]

Song of Achilles was so beautiful, Madeline is a genius. I can't wait to read her other books.

[@lauramohl687]

god i love this woman!

[@vikimagwaffeln]

same!! 🥺

[@caii6149]

LOVE HER SO MUCH

[@wilfreddale764]

I enjoyed circe more than the song of achilles but I think the song of Achilles was better written.

[@dorthabird8327]

Have always loved stories. The Archetypes take hold and cannot let go!

[@mypal3561]

c'mon dont ruin the comments section this time people, show a little class.

[@anniesue4456]

I live uou Madelaine! But I used to live in the ghetto and trust me there are people who remain in poverty due to their own forces.....I lived it and yes there are things that are unfair .... there should be mire equity if you work and edu action and housing should be cheaper for EVERYONE ... but in some arenas too much empathy charity or excuses are very harmful!!¡

[@jadedpotato1574]

she's so beautiful!

[@arminzseashellx_7747]

I love her

[@anniesue4456]

....people exclaim a woman crazy when she finally snaps and fights back!

[@Gavinfunk69]

I remember thinking i was a rebel for watching channel 4 news as a kid and that kristian was so cool and anti establishment. Arghhh... I feel like shes on me. Is she on me!?

[@annanurse8702]

this guy is the worst. his questions are passive aggressive, shame he's clearly intimidated by her success.

[@martinaakervik]

18:45 When it comes to Homer and war his stories tell of how stupid this pride can be and how it can ruin, not only kings, but civilization as civilized. When kings go bananas it's a big problem. I understand if a child think his songs was about making war a honorable thing. But if you read his words he put much more time on humanity and craftsmanship. What comes to the rape and such, remember sexuality is a complex thing ...I mean some animal kill and eat the one it is copulating with. What those stories is about, is not a promotion for rape at all. If you read that into the ancient greeks you are biased. There are many strong woman in Ancient Greek text that also sexual harass men, you know. That is the point. We sometimes go to far (Man or Woman.)

[@mypal3561]

cercei turning men into pigs or medusa freezing them with a glance could have been an interesting conversation on the abusive potential of women in more less subtle ways than outright violence, but when a key point arises it seems to get merrily pushed aside. whats an allegory, he might've asked. yes we never criticize the casual evil of bad women because it's much less on obvious to the male brain to notice it and we socially censor the topic, he might've said. meh. also am i the only one who's actually read damaris masham? there are plenty of serious female writers from the 1600-1800s.

[@mypal3561]

no disrespect to the writer of course, I'll probably buy her books.

[@23malaise]

Madeline's "Circe" is so moving and absorbing that I, a Michel Houellebecq/Bret Easton Ellis-reading gen-x edgelord, would happily make of myself a sexually available groupie if I met her.

[@ashn9172]

She is so amazing.

[@kirkchan7726]

she's fucking cool...

[@schnuff5798]

wow she s a radical.

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

there's absolutely nothing radical about liberal feminism... but her books are great tho

[@saxglend9439]

We are all women now. 👩👩‍🦰👩‍🦳

[@laurlaur931]

if you have a son and do not train him in kickboxing, archery, hunting, maths, logic, latin-dance, sacrifice for food....you are not a good mother for him.

[@HandthatRockstWorld]

I train my son in egalitarian rage looking for rich conservatives to dispose of. His war veteran mama wants a war and we will both have it. Conservatives will not dare exist before us.

[@JenAnna]

Well, the nightmare happened

[@MrMrsmijj]

Great, let’s hear how everything is evil and problematic today.

[@benbow7]

Penelope was a real woman and Odysseus was a real man.

[@minion1888]

It's like everyone want to fight for a righteous cause so they create imaginary oppressors. I want to go back in time when these people didn't exist.

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

or maybe you're just in the minority of people who never had a hard life, and are just not at all oppressed...

[@tonystern3071]

Usual progressive feminism

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

liberal feminism*

[@61shirley]

These guests aren't very diverse, they all think the same. And they're very predictable, they're good at repeating the progressive clap trap.

[@kensmith280]

If feminist start a silent war for many years, do they think we are not going to fight the silent war against them , I find that feminists are the worst demons around and they must suffer as long as they made us suffer so the suffering will not be over for many many years , the silent war is alive now for both sides ,watch your backs feminists warning. Thanks

[@FirdausIsmail1]

a butcher of classics

[@saramanning7630]

Have you read anything she’s written?

[@orestesfiotakis1829]

maybe i don't agree with everything she says on this video, but as a greek who had studied our mythology and culture since very young age i can assure you that her books are respectful to the original source, she seems like she did deep research about her projects, after all she's an academic. Both of her books are very loved in Greece and none critisized them as 'butchering' our classics. Maybe you don't agree with the modern takes in her works, but in no way she's a butcher of classics. Beloved hollywood blockbusters or fantasy series, full of historical innaccuracies who are exploiting the greek culture in a bad and disrespectful way, those are the real butchers.

[@CAHurst-uy9uz]

The classics have always been part of interpretation, especially the Illiad. But I can assure you, she's kept intact the basics and details we've all come to know from those stories. Yes, she did kind of tame Patrocholes from the original story but overall, her stories are well written and respectful.

[@craiglore1821]

You know that Shakespeare "borrowed" all of the plots for his plays from other works, right? He re-worked them, interpreted them, and made them his own for sure, but the plots came from other sources. I don't know of anyone who has claimed he was a "butcher of classics." Oh, and the Aeneid by Virgil, another classic, was built on the same model as Homer.

[@lauran8367]

@@craiglore1821 And Dante based the Inferno on the Aeneid. And so on, and so on...

[@hfredydl]

At least Harry Potter was original, just saying

[@batjope23]

Well she did bring something of her own. She gave new perspectives on old tales. You don't have to invent entirely new things to be original.

[@princeobviar9424]

There are alot of other stories with magical schools and wizards.

[@kaye4511]

But the author is transphobic 😗

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

except it wasn't... many LOTR fans get mad when you say things like this becuase JK rowling stole a lot from those books and simplified it for children...

[@hfredydl]

@@zurzakne-etra7069 lol, and LOTR is Catholic fan fiction

[@mfriedrich2012]

Here’s an idea. If women are so fantastic, magnificent, intelligent, strong and independent, then why don’t they create and write their own original stories themselves? This just makes women look lazy, in addition to what we all already know about them being spoiled, insolent, chronically whining children. It’s ok though. We know you can’t do it yourselves.

[@myway8576]

Dude Have you ever taken the time to read the Iliad. There is so little written about Cersei that it's insane. She was even less than a side character, she was just one women who Odysseus slept with and she turned his men into pigs. That's it. Her book shows a great amount of care and a unique writing style you will find nowhere else. Give it a try and if you don't like, let's argue about it like civilized people.

[@legalvampire8136]

Who wrote Jk Rowling's, the Bronte sisters' and Jane Austen's stories for them if women can't write stories?

[@iisimplyamy8031]

Here we go again with people like you 🤦‍♀️ have you even taken the time to read Circe? If so, then you must be either dumb or blind because everyone can see that the book is a masterpiece and explores a diverse style not many authors have. If you think we women cannot write, then who wrote one of the most well-known book series of all time, Harry Potter? Oh and don't forget The Hunger Games, To Kill a Mockingbird, and lots more. You must live under a rock because men and women are equally alike in terms of skill and can both write.

[@kayfour6504]

Wow you're just disgusting

[@zurzakne-etra7069]

they honestly probably have, many did it with male pseudonyms, many like Zelda Fitzgerald and Sidonie Gabrielle Collete actually wrote some, maybe most of their husband's work... So don't pretend that women were always silent, demure creatures who didn't fight to have their stories be put into books... A lot of them found ways of doing it with male names...