"Like a fire that consumes all before it "¦ " : between word and image

The purpose of this paper is threefold: to discuss the disclosive character of words and of images as well as to discuss the relation between words and images; to comment upon the general form and transitional moments in the philosophical treatment of this relation (key figures are Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidcgger); to point to a painterly effort to address these same questions in images. For the third concern, the work of Cy Twonbly's especially his painting, concerning the Trojan War, are discussed. Twombly's work is especially interesting insofar it often treats words as images as much as words. His painting are full of words, often the only images in his paintings are words. In order to call attention to Twombly's achievement in this matter, his painting of Achilles' Shield is discussed in relation to the presentation of that shield in Homer's Iliad, and in Alexander Pope's commentary on the way that this text poses special problems about the nature of images. The conclusion of my paper poses some critical questions about philosophical prejudices concerning images as well as the need for philosophy to rethink the privilege of the word that seems to be constitutive of the very idea of philosophy itself.