Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. Simone Weil's "The Iliad, or The Poem of Force" (French: L'Iliade, ou le poeme de la force) is a 24-page essay written in 1939. The article is on Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, and includes thoughts on the epic's findings about the nature of power in human affairs. Weil wrote this essay while working as a secretary for the French Communist Party. Weil first became interested in ancient Greece when she read about some Greek philosophers such as Heraclitus and Parmenides. She also learned that there was an epic poem called The Iliad that described events from the Trojan War. This fascinated Weil because it showed that people many years ago had sensed something wrong with war itself, even if they didn't know what else to do about it. Weil decided to write her own opinion about The Iliad and its implications for today. In the essay, Weil says that The Iliad describes a society where men are at the top of the hierarchy and women are below them. Women are used by men to get what they want. For example, Menelaus wants to marry Helen back home in Sparta so he can be king there too. So, he sends out men to fight for him at Troy so that he can become king over both Sparta and Troy. Meanwhile, his wife is raped by Paris who brings her to Troy to make Menelaus jealous.