Homer's Iliad and the Problem of Force

The topic of force has long remained a problem of interpretation for readers of Homer's Iliad, ever since Simone Weil famously proclaimed it as the poem's main subject. This book seeks to address that problem through a full-scale treatment of the language of force in the Iliad from both philological and philosophical perspectives. Each chapter explores the different types of Iliadic force in combination with the reception of the Iliad in the French intellectual tradition. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that the different terms for force in the Iliad give expression to distinct relations between self and "other." At the same time, this book reveals how the Iliad as a whole undermines the very relations of force which characters within the poem seek to establish. Ultimately, this study of force in the Iliad offers an occasion to reconsider human subjectivity in Homeric poetry.

Charles H. Stocking, Western University

Charles Stocking is an associate professor of Classical Studies at Western University. He earned his BA with honors and MA in Classics at Stanford University and his PhD in Classics at UCLA. He is an associate fellow at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, an associate member of ANHIMA (Anthropologie et Histoire des Mondes Anciens), and former invited professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, France.

Introduction: The Problem of Homeric Force, between Philology and Philosophy
1. “Stronger”: Performative Speech and the Force of Achilles
2. Kratos before Democracy: Force, Politics, and Signification in the Iliad
3. Force and Discourse in the Funeral Games of Patroclus
4. The “Force that Kills”: Simone Weil and the Problem of Agency in the Iliad
5. Conclusion: Homeric Forces and Human Subjects Reconsidered
Appendix: Force in Early Greek Hexameter