J.R.R. Tolkien's Utopianism and the Classics.

The article reviews *J. R. R. Tolkien's Utopianism and the Classics* by Hamish Williams, which examines Tolkien's engagement with Classical antiquity through the lens of literary utopianism. Williams argues that Tolkien's works incorporate Classical themes not as direct models of perfect societies but as imaginative spaces—marked by spatial richness, estrangement, and ethical idealism—used to explore moral and spiritual values. Key discussions include Tolkien's lapsarian narratives of decline and renewal, such as Númenor's fall and Gondor's restoration, parallels between hospitality in *The Hobbit* and Homeric xenia, and the sublime in Tolkien's nature imagery drawing on Classical aesthetics and mythology. The book situates Tolkien's Classical reception as integrated and nuanced, contributing to both Tolkien Studies and Classical Reception scholarship by highlighting his complex reworking of ancient motifs within his mythopoeic world.