Peleus, Achilles’s aging father, appears throughout the novel in his son’s thoughts. In fact, when Priam visits Achilles, Achilles at first mistakes Priam for his own father and falls at his feet in tears. Priam later invokes this parallel explicitly, asking if Peleus wouldn’t do for Achilles what he himself is attempting to do for Hector. Priam’s words, combined with Achilles’s memories of his father’s grief at their parting, help persuade Achilles to return Hector’s body.
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Peleus Character Timeline in Ransom
The timeline below shows where the character Peleus appears in Ransom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...met his friend Patroclus as a child, when Patroclus was exiled to the court of Peleus, Achilles’s father. Achilles listened, enthralled, as Patroclus’s father explained that his son had accidentally killed...
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Peleus agreed to allow Patroclus to stay, and Patroclus grew up as Achilles’s adoptive brother, shaping...
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Part 4
...sees that it is an old man and thinks that he is seeing his father, Peleus. Achilles is highly conscious of how much he himself has changed since he last saw...
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...then again questions whether Achilles wouldn’t do what he is doing for Neoptolemus, or whether Peleus wouldn’t do the same for Achilles.
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...Priam sleep on a makeshift bed in his hut, and thinks about his own father Peleus. Eventually, Achilles wakes Priam, who looks frightened before he remembers what is going on. Achilles...
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