Simone Weil's the Iliad or the Poem of Force: A Critical Edition

Book Description
Simone Weil, a brilliant young teacher, philosopher, and social activist, wrote the essay, The Iliad or the Poem of Force at France at the beginning of World War II. Her profound meditation on the nature of violence provides a remarkably vivid and accessible testament of the Greek epic's continuing relevance to our lives. This celebrated work appears here for the first time in a bilingual version, based on the text of the authoritative edition of the author's complete writings. An introduction discusses the significance of the essay both in the evolution of Weil's thought and as a distinctively iconoclastic contribution to Homeric studies. The commentary draws on recent interpretations of the Iliad and examines the parallels between Weil's vision of Homer's warriors and the experiences of modern soldiers.

About the Author
James P. Holoka is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Eastern Michigan University. He received his Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Michigan.


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This is the first bilingual edition of Weil's 1939, 25-page war essay, the first based on the text of Weil's Oeuvres complètes and the first to provide citations for passages quoted from the Illiad. Weil defines force as "that which makes a thing of whoever submits to it. Exercised to the extreme, it makes the human being a thing quite literally, that is, a dead body." Contains extensive commentary. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


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