Homer & Moses: Poets of their People October 18, 2012

Oct 18 & 25 at 7 to 8:30pm and Oct 21 at 2pm

Learn about Berkeley Rep's production of An Iliad & see the play with us! Imagine this... a religion that focuses on this world, not the next; a theology with angry gods who interact with humans. Now imagine that tradition is perpetuated in an illiterate society by certain men who sing the story in formulaic music and words. Both Homer's Iliad and the Five Books of Moses could be described this way. How did the Iliad capture the essence of Greek thinking such that it was retained and passed down for centuries? How does it express the Greek theology and ideas of the relationship between man and the divine? In time, the gods of Homer's epic poem were abandoned and today are more familiar to the general public as cartoon characters, while Homer's masterpiece is primarily read by academics. But Moses' Torah is read daily around the world and continues to shape the lives of millions of Jews who still identify the Hebrew Bible's message as an eternal one. How did the god of Moses surpass His primitive beginnings? Why and how did the Hebrew Bible survive the test of time? Join a Classics professor, a rabbi, and a theater docent to explore the Iliad and its connection to the Hebrew Bible. We will attend the afternoon performance of An Iliad at Berkeley Rep.

We will meet Thursdays, Oct 18 and 25 at Lehrhaus, and Sunday, Oct. 21 at Berkeley Rep. Students must purchase their own ticket to the 2pm show of An Iliad on Oct. 21. We will meet at 1pm for a docent talk about the production prior to the performance.

Official Website: http://catalog.lehrhaus.org/course/2012/fall/A250-LJ/