An Early History of Compassion: Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism

Françoise Mirguet

doi:10.1017/9781316536520

In this book, Françoise Mirguet traces the appropriation and reinterpretation of pity by Greek-speaking Jewish communities of Late Antiquity. Pity and compassion, in this corpus, comprised a hybrid of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman constructions; depending on the texts, they were a spontaneous feeling, a practice, a virtue, or a precept of the Mosaic law. The requirement to feel for those who suffer sustained the identity of the Jewish minority, both creating continuity with its traditions and emulating dominant discourses. Mirguet's book will be of interest to scholars of early Judaism and Christianity for its sensitivity to the role of feelings and imagination in the shaping of identity. An important contribution to the history of emotions, it explores the role of the emotional imagination within the context of Roman imperialism. It also contributes to understanding how compassion has come to be so highly valued in Western cultures.

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An Early History of Compassion

Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism

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Contents

An Early History of Compassion
pp i-ii

An Early History of Compassion - Title page
pp iii-iii

Copyright page
pp iv-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Acknowledgments
pp vii-viii

Introduction
pp 1-20

Chapter 1 - Between Power and Vulnerability
pp 21-63

Chapter 2 - Found in Translation
pp 64-108

Chapter 3 - Within the Fabric of Society
pp 109-151

Chapter 4 - Bonds in Flux
pp 152-184

Chapter 5 - In Dialogue with the Empire
pp 185-225

Conclusion - A Discourse of the Other
pp 226-235

Bibliography
pp 236-264

Greek and Roman Sources
pp 265-266

Jewish and Christian Sources
pp 267-268

Subject Index
pp 269-272

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An Early History of Compassion

Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism

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