Homer & Moses: Poets of their People

Join us at the Berkeley Rep production of An Iliad!

Imagine this. . . a religion that focuses on this world, not the next; a theology with angry gods who interact with humans. A tradition that is perpetuated in an illiterate society by men who sing the story in formulaic music and words. This describes both Homer’s Iliad and the Five Books of Moses.
How did the Iliad capture the essence of Greek thinking such that it has been passed down for centuries? How does it express the Greek theology and ideas of the relationship between man and the divine?
How does Moses’ Torah have modern relevance? How did the god of Moses surpass His primitive beginnings while the gods of Olympus did not?

Meets Thursdays, Oct 11 and 18 at Lehrhaus and Sunday, Oct. 21 at Berkeley Rep. Students must purchase their own ticket to the 2pm performance of An Iliad on Oct. 21. We will send you the link for the discount for our group.

The evening on Homer will be taught by UC Berkeley Classics Graduate student, Rachel Lesser. The evening on Torah will be taught by Rabbi Ruth Adar. We will attend the Berkeley Rep play, An Iliad, together and will have a docent’s presentation on this production.

Sign up for the class here. You’ll receive an email with the code to get your reduced price (Entourage) Berkeley Rep ticket.