Grand Valley State University's Department of Classics plans to bring the classical Greek poems of Homer alive with a dramatic reading by Stanley Lombardo, one of the world's foremost translators of ancient literature.
The performance takes place at 2 p.m. on Monday, January 22, at the Cook-DeWitt Center and is open to the public. A reception will follow.
Lombardo, a professor of Classics at the University of Kansas, is best known for his recent translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, both of which received accolades from New York Times reviewers. Last winter, a stage version of his Iliad was presented at New York's Lincoln Center.
Lombardo's translations into contemporary American language make the works accessible to today's readers, and his performances of them throughout the country, including such venues as the Smithsonian Institution, bring the ancient poetry to life, said William Levitan, associate professor and chair of GVSU's Classics Department
He brings to translation the quality of voice, the sense that there was a living, breathing individual behind the text, Levitan said. In his performance, the works of Homer become alive, vivid and immediate for everybody, even for those unfamiliar with the works. He is phenomenal.
Lombardo's performance is the inaugural event for GVSU's Classics Department, which opened its classroom doors just last fall, making it the youngest ancient civilizations department in the nation, said Levitan. Besides majors and minors in Greek and Latin, it also offers a first in the nation ¿ an undergraduate program in The Classical Tradition, which explores the connections between ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and the cultures that have followed, including our own.
Grand Valley is the only public institution in West Michigan to offer an undergraduate program in Classics. Levitan estimates that each semester about 300 students take a related course, giving them a solid, intellectual background for any discipline they study.
We consider ourselves a fundamental part of liberal education at the university, Levitan said.
