 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Photos: Dramatic Reading of Selections from Homer's Odyssey at the Cultural Center of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation (USA) |
Translation by Robert Fagles
Monday, October 17, 2005
This event is theater, pure theater, bringing to life the drama of the Homeric Odyssey as translated into poetic English and performed by accomplished actors. In Classical Greece the official performers of the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, called rhapsodes, acted out these epics at grand festivals such as the Panathenaia, the feast of the goddess Athena in Athens. Rhapsodes differed from actors (hypokritai) in that these performers of epic took turns in acting not only the roles of the characters that were dramatized as speakers-such as Odysseus, Penelope, Athena, and the Cyclops Polyphemus in the Odyssey- but also the role of the character that narrates the Odyssey, the poet Homer.
In our production, these roles-including Homer as master narrator are divided among actors who re-create the drama of the Odyssey by reading selected scenes from this epic. Interwoven with the scenes are commentaries by Harvard professor Gregory Nagy, an expert on the dynamics of rhapsodic performances of epic in classical and post-classical Athens. He is the author of Plato's Rhapsody and Homer's Music: The Poetics of the Panathenaic Festival in Classical Athens (Harvard University Press, 2002). Introduction and commentary by Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University Directed by David Muse, Associate Director, The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.
Sunday, April 3, 2005
Stanford University and The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA)
In war, passions run high. The pain of battle brings out the best in people and also the worst. Enemies may be merciless, but they may also respect one another and find it in their hearts to show pity. The death of friends causes agony, yet the closest allies may quarrel. Three thousand years ago, Homer described the glory of war and its viciousness, the stress and strain and also the extraordinary acts of nobility, better than any poet has done since.
Commentary by Professor David Konstan John Rowe Workman Distinguished Professor of Classics and the Humanistic Tradition and Professor of Comparative Literature, Brown University.
Dramatic Reading by Equity Actors Directed by David Muse Assistant Director, The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.
On Sunday, April 3, 2005 at 3:00 P.M. at Campbell Recital Hall Braun Music Center, Stanford University