A daylong community reading of portions of “The Iliad,” Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War, is the next event in the College of Arts and Sciences’ “Arts Unplugged” series.

“The Iliad in Ithaca: Re-Reading the Trojan War” will kick off at 4:30 p.m. March 12 with a virtual panel hosted by eCornell, featuring translator Emily Wilson in conversation with Cornell faculty and students. Wilson, professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, has also translated Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Register for that free event here.

The main reading kicks off at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 13, in the Groos Family Atrium of Klarman Hall with a “Greek chorus” of students and faculty reading the poem’s first few lines in Greek. That will be followed by more than 7,000 lines of the text, in English, from more than 60 readers.

The reading will continue until 4 p.m. and include faculty, staff and students from campus, as well as readers from the Ithaca community.

“We are so thrilled to listen as the Cornell community speaks Emily Wilson’s version of this monumental work,” said Athena Kirk, associate professor of classics (A&S) and one of the organizers of the event. “‘The Iliad’ is a story about anger, conflict, destruction and the failures of leadership, but it is also a reflection on solidarity, honor, reconciliation and compromise. Above all, the poem constantly reminds us of the crucial role of the narrative arts, without which we can enjoy neither memory nor renown.”

To complement the reading, visitors will be able to view archaeological artifacts from the Bronze Age world behind Homer’s text. Alison Rittershaus, curator of the Cornell Anthropology Collections, will present a pop-up display of artifacts from the eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa, so that visitors can better understand the cultural interconnections of the ancient world.

In the atrium, visitors will be able to view artifacts from the Anthropology Collection, as well as samples of historical textual media such as wax tablets, and try their hand at writing text on papyrus. And copies of Wilson’s translations and related works will be on sale, courtesy of Odyssey Books in Ithaca.

There will also be two pop-up displays for people to view outside of Klarman Hall:

• Laurent Ferri, curator of the pre-1800 Collections in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) at Cornell, has curated an exhibit of books and manuscripts relating to the medieval through modern reception of Homer and “The Iliad.” These manuscripts range from the Marquis de Lafayette’s personal copy of “The Iliad” (which he used to teach himself English as a child) to 21st century queer artists’ reclamations of the story of Achilles and Patroclus. This exhibit will be available for viewing from noon-5 p.m. March 13 in the lecture room at RMC.
• And Jakub Koguciuk, the Lynch Postdoctoral Associate for Curricular Engagement at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, has also organized a display of modern visual art that engages with, draws inspiration from or challenges the Homeric tradition. These artworks, drawn from the Johnson’s permanent collection, will be open for viewing in the Sukenik Gallery of the Johnson Museum on March 13. 

“In a way, the Homeric epics have always already belonged to multiple time periods. ‘The Iliad’ probably first took on something like its current form around the 8th century BCE,” said Caitie Barrett, professor of classics (A&S) and another faculty organizer. “But even before that, the poem as we know it seems to derive from a long history of earlier poems and oral traditions that had already been circulating – and changing in the telling – for hundreds of years. In the millennia since then, these stories have continued to inspire writers and artists in many different times, places and societies.”

Coffee and cookies will be served at 11 a.m.; a wine-and-appetizer reception will be held from 4-5 p.m. following the reading.

The event is free and open to the public; audience members are welcome to attend for any part of the reading at any time of day.

Kathy Hovis is a writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.