5/7/99

Contact: Timothy Wutrich, (740) 593-1314

ATHENS, Ohio -- In the spirit of ancient Athenian celebrations, local bards will gather in front of Scripps Hall for a 24-hour public reading of the entire Iliad starting at 6 a.m. May 21.

The departments of Comparative Arts, Theater Arts and Classics are joining forces to bring what organizers are calling a "Panathenaea," named after an ancient Athenian festival at which professional artists performed Homer's famous work.

The event will begin at 6 a.m. with a reading of Book 1 by Timothy Wutrich, director of the School of Comparative Arts and co-organizer of the event. The remainder of the Iliad will be read by faculty members and students in both English and ancient Greek, with one book featured every hour. The event is scheduled to conclude at 6 a.m. May 22.

"Our primary goal is to acquaint a larger audience with the works of Homer and to show that even the oldest extant piece of literature is still valid and exciting today," said Wutrich. "We'd also like to show that three different schools can cooperate in a fun and meaningful way."

Anyone interested in participating in the reading should contact Wutrich at 593-1314 or Chair of the Department of Classics Jim Andrews at 597-2716 by May 14.