In Homer’s Iliad, the main character, Achilles, twice takes a course of action that upends decisions which he himself had previously proclaimed to be irrevocable. Achilles had refused to battle on the side of the Greeks―and then rejoins the fight as their ally. He had announced several times that he would throw the body of Hector, whom he had killed, to the dogs and birds―and then releases it to Hector’s father Priam. How these turnarounds come about in an almost insidious process is illuminated in this book in an extremely detailed interpretation, whose focus is determined by the categories of guilt and pity, through which Achilles’ behaviour becomes comprehensible in all its complexity for the very first time.