How long does it take to read The Song of Achilles?
Madeline Miller
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, The Song of Achilles takes 6 hours 58 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 11 hours at 1x, or 7h 29m at 1.5x.
The Song of Achilles was Madeline Miller's first novel, published in 2011. It retells the Iliad from Patroclus's side, and it's a quick read for its subject: about the length of It Ends With Us.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged audiobook narrated by Frazer Douglas (11:14, with Apple Books listing 11:15) at 155 words a minute. Treat the word count as close, not exact.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read The Song of Achilles?
About 6h 58m at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 8h 42m at 200 and 5h 48m at 300.
How many words are in The Song of Achilles?
About 104,470 words. That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How long is the audiobook?
11 hours 14 minutes unabridged at 1x: 7h 29m at 1.5x and 5h 37m at 2x.
How many pages a day to finish The Song of Achilles in a month?
About 13 pages a day, or 14m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 380 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
Should I read The Song of Achilles or Circe first?
Either. They share a world but not a story, and neither is a sequel to the other. Circe is slightly longer, at about 113,000 words by the same estimate.
Can you read The Song of Achilles in a weekend?
Yes. It's about seven hours at an average pace: three and a half hours a day across two days.