War And The Iliad (Paperback, Main)

"War and the Iliad" is a perfect introduction to the range of Homer's art as well as a provocative and rewarding demonstration of the links between literature, philosophy, and questions of life and death.
Simone Weil's "The Iliad, or the Poem of Force" is one of her most celebrated works--an inspired analysis of Homer's epic that presents a nightmare vision of combat as a machine in which all humanity is lost. First published on the eve of war in 1939, the essay has often been read as a pacifist manifesto. Rachel Bespaloff was a French contemporary of Weil's whose work similarly explored the complex relations between literature, religion, and philosophy. She composed her own distinctive discussion of the "Iliad" in the midst of World War II--calling it "her method of facing the war"--and, as Christopher Benfey argues in his introduction, the essay was very probably written in response to Weil. Bespaloff's account of the Iliad brings out Homer's novelistic approach to character and the existential drama of his characters' choices; it is marked, too, by a tragic awareness of how the Iliad speaks to times and places where there is no hope apart from war.
This edition brings together these two influential essays for the first time, accompanied by Benfey's scholarly introduction and an afterword by the great Austrian novelist Hermann Broch.

General

Imprint:	Nyrb Classics
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	March 2005
First published:	March 2005
Authors:	Simone Weil
Dimensions:	204 x 128 x 9mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	121
Edition:	Main
ISBN-13:	978-1-59017-145-5
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > Classical, early & medieval Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Poetry & poets > General
LSN:	1-59017-145-4
Barcode:	9781590171455

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!