The art: Cy Twombly, Fifty Days at Ilium: Shades of Achilles, Patroclus, and Hector, 1978.

The news: “Mythic Passions, ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller,” by Daniel Mendelsohn for The New York Times Book Review. Miller’s book tells the story of “The Iliad” from the point-of-view of Patroclus.

The source: Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.