Paul Valery et la Grece

Abstract

The purpose of this work is neither search into possible sources nor confrontation of ideas or forms between valery and greece. It is based on simple original statement - valery's work is pervaded with every form and aspect of hellenism ; valery had, in his own words, a greek hereditary quantum. The point is to estimate the latter with accuracy through the examination of every piece of valery's writing which is obtainable at the moment. What did valery know of greece ? how did he imagine it ? how did he recreate it ? how did he appropriate it to himself, thus making it the fulcrum of his ego ? in order to answer these questions, four different approaches have been selected, a) hellenism and valery's mediterranean sensibility - the beauty of the universe, b) greece and the quest for know ledge - myth and discourse, c) greek tragedy and tragedy according to valery - the distress of being, d) humanist wisdom lying on protagoras's assertion : man is the measure of all things. Hellenism played considerable role in valery's intimate experience : it enabled him first to warily voice then to overwhelm the painful conflicts - sense vs sensibility, reflection vs action, understanding vs being - experienced by his heroes of former ages. Eupalinos the architect is the embodiment of the balance thus reached. By opposing idealists and sceptics, plato and aristotle, augustine and thomas aquinas, valery placed the supreme form of good in action - the harmonious blooming of every human faculty. Moreover, in world intoxicated with the advance of technologies and with every form of excess, greece stands as the preserver of the founding values of western civilisation. Valery's hellenism thus combines humour, charm and elegance with much deeper reflection and quest for wisdom.