New Humanists

The Iliad, or the Poem of Force | Episode XXI

April 15, 2022 Ancient Language Institute Episode 21
New Humanists
The Iliad, or the Poem of Force | Episode XXI
Show Notes

“The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad is force,” wrote Simone Weil. And yet, she said that Homer’s poem is “the purest and loveliest of mirrors.” How can a poem that revels in the visceral description of death and that chronicles the destruction of a great city be so pure and lovely? Jonathan and Ryan take a look into this epic mirror and into Weil’s justly famous essay on it.


Simone Weil’s The Iliad, or the Poem of Force (free English translation): http://biblio3.url.edu.gt/SinParedes/08/Weil-Poem-LM.pdf


Simone Weil’s The Iliad, or the Poem of Force (bilingual French-English critical edition): https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780820463612


Homer’s Iliad: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780374529055

Aeschylus' Oresteia: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780140443332

Sophocles' Theban Plays: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780156027649

Ovid’s Metamorphoses: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780156001267


Virgil’s Aeneid: https://bookshop.org/a/25626/9780553210415


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Music: Save Us Now by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com