Μάθημα : Πρόσληψη του Αρχαίου Ελληνικού Δράματος - Reception of Ancient Greek Drama

Edith Hall's inaugural lecture as Visiting Professor at Gresham College (23rd Nov. 2017). Homers Iliad, the earliest Greek poem, narrates the archetypal war between Europeans and Asiatics divided by the Hellespont. Looking at Wolfgang Petersons blockbuster Troy (2004), the lecture describes the genesis of the Iliad between the Mycenaean Late Bronze Age and the 8th century, when it was first written down with the aid of the new, phonetic script adapted from the Phoenician civilisation of the Levant. It explores the poems plot, tragic perspective on the human condition, and the despair caused by untimely death on an immense scale.