Table Of ContentSIMONE WEIL’S APOLOGETIC USE
OF LITERATURE
OXFORD MODERN LANGUAGES
AND LITERATURE MONOGRAPHS
EditorialCommittee
. . . . .
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Simone Weil’s
Apologetic Use
of Literature
Her Christological Interpretations
of Ancient Greek Texts
MARIE CABAUD MEANEY
1
1
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Preface
ThisbookaimstoaddressanimportantaspectofSimoneWeil’sthought
that has not been covered so far, namely her original interpretations
of ancient Greek texts. Though her article ‘L’Iliade ou le poe`me de la
force’ishighlyregardedamongclassicists,herinterpretationsofGreek
tragedyarehardlyknown.Ontheonehand,thisisduetothefactthat
they are mostly fragmentary, consisting of notes taken for talks and in
viewofabookshewishedtowritetogetherwiththeDominicanpriest,
Father Perrin. On the other hand, the reason for this lacuna may lie
with the Christological nature of her readings. Though her article on
theIliad endswithacomparisonoftheepictotheGospel,itsfocuson
Christianityisnotobvioussincearedeemerfigureispreciselymissingin
theHomerictext.This,inWeil’seyes,isnotthecaseintheSophoclean
Antigone and Electra, or in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. Antigone
becomesaChrist-figure,dyingoutofafollyoflove,andundergoinga
Passioninwhichshefeelsforsakenbygodsandmen.Electrastandsfor
someone going through a dark night of the soul, but not abandoning
hope and thus being rewarded with a mystical experience, symbolized
bytherevelationofOrestestohissister.Prometheus,ontheotherhand,
isnotreallyinconflictwithZeus,butisexperiencingthederelictionof
Christ on the cross. For Weil, these tragedies as well as Homer’s epic
revealthepresenceofthesupernaturalintheworld,beitintheformof
the moral law, of a supernatural perspective overruling all ideology, or
ofGod’spresenceinsufferingandinmysticalencounters.
Sincefirst readingWeil, I havebeen intriguedbyher Christological
and imaginative approach to ancient Greek literature. This compelled
me to analyse her hermeneutics, explore her motivations, and see
whether her misreadings could also contribute something to the field
of Classics. Her approach made sense once I came to realize that her
intentionswere apologetic, at least in part. If the agnostic intellectuals
of her day came to see that these texts which they cherish so much
could only be fully understood in the light of Christ, then they might
bemoreopentoChristianity.Ontheotherhand,Weilthoughtthatif
Catholicscametothesameconclusion,thentheywouldhavetoadmit
that Catholicism is much more universal than generally accepted and
that Christianity had existed before the incarnation of Christ. Thus,
viii Preface
they too would be led to display greater openness and dialogue. In
paradigmaticformtheGreekclassicswouldconveytobothgroupsthe
existenceofthesupernatural.
Though proficient in Latin and Greek Weil did not care to consult
or use the classical scholarship of her day, at least not in depth. She
preferredtoreadthetextsdirectlyandclosely—somethingshehadbeen
trainedtodobyherfamousteacher,thephilosopherAlain.Therefore,I
chosetodisregardingreatpartthesecondaryliteratureofhertime,and
instead focus on what her interpretations could contribute to modern
scholarship.Inconsequence,Icomparedherreadingstothoseofmodern
classicists, situating her approach and pointing out the ways in which
theyweresometimesextravagantandsometimesinsightful.
Weilisa‘strong’reader,castingthesefamiliartextsintonewshapes.
Herthought,herpersonality,andhermannerofexpressingherselfhave
the power to attract, but also the tendency to repel. No matter what
our reactions to Weil are, her interpretations startle and will make us
think about these classics in new ways. This book attempts to analyse
andexplainherapproach,andperhapsmakeitcompelling.ThusIstart
in Ch. 1 with an investigation of Weil’s love for and perspective on
ancientGreektextsbeforelooking,inCh.2atherideasonapologetics
andatherasanapologist,priortocomparinghertootherapologistsin
Ch. 3. Only then do I give a close reading of Weil’s interpretationsof
Antigone,Iliad,PrometheusBound,andElectrainChs.4–7.Inorderto
do this I oftenhad to piece togetherher fragmentary readings of these
texts and draw on a whole number of her writingsto explain in depth
someoftheconceptssheused.
BydefinitionanybookonWeilwillhavetobeinterdisciplinary.Weil
herself moved seamlessly between the fields of philosophy, literature,
theology, Classics, history, politics, and mathematics. Therefore this
bookshouldbeofinteresttospecialistsandamateursindifferentfields:
obviously to Weil-specialists, but also to classicists, theologians, and
French linguists, as well as to the wider audience of Weil-lovers or to
those who are encountering her for the first time. Though it cannot
pretend to give a complete overview of Weil’s thought, it offers an
important key to many of its aspects since a significant number of her
centralideasarecontainedinherinterpretations.Finally,herexistential
readings of Greek texts reveal something of her own personality, of
her ideals and her approach to all matters intellectual:her intransigent
search for the truth, her desire to put it into practice immediately no
matter what the consequences are, and her desire to share with others
Preface ix
this treasure that she felt had been given her. These attitudes are not
justreflectedinherinterpretationsbutareembodiedbytheveryfigures
sheinterpretswithsuch admiration—thusofferingus a furtherkey to
Weil.
Tomakethebookaccessibletoawideraudience,Englishtranslations
oftheFrenchquoteshavebeenincluded.Whennopublishedtranslation
existedorwhenIdisagreedwithit,Iprovidedthetranslationmyself.In
order to avoid the text becoming too convoluted, however, I chose to
givethereferencesonlytotheFrencheditionsofWeil’s texts—except
inthecaseofaquotation,whenIgivethereferencestotheeditionsin
bothlanguages.AtthebeginningofChs.4–7inwhichIanalyseWeil’s
interpretationsofindividualGreektexts,Istartoffwithanoverviewof
thepassagesWeilquotesandthehistoryofherinterestinthetragedyor
epic. This may be of greater interest to the Weil-specialist or classicist
thantoothersandcaneasilybeskippedbythereader.Furthermore,for
those who simply want learn about Weil’s interpretation of a specific
Greek text these chapters can be read separately without the need to
perusethefirstthreechapters.
M.C.M
Description:Marie Cabaud Meaney looks at Simone Weil's Christological interpretations of the Sophoclean Antigone and Electra, the Iliad and Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound. Apart from her article on the Iliad, Weil's interpretations are not widely known, probably because they are fragmentary and boldly twist the cl
