Traipsing across the Lawn yesterday, you might have seen the gathering around the familiar sight of Homer's statue or heard a voice ringing out: "pray to the gods, all the Trojan women."
It was the Classics Club's birthday celebration for Homer, legendary Greek poet of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." It resembled a campout, with a grounded green tarp holding various victuals (a bag of lollipops and a large vanilla-frosted cake), and a blue sweat-shirted student pacing, giving a dramatic rendition of the Trojan war.
Fourth-year College student and Classics Club president Kristen Boose said the club "just got started this semester, so we were looking for an activity that would be available to all University students."
The festivity included a 24-hour reading of "The Iliad" in front of the statue, which started at 9 a.m. yesterday and is to finish at 9 a.m. today. Third-year College student Greg Butler sat comfortably in a portable green chair as he listened to the oration. "'The Iliad' was traditionally an oral poem," he said. "So this is the best way to hear it."
For all the hype surrounding the mysterious figure of Homer, history could be incorrect in ascribing the two great epic poems to his penmanship.
It was a time when poets "spoke the poem in front of a live audience and changed it every time they recited it," said fourth-year College student and Classics club member Carolynn Roncaglia.
But the uncertainty of the situation didn't detract from the celebration. The club painted both sides of Beta Bridge with "Happy 2,802nd Birthday Homer," in English on one-side and in Greek on the other.
Club members hoped to hold funeral games, like a race across the Lawn, later in the afternoon if the mud didn't get in the way, Boose said.
"Funeral games were athletic events that are held in honor of someone who has just died," Roncaglia said. It was part of "celebrating the memory of a person."
Throughout the course of the day, interested passersby stopped and listened. Even though it started to drizzle, the reader of "The Iliad" heroically trudged on, moving himself under the protective circle of an umbrella hanging from the statue. Homer himself was decked out in a cone-shaped birthday hat and honored with a black ribbon taped to his chest, proclaiming "literary ancient."
"For a blind man he had some pretty visual metaphors," said Butler, skeptical of Homer's authorship, yet still enjoying the homage to "a great piece of literature."
While club members were preparing for the scheduled cake-eating and birthday song singing, the steady voice, heralding back to the days of traveling oral poets continued: "That's why your spirit brought you back to Troy ..."
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | YesterdayWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 3 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
