WEBVTT

1
00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:21.600
So look, I guess to start
off with I am I'm going to tell

2
00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:24.320
you a little quick story, and
then I want you to all introduce yourselves,

3
00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:31.760
because what we're here to talk about
is this phenomenal, wild, wacky

4
00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:36.240
event that I've never seen anything like
in my life. Right, a twelve

5
00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:43.560
yeah, twelve hour reading of Homer's
The Iliad in Grace Cathedral. And I

6
00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:47.920
have to tell you guys something.
I came up to visit Sharon within the

7
00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.439
first couple of weeks of moving to
the United States. I've been here for

8
00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:58.520
about ten ten months now, and
when I came to visit Sharon. After

9
00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.560
our visit, she dropped me off
at the dock and then I kind of

10
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:06.400
caught the ferry across to San Francisco. And the first thing I do when

11
00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.359
I go to any city is I
try to look for the sacred locations like

12
00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:14.159
cathedrals and these beautiful spaces that are
meditative. And I had a dijury do

13
00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.560
on my back. I had a
heavy bag, and I was going to

14
00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:21.120
catch a bus back down here to
southern California. But I'm I'm in San

15
00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.879
Francisco for a couple of hours,
and so I thought, okay, I'm

16
00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:29.239
going to try and find this cathedral. I look up cathedrals and I find

17
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:33.560
Grace Cathedral and I start at the
dock all the way down the bottom of

18
00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.200
San Francisco, and I went on
a micro pilgrimage with all these heavy bags,

19
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:44.400
logging them all the way up this
hill until I found Grace Cathedral and

20
00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.920
I went in and I was just
awe struck by this building. It was

21
00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.319
such an incredible experience. And I
said to myself, I have to play

22
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.000
my Digury Do here one day,
And I tell you, I sat outside

23
00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.040
in the courtyard and I played my
Digury Do and I even have a recording

24
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:07.560
that I could show you guys.
And then months later to see Sharon get

25
00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:10.439
involved with you guys putting this together, and for her to invite me to

26
00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:15.039
do this, it's just it's such
an honor, it's such a privilege,

27
00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.280
and I'm so grateful to be a
part of this. And so, you

28
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:21.680
know, maybe maybe Catherine will start
with you. I just want you to

29
00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:23.840
introduce yourself, who are you,
how are you involved in all of this

30
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:29.800
crazy event making, and then we'll
go around and I'd love to know more

31
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:36.719
about each of you here. Sure
Okay. I am Katherine Paul Vine ninety

32
00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:47.439
two. Yuck yeah, retired professor
from California State University in Sacramento, where

33
00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.159
I taught both English and to mandate
cheese. And then let me teach not

34
00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:58.400
only create your writing, but oddly
and crazily, because it was the sixties,

35
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.879
they let me teacher even though I
had no business doing so because I

36
00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:09.680
don't read Greek, I'm not a
classicist. I'm a lover of poetry and

37
00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:16.520
I I won't go into the long
thing of how I created this, but

38
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:28.680
I did, and it has been
phenomenally well received. It's considered, as

39
00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:37.159
you said, kariwacky and demanding,
challenging for the participants. But the great

40
00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:42.800
thing about it is that the participants
get a really big experience out of it,

41
00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:46.159
even though they only read for forty
five seconds or something forty five lines.

42
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:53.919
Excuse me. It is kind of
an indelible experience. And I've had

43
00:03:54.280 --> 00:04:00.280
people fall over the world say so
to me. So we do have people

44
00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:05.520
coming from many countries, we have
several languages being spoken. Because of Joyce

45
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:12.240
and Bob, we have power part
that keeps the story going even though someone's

46
00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:19.319
reading in Latin or Flemish or Portuguese, okay. And I love capped children,

47
00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:24.839
young people, people who think they
don't like poetry, people who've never

48
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:29.439
read Homer, people who've never read
poems for very much, and they think

49
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.839
they hate it until they do it, and then they love it. So

50
00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:36.240
that's about all I need to say. I love it, Catherine. I

51
00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:43.279
adore you already. We're going to
be best friends. I can tell and

52
00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:47.199
Joyce and Bob, would you like
to jump in? Well, I'm Bob

53
00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:53.639
Stanley and I've known Catherine for maybe
ten or fifteen years. We helped her

54
00:04:53.639 --> 00:05:00.040
publish her book of poems. She's
a wonderful she's a wonderful writer, and

55
00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:04.399
we've done readings together all over Sacramento. When we published her book, we

56
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:11.160
had we had about one hundred people
in the backyard, all of her friends.

57
00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:15.279
But I've only been to one of
the Readers of Homer events. I

58
00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.959
went to the one in uh in
Sacramento, I think it was in two

59
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:25.360
thousand and nine or ten um.
But I've heard about the ones in Athens

60
00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:30.480
and Chios and Alexandria. Alexandria,
Yeah, our friend Carmela Ruby, I

61
00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:33.680
think was at the one in Alexandria
or she used to tell us about that,

62
00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:39.879
so we kind of knew about Catherine, and then we met her later

63
00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:45.519
on, and we've just kind of
been hanging out. And when Grace Cathedral

64
00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.720
became available with Joyce and I just
thought, what can we do my role

65
00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:54.959
as musical director, I'm kind of
the one who's setting up zooms and things

66
00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:59.680
like that. And also literally,
oh yeah, and I helped. I

67
00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:03.600
helped Catherine edit the text because I've
been twenty four hours if we didn't edit

68
00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:09.240
it from seventeen thousand lines down to
eight thousand, so kind of clipping and

69
00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:13.079
snipping and figuring out Katherine did most
of the work. I was just kind

70
00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.879
of true. So Joyce, would
you like to jump in? Yeah,

71
00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:28.480
I'm I'm Joyce Shall, Bob's other
half. Bob. We met Catherine,

72
00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:32.759
which has been just a wonderful delight. Um. I'm all her talents and

73
00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:38.959
her hobbies that she's done post retirement. She started, she said, We

74
00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:44.199
found out she was offering a class
in her home on the Iliad and then

75
00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:49.680
later on another class on the Odyssey. Um, which I sort of just

76
00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:56.360
wonderful high school teacher where I just
thought Homer was the greatest and I thought,

77
00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.879
wow, I haven't read that for
fifty years. I'd love to jump

78
00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:05.040
in and get a refresher course.
So we spent how many weeks going to

79
00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:15.160
Catherine's house reading this new translation of
by Carolin Alexander of the Iliad and it

80
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:23.040
was just wonderful. Then we did
the Odyssey with Emily Wilson's translation and that

81
00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:28.360
was great, and then it kind
of transition because of COVID into zoom classes,

82
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.279
and then we also did the Orstea. She's just a wealth of knowledge.

83
00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:36.959
It's so much fun to learn and
hear more from. So when this

84
00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.079
came up, I thought it helped. Now that I'm retired, I'd be

85
00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:46.279
happy to help. So I'm just
helping Catherine in any way. I can

86
00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:53.360
just go to organizing and planning things
and it's great. Let me just say

87
00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:58.680
crash in here and say that is
a huge understatement the words that love and

88
00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:03.759
Jersey has done. It's absolutely colossal. I could never done it. Yeah,

89
00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.920
I love it. You guys are
doing an amazing job. And Sharon,

90
00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:09.040
do you want to jump in here? How you involved? I mean,

91
00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.399
I know, but for those listening
at home, what's your what's your

92
00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:20.040
involvement here and of course with your
husband Terry. I'm Sharon LaBelle and I'm

93
00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:30.600
lucky enough to be longtime friends with
Bob and Joyce. And I've always loved

94
00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:46.399
Bob and Joyce because they have such
um generative imaginations and they always have their

95
00:08:46.480 --> 00:09:00.679
hands in something exciting. In the
arts they they make, they make human

96
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:07.360
beings really look good. I every
day that I might think of burning my

97
00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:16.039
membership card and I just think of
Bob Joyce. Yeah. So I've I've

98
00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:24.360
had the privilege and just the fun
of playing music with Bob. I've had

99
00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:37.840
a really pivotal life changing even conversations
with Joyce. Joyce, I don't think

100
00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:46.879
knows what can impact some of the
things she has said have had on me.

101
00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:54.240
So they're my conduit to Catherine.
And I love ancient texts, I

102
00:09:54.279 --> 00:10:05.320
love poetry, and I love marathon
extravagance. My connection to and anything that

103
00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:13.399
has the qualifier wacky, I'm in
so um um. My connection to Simon

104
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:22.360
is that we co found it The
Walled Garden, which is an online international

105
00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:31.200
philosophical society, and um I have
I love working with Simon. Simon's also

106
00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:37.600
he hasn't said this about himself,
but he's a poet himself, so I

107
00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:45.600
do know anyhow, that's a little
scattershot, but I believe you're something of

108
00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:52.600
a scholar in avoctargis advoctagious. Yes, well, I'm a popularizer. I'm

109
00:10:52.639 --> 00:11:03.559
I'm the person the academics love to
hate. Right. I immediately feel,

110
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.519
yea, this is perhaps a good
segue then, because you know we talk

111
00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:13.840
about popularizing. I didn't know until
moments ago when Bob mentioned it that what

112
00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:20.440
you've done is you're kind of trying
to capture the essence of the Iliad and

113
00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:24.440
have us read that. And because
I'll admit, I googled last night,

114
00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.960
I said, hang on, how
long does it take to read the Iliad?

115
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.720
And Google said eleven hours and forty
four minutes at the average reading speed,

116
00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:41.120
And I thought, oh my gosh, it's gonna be tight. In

117
00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:48.000
the ancient festivals, it took three
days. And you know, three days

118
00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:52.879
is just too long to demand of
a contemporary audience. Even twelve or ten

119
00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:58.639
hours is still asking a great deal
of people, and a lot of people

120
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:05.200
cannot stay or choose not to stay. But you'd be surprised how many determined

121
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:13.200
to stay. Finally, and gain
by doing so, because even though I'm

122
00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:22.960
sworry it is edited down. It
is not just the highlights of the Iliad.

123
00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:28.320
I would not appreciate that. It's
not just the highlights and a quick

124
00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.840
summary. It is still the Iliad
and it has to be, at least

125
00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:37.639
in my view. I won't do
it for less than seven hours, and

126
00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.960
even that is too short. Ten
is good now, that's what we're doing

127
00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:48.159
at Grace, and ten is demanding
and people that's the wacky part is that

128
00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:56.480
people are surprised that they are interested
for that long. If I may quote

129
00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:05.480
a scholar who was on our board
earlier, wonderful man Bill Mallin from Bard

130
00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:11.679
College. Somebody asked him in New
York, why is this moving? He

131
00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:18.320
said, it's moving because it's long. You do not bring to it the

132
00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:24.720
one hour attention span that you bring
to a lecture, or the two hour

133
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:31.240
attention span that you bring to a
movie, or the three hour attention span

134
00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:37.279
that you bring you an opera.
It's something entirely longer. And he said

135
00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:45.559
that makes it a new challenge and
refreshing in the way. And I think

136
00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.639
he's right about that. I just
love that. I love that. I

137
00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:52.919
mean, let alone, the attention
span of today, of a TikTok video

138
00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.840
or of a you know, it's
like the value to me. It seems

139
00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:05.559
like this is the literary version to
Sharon's point of a marathon. It's going

140
00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.799
in there and at the end of
the day, I imagine we're all going

141
00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.559
to be pooped, We're all going
to be just so tired. But what

142
00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:16.879
a transformative space to be in,
you know, what a transformative work to

143
00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.240
be reading. Thank you, Simon. I often use the quote that in

144
00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.759
the age of the quick and the
easy, yeah for the long and the

145
00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:33.879
difficult, and it has worked out
that word. Yeah. So how does

146
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.559
something like this come together? I
know that you've got is it the society

147
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.720
of Homer readers or what's what's the
name of your group that you've got together?

148
00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.120
There is no there is no name. Friends, poop want to help?

149
00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.799
Is the name? Yeah? I
love it? And so so what

150
00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.919
came first was it did you find
the venue and then decide we're going with

151
00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:00.120
Homer? Did you choose the work? And then no? I always was

152
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:05.360
working directly from the Homer. I
had taught it at the university. I

153
00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:09.799
had a wonderful graduate seminar for about
twenty years that I was called the Homeric

154
00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:18.120
Imagination, which was kind of a
reach and alienated some people just by that

155
00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:24.600
title, But it really was more
about what is what are these poems?

156
00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:35.000
What are these epics? Why do
we care? Rather than the infinite inquiry

157
00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.960
into the specifics of who was Homer
and how was the transmission and what language?

158
00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.600
And how close to actual history?
And is legend and history? Do

159
00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:52.159
the mixer mingo to what degree?
I let all that go and concentrated on

160
00:15:52.360 --> 00:16:00.759
this is great art, and I
believe that more every year. It is

161
00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:07.440
fabulous art. And I can't in
our format. I cannot lecture at all.

162
00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.000
I don't even say a word.
I don't say anything about it.

163
00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.720
Then we're going to read the iliot. They know that. Excuse my voice.

164
00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:21.039
So I do not lecture at all
about it. The cares itself.

165
00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:27.279
Yeah, yeah, that doesn't answer
your question. I moved. When I

166
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:33.320
retired, A student said what are
you gonna do now with this? And

167
00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:40.080
I did not have an idea.
A Greek lawyer from Sacramento happened to be

168
00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:45.440
taking me out and complimenting what he
had heard about the seminar. He said,

169
00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:51.039
I have all my life, thought
about how wonderful it would be to

170
00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:56.759
have all my reading of the Iliad
fire and go to or Lamb on the

171
00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:02.039
stead and torches, and I knew
it a second that I said to him,

172
00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.599
I'm going to do it, and
I started and that was my immediate

173
00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.240
post retirement effort. Yeah. I
just love this, and Sharon, I

174
00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.680
really I'd love being to jump in
as well if you have questions. But

175
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.279
sorry, Joyce, did you want
to jump in? I was just going

176
00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:25.559
to just clarify. So Catherine is
the founder and the impetus behind the international

177
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:29.200
readers of Homer. Thank you,
That's what I was thinking about. Yes,

178
00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:34.160
yeah, where is a website that
describes the readings and the locations they've

179
00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:41.240
had all over the world? When
Katherick can tell you, I do know

180
00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:47.359
that there's been London, New York, Los Angeles, Athens, Tehran,

181
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:53.119
Cairo, several of the islands in
Greek islands, Kios, they've had in

182
00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:00.799
South America, in Montevideo. I
mean really international. And she's got members

183
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:07.440
on our board who zoom in from
Spain or Brazil. She's got people flying

184
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:17.319
in from Amsterdam and amazing magnetive Homer
brings in people from everywhere that I just

185
00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:22.799
can't believe. So that is really
interesting. The other thing I want to

186
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:29.279
add the reading itself there. As
we said, there's no lecture, but

187
00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:33.759
as a special bonus to people who
are interested in participating. Um, she's

188
00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:40.559
going to do it one hour zoom
to give people an overview, answer questions

189
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.720
for everybody who's registered, everybody who's
going to be reading, and you'll you'll

190
00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:51.920
get an invite to these zooms.
Um wonderful she can hear and just answer

191
00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:57.680
some questions. And so that is
well, perhaps this is actually going to

192
00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.359
be one of the questions that you
might Yeah, but I'd love all of

193
00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.480
your input on this actually, you
know, because I know Sharon you'll have

194
00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.519
a lot of insight into this.
And and I think Katherine, you may

195
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:11.880
have answered some of this question in
the in your previous response, but in

196
00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.680
the age of the quick and easy, you know, in this current moment,

197
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:22.359
why is somebody like Homer, you
know, Why why are people coming

198
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:26.319
around this, this this great writer
in this day and age, you know,

199
00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:29.559
and how is it relevant for this
agent? As I said, I'd

200
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:41.640
love it. Uh. I think
the ancientness of it matters. The fact

201
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:48.279
that it is the oral tradition and
was carried by the people, So we

202
00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.000
don't even know if there was a
Homer. I'm not going to go into

203
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:56.079
that so called Homeric question as to
who he was or if he was.

204
00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:03.799
We do know that this is the
result of what we call the oral tradition,

205
00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:12.079
and participating in it gives you a
great insight into how that worked,

206
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:22.200
how it carried across many generations prior
to literacy. That's very important, prior

207
00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:29.720
to literacy. So we do not
know who first wrote down the Iliad?

208
00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:36.440
Was Homer literate? Was there a
Homer? Was he literate or maybe his

209
00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:44.480
grandson could write because he was at
that nexus of history in the eighth century

210
00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:52.680
BC when literacy was just beginning slowly
to happen. So it's the answer I

211
00:20:52.720 --> 00:21:00.039
think to your very important question is
that it is truly a communal experience.

212
00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.119
It's very democratic. I insist upon
that. It's so democratic that I don't

213
00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:11.119
even care if people think they hate
Homer. They don't know what it is,

214
00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:17.680
and if they're just curious enough to
play with the idea of getting an

215
00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:25.759
idea of it. Great, and
it does carry itself because it's a timeless

216
00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:36.039
and I have to say alas universal
story, meaning that war is continuous.

217
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.279
It just goes on and on and
on. And Homer, whoever that was,

218
00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:48.359
seems to think it's part of the
human condition somehow. We don't know

219
00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.880
exactly how. It just is always
with us, and people suffer in the

220
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.799
same way. And the young boys
who are drafted are just like the young

221
00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:03.799
man and in the Iliad who don't
want to die, but they want to

222
00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:10.240
be brave, they want to be
famous. They want to make their little

223
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:15.680
landscape at home proud of them.
They want their parents to be proud of

224
00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.200
them. They want a bit of
glory, because what else is there.

225
00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:26.839
But it's actually for a very dumb
reason, as many wars are. It's

226
00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:34.359
for background history to return Helen,
the most beautiful woman in Greece quote quote

227
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:44.559
or famous idea, back to her
cuckolded husband, King Menelaius of Sparta,

228
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:52.759
to historical character. And so whether
Helen was real or not, she represented

229
00:22:52.680 --> 00:23:03.720
the ideal of beauty that the Greeks
committed to suing and to destroying Um,

230
00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:11.920
this great city in Asia Minor,
which was an actual city and which went

231
00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:18.640
by the name then of Ilium.
That's why the poem is called the Iliad

232
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:23.359
and not the Troyad. Troyad is
a is a reference to the landscape.

233
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:30.160
Uh. The Ilium is the story
of Troy, which means it's the story

234
00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:40.680
of the defending city. It's not
the story as much of the invading and

235
00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:48.240
aggressive Greeks who who represent the poet. So it's um uh, it's really

236
00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:59.559
as again a quote that I love
that the Iliad is the most just and

237
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:04.720
partial of human inventions. That would
be my answer to your question. It

238
00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:11.400
is very just wow. You know, I was getting goosebumps as you're talking

239
00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:18.200
about the fact that this story comes
from a time preliteracy, and and then

240
00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.160
you know, thinking about how back
in Greece, like you said, they

241
00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:26.680
would do these three day readings and
performances of this great epic, And to

242
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:29.440
me, I'm still getting goosebumps because
it's like, Wow, we get to

243
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.000
participate in that and this ancient tradition, and we're going to be in this

244
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:40.119
increase. I would encourage everybody listening
to this episode to look up Grace Cathedral

245
00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:44.599
and just see the space that will
be reading it in right, and and

246
00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.480
how powerful that's going to be.
Sharon I wonder if you would jump in

247
00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:55.799
here, because I'm sure that you
have some insights to add there about the

248
00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:02.640
relevance. Yeah, the relevance,
Oh yes, well, so many people's

249
00:25:02.680 --> 00:25:14.960
minds and hearts. Our burden these
days by by a sense of fragmentation.

250
00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:30.359
We've all had to very quickly step
up to interacting with, integrating and responding

251
00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:40.759
to so much information from the trivial
to the vital in any given moment,

252
00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:48.039
in any given day, whether it
comes from media, whether we it is

253
00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:56.440
like that movie title, everything all
at once, I forget what everything happening

254
00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:06.160
all at once, and it's it's
too much for us to sort the worthy

255
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:17.079
from from even the delitarius. You
know, it's it's many. Many people

256
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:22.400
to me report just casually that they
feel a sense of um fog, of

257
00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:30.240
dislocation. I've heard different terms used. So what does this have to do

258
00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:40.400
with reading the iliot and doing it
in a physical public space. I think

259
00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:45.759
there's a hungry hunger, excuse me
for that, which endures. I think

260
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:52.759
there's a fact in some ways,
I'm just restating what Catherine said much better

261
00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:03.079
than I can, But there there's
there's a desire to be part of the

262
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:12.599
narrative through line of humanity and not
on the sidelines, and so engaging with

263
00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:21.559
something in this case, this timeless
epic poem, even if you're skeptical about

264
00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:30.279
it or hostile. Yeah, it's
it's joining a conversation that's gone on for

265
00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:37.839
a long time and that has dignity
and it has weight. Beautiful A man,

266
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:45.880
Sharon, I do a Sharon.
The answers like that, How and

267
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:48.519
and and Bob and Joyce? Did
you have you anything that you'd like to

268
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.359
add here? You know, why
is it relevant for you guys? And

269
00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:53.839
why do you think it's important?
I just want to talk about the art

270
00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:59.240
and the richness of the poetry.
I mean we're talking twenty eight hundred years

271
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:03.759
ago, and the Homeric similes that
are that are throughout the book, that

272
00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:10.359
many more in the Iliad than in
the Odyssey, and they're so so I

273
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:14.119
found one here. I just kind
of looked around and I just want to

274
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:17.960
read this. So Odysseus is in
battle, and even during the battles,

275
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:23.799
there's these complicated similes. Sometimes they
are similar to what's happening, and sometimes

276
00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:27.880
they come out of the blue.
But this one I found so Odysseus is

277
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:32.799
in battle and the Trojans are closing
in on him. He's one of the

278
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.519
Greeks. He doesn't play a huge
role in the book. Then they found

279
00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:41.440
Odysseus, beloved by Zeus, and
round about him the Trojans pressed like blood

280
00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:48.400
stained and jack in the mountains about
a stag the man has struck with an

281
00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:52.119
arrow from his bowstream he escapes,
the man fleeing with the swiftness of his

282
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:56.720
feet, while the blood flows warm
and his knees are light that when at

283
00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:03.160
last the sharp arrow has broken him, the jackals meters of raw mead there

284
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:08.279
in the mountains devour him. In
the shadows of a glade, some god

285
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:14.359
leads a lion ravening, and the
jackals scatter, and the lion it is

286
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:18.960
who devours it. So around skilled
Odysseus of the many wiles, the Trojans

287
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:23.200
pressed in their multitude and strength,
but the warrior, lunging with his spear,

288
00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:30.319
warded off pitalless day and death.
Very good. I mean, this

289
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:37.720
is three thousand years ago and there
and there's all through the book, and

290
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:41.119
every time I come on one of
those I just it's like I'm trembling.

291
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:45.200
Yes, yeah, they are strong
beautiful, and they're often also, if

292
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:52.440
I may add, not violent,
as that one is very violent. There's

293
00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:56.559
a lot of violence in the Iliad
and in the Odyssey for that matter,

294
00:29:56.200 --> 00:30:03.759
but more in the Alia because his
battle battle, battle, battle, killing

295
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:12.839
and Achilles is of course the premier
example exemplar of a warrior culture. He's

296
00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:18.480
the hero of killing, and that
is to sort of beyond belief. Horrible

297
00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:27.079
to us, but it's reality,
and I might I wanted to say that

298
00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:37.519
the similes Bob mentions are often totally
tender, totally gentle, like a mother

299
00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:45.200
putting a little comfortens on a fevered
child's forehead. Where does that come from?

300
00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:51.000
How does that relate? Well,
he's a master, as somebody said,

301
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:56.680
of relief from horror as well as
of horror. He is. You

302
00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:03.720
get an awful of tenderness in both
proms. M I just love that.

303
00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:07.880
I'm so I'm so glad that you
read that, Bob, I mean,

304
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:12.000
and what what what I love is
that, Catherine, you must have read

305
00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:17.319
this book so many times, but
still as he's reading it, Oh,

306
00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:21.839
you can't help but be moved,
right, you can't help it. And

307
00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:27.720
I just can't help but feel as
well that um We're living in a time

308
00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:34.720
when so many people want life to
be safe and clean and pristine and everything

309
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:42.559
everything washed clean of the dirtiness of
life. And you know, to to

310
00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:47.319
to to actually to quote somebody who
is just in the other room, a

311
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:51.440
colleague of mine, we were talking
the other day, and um, he

312
00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:53.480
makes this point of you know,
sometimes, you know, we as men,

313
00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:56.440
we need to realize that we are
men, and that what we do

314
00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:00.519
is we do build empires. We
go out and take on the world,

315
00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:04.400
you know. We we try to
get every part of ourselves that we can

316
00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:07.480
together so that we can be the
hero that we could be in our lives.

317
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:13.079
And to be faced with this kind
of literature that brings us face to

318
00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:19.920
face with those harsh realities of blood
and conquer and empire and all of this

319
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.559
stuff is dirty stuff of life.
I think people are hungry for that as

320
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:30.759
well, to be yes, yeah, And the way in which Homer takes

321
00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:38.440
on the power structures, that is
the power of the king's Agamemnon's bravura and

322
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:49.880
pomp and circumstance, and his brother
Menelius's weakness and stilliness and richness wealth wealth,

323
00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:57.119
wealth is and then you get Achilles
who is this violent man, but

324
00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:02.759
essentially what he wants to do,
play the loot and dress as a girl.

325
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:14.359
That's a but he is because he's
in the battle of world. He's

326
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:20.240
going to excel, of course at
what he is superbly good at, and

327
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:25.599
he speaks truth to power. Right
in the beginning of the Iliad, the

328
00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:32.640
very first few pages, he calls
on Agramenton and calls him a dog faced

329
00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:39.119
drunk who does nothing for his people, and it gets going from there.

330
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:46.079
So it is a it is an
indictment of the folly of war, the

331
00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:55.440
foolishness of the reasons for war,
the flimsy, flimsy, puny little reasons

332
00:33:55.640 --> 00:34:02.519
given out for having these teenage boys
suffer and die the way they do,

333
00:34:05.319 --> 00:34:13.559
and the women, of course being
taken certainly as Troy will fall, and

334
00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:17.760
we know that, and they know
it. They will be mere prizes for

335
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:24.280
the conquering men, and they will
be taken as concubines away from their loved

336
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:31.960
ones in their country and live as
a service to these soldiers. And that

337
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:37.800
is very clear, just as it's
very clear that Troy is doomed, even

338
00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:46.320
though it does not fall in the
within the pages of the poem, It's

339
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:54.199
kind of interesting that there are some
very well known facets of the story that

340
00:34:54.280 --> 00:35:01.480
are not in the poem. The
abduction of Helen by the Trojan Prince,

341
00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:09.920
which is the effective cause of the
war, the Achilles heel that is supposed

342
00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:17.000
to more or less protect Achilles,
that's not in the Iliad, and the

343
00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:22.039
fall of Fray is not with the
wooden hers is not in the Iliad,

344
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:28.880
though they are referred to in the
Odyssey, but just referred to, so

345
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:36.800
they're common knowledge, deeply known in
the culture, passed on as great story

346
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:45.440
from many generations. Yeah. Wow, I'm more and more excited throughout this

347
00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:50.440
conversation. For I just I'm so
excited for this. I wanted to Sharon,

348
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:53.000
did you know this is your first
time meeting Catherine as well? Right?

349
00:35:53.920 --> 00:36:04.000
Yes, um, we well we
met briefly within the Zoom space several

350
00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:07.320
several weeks ago. I just wanted
to you know, seeing as you're also

351
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:10.719
a representative of the world God and
if you if you had any questions that

352
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:15.719
you would like to kind of give
people more context about the event, And

353
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:19.559
then I think it would be good
to tell people how they can get involved.

354
00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:31.079
Right, Well, I think a
lot of people do have the question,

355
00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:37.039
and I would be very interested in
what Catherine has to say to this.

356
00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:45.320
What do they want to hear about
all this Warfore, I get it,

357
00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:55.320
it's real, but it's so ikey. Life is short. Why do

358
00:36:55.440 --> 00:37:05.760
we want to immerse ourselves in the
dark side of the human soul? That

359
00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:14.519
is a superb question, and it's
always asked and it's never never fully answered

360
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:21.599
John, because it can be,
it cannot be. War is a given

361
00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:27.519
to Homer, and I think it
is unfortunately, or it seems to be.

362
00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:32.840
Although I must say I'm very grateful
to Monto Bideo for Clay saying that

363
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:40.920
our organization is a movement for peace
and a movement against violence. And I

364
00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:45.800
do feel that as a Homer,
even though he's thought of as a war

365
00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:54.119
poet, and that he writes as
eloquently about peace and the virtues of civility

366
00:37:54.800 --> 00:38:05.000
and order and comfort and love as
he as he does about slitting throats and

367
00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:12.559
so forth. But he's fearless.
There, there's no question he is fearless.

368
00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:22.480
That's the dirty side that Simon was
referring to. And uh, there's

369
00:38:22.519 --> 00:38:34.039
just no escaping the sense of tragedy
in this work. It is tragic for

370
00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:37.800
everybody, tragic for the women,
tragic for the children, tragic for old

371
00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:44.039
King Priam who's losing one boy after
the other. And finally, the great

372
00:38:44.679 --> 00:38:52.760
and noble, clearheaded, sweet Hector, who gets the last line. I

373
00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:59.400
could cry just even saying so.
Hector is simply a good person. He

374
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:07.719
is so true, and when he
dies, we know that Troy is doomed,

375
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:16.079
along with all the people that I
hinted there. So my answer to

376
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:22.280
your question is that it is not
just warpome that that is a mistake.

377
00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:32.159
It is a much bigger canvas of
human endeavor and suffering and joy and uh

378
00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:43.719
simple simple efforts, simple farming,
simple planting, simple reaping, it making

379
00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:50.840
mistakes, paying for them dearly,
all of that is just a It really

380
00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:58.760
is a big canvas of much more
than just ugly battle. Hormer hates war.

381
00:39:58.840 --> 00:40:05.400
I have no doubt about out it
and those beautiful as symbolise Bob is

382
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:12.639
referring to show that there's violence even
in peace. There is there's violence in

383
00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:20.039
nature, but there is great tenderness
in our experience of being alive also,

384
00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:29.800
And that's all in the pom Believe
me. Oh gosh, that's just lovely.

385
00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:39.199
Sorry, oh I beg your pardon. Would you like to explain to

386
00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:45.199
the listeners how they can attend this
event, how they can get involved.

387
00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:53.760
Absolutely. If you can go to
the website International Readers at Homer, it

388
00:40:53.840 --> 00:41:00.000
will pop up on the home page
this Grace Cathedral event. It will describe

389
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:05.960
the program of the day and an
easy clip on purchasing tickets. So if

390
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:12.719
you purchase the ticket, you are
eligible to be a reader and we will

391
00:41:12.760 --> 00:41:17.920
distribute a passage. It's about three
or four minutes worth of reading in advance,

392
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:22.039
so that you can practice it.
You can be a listener. We

393
00:41:22.119 --> 00:41:27.679
will have food and snacks for the
whole day. There's going to be wonderful

394
00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:37.360
music interspersed throughout this reading, which
Sharon Simon Terry and then from Greece.

395
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:45.880
We'll be working in these musicians that
we have miraculously collected helping us interpret and

396
00:41:47.199 --> 00:41:53.639
provide some background mood for there's a
range of human condition that Catherine has described.

397
00:41:54.440 --> 00:42:01.519
So it's a very full day that
we're just excited about having as many

398
00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:07.239
people joined, as many different voices
come in. Purchase a ticket, we'll

399
00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:10.880
get you a passage and we'll get
everybody up on the stage to read,

400
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:16.599
you know, for their three minutes
of glory, carrying the flame for a

401
00:42:16.679 --> 00:42:25.039
tiny minute. Yes, for great
art, so beautiful. You know,

402
00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:29.719
this is going to be such a
phenomenal event. Thank you so much to

403
00:42:29.800 --> 00:42:34.079
all of you, Katherine and Bob
and Joyce for putting in the work to

404
00:42:34.119 --> 00:42:39.599
put something like this together. Like
what a phenomenal effort and just such a

405
00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:45.400
worthy thing to spend your money on, such a worthy thing to spend your

406
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:50.199
time on. And I am so
excited to get up there and to meet

407
00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:53.199
you all in person than you have
this great event, So thank you and

408
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:58.800
Joyce. Did you have one more
thing, one quick thing as a special

409
00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:04.800
bonus, The translator Carolin Alexander coming
to the event, and she's going to

410
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:12.119
be our opening reader, reading the
first the invocation in Homeric read. We're

411
00:43:12.119 --> 00:43:17.400
going to have an actual flavor of
what homer experience as well. Simon,

412
00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:23.679
may I just at one comment that
is there. You cannot do it wrong.

413
00:43:24.119 --> 00:43:30.239
You cannot read in a way that
will embarrass you. Even if you

414
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:36.239
fumble, it's fine. It doesn't
matter if you just pronounce. It doesn't

415
00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:40.840
matter if you read weekly. It's
only for three minutes, so it doesn't

416
00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:49.159
matter too much. And I want
to urge people who are afraid of public

417
00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:57.000
speaking that it's quite doable and you
can't mess it up very easily. There's

418
00:43:57.039 --> 00:44:02.239
just it's just all good. Yeah. Yeah, Well amen to that,

419
00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:06.559
and amen to everything that's been said
today. This has just been such a

420
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:12.320
beautiful conversation. I want to thank
thank you Catherine for your leadership in this

421
00:44:12.559 --> 00:44:15.440
and for just the beautiful spirit that
you bring to this. I can tell

422
00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:20.639
that this is such a passion for
you and and Joyce and Bob. It's

423
00:44:20.719 --> 00:44:22.760
it's a pleasure. I'm so grateful
for the work that you're putting into this.

424
00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:25.360
And Sharon, I can't believe.
Thank you so much for inviting me

425
00:44:25.400 --> 00:44:30.800
to this. What a crazy thing
to be this. This is going to

426
00:44:30.840 --> 00:44:35.000
be incredible. So everybody who's listening
to the podcast, if you're in the

427
00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:37.239
area, if you know you're going
to be around, or if you live

428
00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:39.480
close by, or if you're not, get a ticket and we would love

429
00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:47.639
to see you there and consider this
have been wholeheartedly endorsed by Philosophical Society.

430
00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:53.119
Joyce, sorry, I'm sorry,
but we can't wait to hear your DIGERI

431
00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:59.480
do y oh look, it's gonna
be fun. But I can't wait to

432
00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:01.159
hear what it sound. It's like
in the you know, and it's just

433
00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:07.119
the music in a cathedral like this. Yeah, it's an honor. It's

434
00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:09.639
such an honor. And Sharon,
thank you for bringing me in on this.

435
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:15.719
Yeah, of course. I also
I want to make sure that everyone

436
00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:22.440
knows too, because Simon is can
be very humble. He's a professional jazz

437
00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:32.159
pianist, trumpet player, and let
me puse that hanger hang on. Piano,

438
00:45:32.320 --> 00:45:39.719
I would say is definitely not my
most proficient. And anybody who knows

439
00:45:39.800 --> 00:45:44.320
my piano playing and they're also a
jazz pianist, they're going to be saying,

440
00:45:44.360 --> 00:45:49.880
hang on, what's going on here? But I appreciate the compliment.

441
00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:55.679
Share, thank you so much.
Okay, So Nathan San Francisco, that's

442
00:45:55.760 --> 00:46:07.719
right, and trying to find children
to read IF Saturday, and we're going

443
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:12.039
to have links in the episode here
so the people can go directly there find

444
00:46:12.079 --> 00:46:15.920
out more information. And once again, thank you all. I'm going to

445
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:17.840
stop the recording now, but I'm
sure we will stay on for another couple

446
00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:23.639
of minutes, but thank you guys, thanks for listening to this episode.

447
00:46:23.800 --> 00:46:30.280
Of the Walled Garden Podcast. This
show is the central podcast of the Walled

448
00:46:30.360 --> 00:46:37.880
Garden Philosophical Society. To find out
more about our events, services and community,

449
00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:45.320
just go to the Waldgarden dot com. Until next time, we wish

450
00:46:45.400 --> 00:47:31.639
you well as you nourish the gardens
of your mind to sh

