The Iliad
Reading Group
Facilitated by Alan Seltzer
đź—“ THURSDAYS, every other week, beginning September 26, 2024. Fourteen meetings.
⏰ 6-7:30 Eastern US Time
đź’˛ Cost: $20 monthly (become a member and receive discounts). For no-cost, no-questions asked, solidarity ticket, please email: inciteseminarsphila@gmail.com.
đź”— Zoom link available on registration
📆 Schedule: see below
GROUP DESCRIPTION
Arguably, the most widespread and consequential institution in human history is war. Humanity has never learned to live without it. It has been the concern of philosophers and artists throughout the ages. Perhaps the greatest consideration of war is Homer’s The Iliad. But what can we learn from a 3,000-year-old story about a war fought with swords and shields, bows and arrows? Translator and scholar Emily Wilson observes:
Human mortality is the center of it all. I know of no other narrative that evokes with such unflinching truthfulness the vulnerability of the human body. Yet The Iliad also makes the whole world feel gloriously alive. … No thought, no feeling, is left unexpressed. … The poem’s story, and its intense emotional and poetic power, always takes precedence over any ethical, political or personal lessons that readers may want to take from The Iliad.
The Iliad, then, may be seen to encompass the grand scope of human experience. Its music and its story, founded on an ancient oral tradition, sings to us all.
We will use Emily Wilson‘s highly acclaimed new translation, which is available for purchase on Amazon and elsewhere. Winner of the 2024 Audie Award for Best Literary Fiction and Classics.
Meeting Dates and Reading Schedule
9/26/24 Introductions; Books 1-2
10/10/24 Books 3-4
10/24/24 Books 5-6
11/7/24 Books 7-8
11/21/24 Books 9-10
12/5/24 Books 11-12
12/19/24 Books 13-14
1/2/25 Book 15
1/16/25 Book 16
1/30/25 Books 17-18
2/13/25 Books 19-20
2/27/25 Books 21-22
3/13/25 Book 23
3/27/25 Book 24
REGISTRATION
Incite Seminars 