PPLD will explore the theme Homecoming: The Return of the Warrior. It is the aim of this thematic unit to bring the veteran community and public together to contribute to something truly important and profoundly moving – a way to understand and appreciate our veterans, to learn from their experiences in the context of these classical works, and to come together as an active audience, watching, listening, and discussing as a shared experience. Greek literature can prove to our veterans that they are not alone, and we in turn have much to learn from our veterans.

Film Screenings: The Best Years of Our Lives
This 1946 film by director William Wyler garnered seven Oscars when first released. The film experiences will be compared and contrasted to experiences of soldiers in Greek classics such as The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, Sons of Athenian Soil, and Odyssey. Discussion groups will be facilitated by noted local scholars Owen Cramer, Marcia Dobson, and Sanjaya Thakur.

• Tue., Feb. 28 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Penrose Library
• Tue., March 6 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Penrose Library
• Tue., March 13 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at East Library

Acting Workshop
Aquila Theatre actors conduct a workshop about staging classical plays.

• Tue., March 20 at 5:30 p.m. at East Library

Staged Readings

The Aquila Theatre will perform a staged reading of scenes from the Greek dramas Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Ajax by Sophocles, Herakles by Euripides, and Odyssey by Homer. The staged readings will be followed by a Town Hall style discussion with Owen Cramer, Professor of Classics at Colorado College.

• Tue., March 20 at 7 p.m. at East Library

Aquila Theatre’s mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number. By presenting a regular season of plays in New York, at international festivals, and touring to approximately seventy American towns and cities a year, Aquila provides access to excellent theatre for people in under-served rural and inner city communities.

Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives: Poetry-Drama-Dialogue is a program that has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life. This program was also made possible by a grant from Colorado Humanities. More information is available at ancientgreeksmodernlives.org.