The Homeric Project was created by Dr. Gary Stickel to introduce new audiences to the ancient Greek masterpieces, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer. These two epics, by Greece's greatest and most influential artist, are the oldest books of Western Civilization. With the Bible, they have been the greatest influence on art and literature for the last three thousand years. Our mission is to introduce these classics to children of all ages as an essential part of their education.
Dr. Stickel has written a play in verse for the performance
of each epic. He wants children to understand that Homer's original epics were poems, not the prose that had been previously presented. His two plays ("The ODYSSEY" and "The ILIAD")have been performed at various venues such as the prestigious Mark Taper Auditorium at the Los Angeles Central Library.
In addition to the plays, The Homeric Project has produced the first ballet based on Homer's "ILIAD" which was performed at Pepperdine University in 2005. Currently Dr. Stickel is collaborating to produce the first full-length and comprehensive opera (musical event) based on "the ILIAD" entitled "ILIOS" (the ancient name for Troy).
The Odyssey play has received enthusiastic responses from all the audiences who have seen it to date. Please click on the "Media Reviews" button to see both our newspaper review and reviews from various prominent persons including the Consul General of Greece.
Please note that the plays have authentic costumes created by Teresa Armacost, which are m
ade in the style of the Greek Bronze Age (circa 1200 BC), the time in which Homer's stories took place. Also Dr. Stickel is painting a series of illustrations for both "the ILIAD" and "the ODYSSEY." The elements in the paintings are based on actual ancient murals, pottery designs and gem stone designs from the Bronze Age of Greece.
The Odyssey play is a one-hour performance piece based on Dr. Stickel's poem (see below for first page). Whereas Homer's original ODYSSEY was written in 12,000 lines of poetry (in the Dactylic Hexameter style), Dr. Stickel's version is much shorter at about 500 lines of poetry written in simple rhyming couplets. The play is performed by ten professional actors who are wearing authentic costumes. Please click the "Media Reviews" button to see the enthusiastic reviews of their performances. Audiences have found the play to be a highly enjoyable introduction to Homer's classic epic.
The play's text was developed from a shortened version of the 35 page-long poem by Dr. Stickel. It was shortened to make the play of a length more amenable to elementary and high school time periods. Children of all ages have have embraced the play for both its
entertainment and educational value.
The ILIAD play is about an hour long and is based on Dr. Stickel's 35 page ILIAD poem (see first page below). It tells the story of Homer's ILIAD of how the Trojan War came about, the ten year long was itself and how it ended. It differs from Homer's ILIAD in that is goes beyond the funeral rites for Hector. It also describes how Odysseus created the famous Trojan horse and how it was utilized to bring about the fall of the city. That latter section is based on Book II of Virgil's Aeneid.
Ten professional actors portray all the captivating characters of this greatest of epics including Achilles, greatest of the Greek warriors, King Menelaus and High King Agamemnon and the clever-crafty Odysseus. On the Trojan side the play depicts King Priam, Queen Hecuba, Cassandra, tortured with the gift of prophesy, Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors and the beautiful Helen
of Troy, the cause of the most famous war of ancient times. The play also has the intervening gods and Zeus, king of the gods, Hera, queen of the gods, Athena, goddess of wisdom and defensive war and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who helped prince Paris of Troy abduct Helen from Sparta which caused the war. The play is a short introduction to Homer's great epic story which took him 16,000 lines of poetry to write.
The Iliad Play is based on the 35 page poem written by Dr. Stickel. The first page of his poem is presented below. His poem has been commended for its readability, the way it condenses the story and for a clear presentation of Homer's original story. Homer wrote his original poem in the form of poetry called dactylic hexameter verse. Dr. Stickel wrote his poem in simple rhyming couplets. He wrote the poem for children of all ages hence its simplicity. And yet he retained elements of Homer's style such as his use of epithets (such as swift-footed Achilles or man-killer Hector). Also, it should be noted. that Dr. Stickel wrote his poem in a simple linear fashion whereas Homer wrote his in the sophisticated "in medias res", which means "in the middle of the story" where flashbac
ks are used to refer to the beginning of the story. Also, Homer did not end the Iliad with the Trojan Horse and the Fall of the City of Troy, but rather with the Mourning of the Trojans of the Death of Hector.
The Theatre of Homer is envisioned to be a campus of interrelated buildings, structures and gardens all to serve the purpose of introducing international visitors to Greece's greatest artist via stunning presentations of operas, plays, poetry, dance and research. All of the architecture will be in the compelling style of the great Bronze Age Palace of Knossos which looks at once modern and ancient. The whole cultural complex will be a very successful attraction for tourists from around the world. The Theatre of Homer campus will include the following elements:1. The Propylon Gate House (which will have the name "Theatre of Homer" inscribed in marble above the main doorway and will have a marble bust of Homer to greet all visitors inside it.)
2. The great Theatre of Homer itself designed to hold a few thousand people with state of the art sound, visual projection systems and Deus ex Machina systems. The building will be central to the main courtyard. It will primarily perform, on a yearly festival basis (in the manner of the Bayreuth, Germany festival for Wagner) the trilogy of operas: "ILIOS", "THE ODYSSEY", and THE AENEID" (by Virgil which is essentially a sequel to the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY.) In this manner people will see not only what has been the national epic of Greece for 2,800 years but also, inspired by Homer, what became epic of ancient Rome (the AENEID).
3. The Tholos Theatre will be built in the style of the so-called "Treasury of Atreus" at Mycenae, with its Bronze Age corbell-roofed dome (with its wonderful acoustics), the Tholos Theatre will allow performances of the ancient Greek and modern plays inspired by Homer.
4. The Library of Homer will be a research center for Homeric Studies. It will house all relevant books on the subject. It will have state of the art book preservation capabilities and will have modern computer technology that will facilitate, for example, teleconferencing of scholars around the world to hold virtual symposia on Homeric Research. The Library will have its own, eventually prestigious, publication series that would also address relevant art and archaeological research.
5. The Garden of the Gods will be four acres in extent (as mentioned for King Alchinous' garden in "The Odyssey"). It will include all plants and flowers mentioned by Homer in both his epics. There will be modern statues of the principal gods and goddesses (again in Bronze Age Greek styles), and in front of each statue the sacred plant associated by the ancients with each deity: Zeus - the oak tree; Athena - the olive tree; Aphrodite - the rose; and Apollo - with the sacred laurel (note both common and scientific names of each plant will be provided). The garden plan will also reflect the following ancient quotation: "… their luxuriant trees are always in the prime, pomegranates and pears, and apples glowing red … and last, there are two springs, one rippling in channels over the whole orchard - the other, flanking it, rushes under the palace gates to bubble up in front of the lofty roofs …"
-Homer, The Odyssey, Robert Fagles, trans.
6. The Maria Calles School of Opera where Greek students are encouraged to develop their talents.
7. The Melina Mercouri School of Acting where the stars of tomorrow are encouraged.
8. The Nikos Kazantzakis School of Writing where the poets, novelists, playwrights and screenwriters of tomorrow will be encouraged.
9. The Museion will be a small but beautiful, museum outlier to the National Museum of Greece. Inside artifacts (pottery, sculpture, etc.) will be displayed with a theme of the ILIAD or ODYSSEY. Also on display would be the principal costumes from the operas on fine manikins (also the armor, weapons and Jewelry produced for the shows).
10. The Exedra (semi-circular marble benches). These will be deployed around the campus and will provide small venues for poetry readings (both ancient and modern) and for philosophical discussions. Also Ancient musical instruments can be performed at these small venues for
the joy of visitors.
11. The Symposium Restaurant will be a world-class beautifully decorated restaurant that will showcase the best cuisine of Greece (both past and present).
12. The Cafeteria will be an eating facility will provide modest-priced eating far affordable to all visitors to the campus.
13. The Gift Shop will be large and well appointed, shop will have the best selection of artifact replicas (from the National Museum), jewelry (e.g. the "blood-stone necklace of Helen of Troy") and the best selection of books (both popular and scholarly) for the discerning visitors.
Taken together, the THEATRE OF HOMER campus will inspire the world with the great contributions Greece has made to world culture. It will undoubtedly be a great tourist attraction and will further inspire the world's tourists to visit the many other compelling destinations throughout mainland Greece and its beautiful islands. And it will certainly serve to properly showcase Greece's greatest, most influential , artist: HOMER.
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