Rediscovering Homer: Poetry and Performance

Admired through the ages as the ultimate epic, Homer's Iliad, along with its companion-piece, the Odyssey, was venerated by the ancient Greeks themselves as the cornerstone of their civilization. By force of its prestige, the Iliad sets the standard for the definition of the word epic: an expansive poem of enormous scope, composed in an archaic and superbly elevated style of language, concerning the wondrous deeds of heroes.
   
View the Video Preview
Threads of Discussion

Oral Poetry and Performance
Poetics of Oral Poetry
Concept of Hero in Greek Civilization
Women of the Iliad
Reading Micronarratives in the Iliad and Odyssey
The Shield of Achilles

Click image for video

"The ending of the Iliad is an exercise of humanism at its best. It is an attempt to look at the human condition through the eyes of people you want to hate the most."