The Pity of Achilles - (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches) by Jinyo Kim (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In The Pity of Achilleus, Jinyo Kim examines how the major themes of the Iliad-Achilleus' "wrath," heroic values such as honor and glory, and human mortality and suffering, to mention the most widely recognized-are connected to each other in a way that reveals the poem's structural coherence and unity. Kim asks whether Achilleus' pity toward Priam at the poem's close is, as is widely believed, a poetic deus ex machina. In other words, is the conception of Achilleus' pity an expression of a "later" and "more civilized" era, as a way of "correcting" the warlike savagery that is an undeniable and significant part of the poem? She concludes, rather, that Achilleus' final reconciliation with the old king of Troy- his "enemy" according to the warrior ethos in the Iliad- represents the integral and ultimate resolution of the theme of Achilleus' "wrath" that is announced in the poem's opening lines. This book will be valuable for students and scholars of classical literature and classical civilization.

Review Quotes

"A valuable new contribution. Kim's book is a useful contribution to the study of formulaic language and themes in the Iliad, and may be read with profit by anyone interested in these questions....." --Political Theory

"Kim covers much familiar ground, but she has some fresh things to say about pity and its implications in Iliad." --Greece & Rome

"Offers a compelling argument." --Classical World

"Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." --Choice Reviews

"A valuable new contribution.
Kim's book is a useful contribution to the study of formulaic language and themes in the Iliad, and may be read with profit by anyone interested in these questions." --Political Theory

About the Author

Jinyo Kim is Assistant Professor of Classics at Queens College, City University of New York.