Classic Greek literature fans and those interested in learning more are invited to participate in a free, new book discussion series, “From Homer to Hip Hop: Reinventing the Classics,” debuting at 12 noon Saturday, April 4, in Meeting Room A of the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth Street, downtown.
The four-lecture series is presented by the Los Angeles Public Library in partnership with New York City’s acclaimed Aquila Theatre to promote the new program series, Page and Stage, which is based on Homer’s “Iliad.”
Dorota Dutsch, associate professor of Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), will discuss “The Iliad: Book One” at the first lecture of the series on April 4. Dutsch will compare and contrast two types of public performance involving humor and poetry found in both ancient Greece and the contemporary United States. To start off the lecture, students from UCSB will give a reading from selected excerpts of “The Iliad.”
The remaining lectures and themes are:
Saturday, May 2, “Heroes against Monsters.” Dutsch will discuss the Grendel episode from the epic poem “Beowulf” and also Book Nine of “The Odyssey.” The role of heroes as defenders of civilization will be explored.
Saturday, May 23, “The Making of the Hero, Part 1.” Included as part of this discussion group will be a screening of the first half of director Akira Kurosawa’s film “Seven Samurai.” Dutsch will also talk about “Seven against Thebes” by Aeschylus and “The Seven” by rapper and playwright Will Power.
The series concludes on Saturday, June 6, with “The Making of the Hero, Part 2.” The discussion of “Seven Samurai” continues with the screening of the second half of the film. Other topics include “the raid of Bologna” episode from Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” novel.
The discussion groups are free and open to the public. Each event starts at 12 noon in Meeting Room A, Central Library.
Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Page and
Stage series is designed to place live theatrical events, reading groups and lectures in public libraries to inspire people to come together and read, see and discuss classical literature and how it continues to influence and invigorate American cultural life.
In addition to being funded by the NEH, Page and Stage involves Aquila Theatre, the American Philological Association representing Classics professors in the U.S., the Urban Libraries Council and New York University’s Center for Ancient Studies.
More information about the program series is available on the Library’s Web site, http://www.lapl.org or on the official Page and Stage site, http://pageandstage.org/participating-libraries/los-angeles-public-library/.
The Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest urban population of any library in the country. Its Central Library, 71 branch libraries, six million books and state-of-the-art technology provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for life-long learning. For further information visit the Library’s Web site at www.lapl.org.
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