Classroom Calendar

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/divine-gifts-and-their-terrible-cost-reading-emily-wilsons-new-translation-of-the-iliad/

The famous god whose legs are bent replied,

‘Take heart, dispel these worries from your mind.

I wish that I could hide him far away

from cruel death when harsh fate comes for him

as easily as I can make him armor

so marvelous that any human being

would be astonished at the sight.’

                              —The Iliad, Book 18

Emily Wilson opens the introduction to her thrilling new translation of The Iliad by explaining that it “tells two interwoven stories across its twenty-four books. The first describes the overwhelming anger of a Greek warrior, Achilles, and its catastrophic consequences. The second tell how a brave Trojan warrior, Hector, leave his city and family to attack the Greek invaders—and returns home only after death. […] The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used for both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.”

In this class, we will gain a better understanding of not only these two interwoven stories, but also what the epic poem has to say about its sprawling cast of humans and gods, fate, power, war, love, justice, and more. Focus will be given to the narrative, poetic technique, and the translation itself. We will cover 4 books of the epic per class over the course of 6 weeks and supplement our discussion with the following incisive secondary sources:

“The Iliad, or The Poem of Force” by Simone Weil

“The Iliad as Ethical Thinking: Politics, Pity, And The Operation Of Esteem” by Dean Hammer

“The Poetics of Loss in Greek Epic” by Sheila Murnaghan

“Bitch that I Am”: Self-Blame and Self- Assertion in the Iliad” by Ruby Blondell

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/the-reality-of-the-poem-2-a-workshop-craft-class/

Note: This is an overflow class to meet demand from the first offering.

The aim of this workshop will be to reinvigorate the very foundations of our poetic voice, in tone, form and language—to the best of our abilities. Together we will challenge our ideas of the self and speaker in the poem, opening up new possibilities in our practice. We will look candidly at the so-called autobiographical in poetry, and how playfulness, imagination, dreaming, myth-making and world-building create a closer relation to the truth of our experience than “sticking to the facts” does. Each class will be a workshop discussion of one another’s poems. We’ll look for the most powerful lines to enhance, and where we’re fumbling and weakening. We will read supplementary handout materials between classes and examples of poets whose work inspires and guides us as writers. This will be a challenging but supporting workshop.

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/divine-gifts-and-their-terrible-cost-reading-emily-wilsons-new-translation-of-the-iliad/

The famous god whose legs are bent replied,

‘Take heart, dispel these worries from your mind.

I wish that I could hide him far away

from cruel death when harsh fate comes for him

as easily as I can make him armor

so marvelous that any human being

would be astonished at the sight.’

                              —The Iliad, Book 18

Emily Wilson opens the introduction to her thrilling new translation of The Iliad by explaining that it “tells two interwoven stories across its twenty-four books. The first describes the overwhelming anger of a Greek warrior, Achilles, and its catastrophic consequences. The second tell how a brave Trojan warrior, Hector, leave his city and family to attack the Greek invaders—and returns home only after death. […] The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used for both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.”

In this class, we will gain a better understanding of not only these two interwoven stories, but also what the epic poem has to say about its sprawling cast of humans and gods, fate, power, war, love, justice, and more. Focus will be given to the narrative, poetic technique, and the translation itself. We will cover 4 books of the epic per class over the course of 6 weeks and supplement our discussion with the following incisive secondary sources:

“The Iliad, or The Poem of Force” by Simone Weil

“The Iliad as Ethical Thinking: Politics, Pity, And The Operation Of Esteem” by Dean Hammer

“The Poetics of Loss in Greek Epic” by Sheila Murnaghan

“Bitch that I Am”: Self-Blame and Self- Assertion in the Iliad” by Ruby Blondell

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/the-reality-of-the-poem-2-a-workshop-craft-class/

Note: This is an overflow class to meet demand from the first offering.

The aim of this workshop will be to reinvigorate the very foundations of our poetic voice, in tone, form and language—to the best of our abilities. Together we will challenge our ideas of the self and speaker in the poem, opening up new possibilities in our practice. We will look candidly at the so-called autobiographical in poetry, and how playfulness, imagination, dreaming, myth-making and world-building create a closer relation to the truth of our experience than “sticking to the facts” does. Each class will be a workshop discussion of one another’s poems. We’ll look for the most powerful lines to enhance, and where we’re fumbling and weakening. We will read supplementary handout materials between classes and examples of poets whose work inspires and guides us as writers. This will be a challenging but supporting workshop.

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/divine-gifts-and-their-terrible-cost-reading-emily-wilsons-new-translation-of-the-iliad/

The famous god whose legs are bent replied,

‘Take heart, dispel these worries from your mind.

I wish that I could hide him far away

from cruel death when harsh fate comes for him

as easily as I can make him armor

so marvelous that any human being

would be astonished at the sight.’

                              —The Iliad, Book 18

Emily Wilson opens the introduction to her thrilling new translation of The Iliad by explaining that it “tells two interwoven stories across its twenty-four books. The first describes the overwhelming anger of a Greek warrior, Achilles, and its catastrophic consequences. The second tell how a brave Trojan warrior, Hector, leave his city and family to attack the Greek invaders—and returns home only after death. […] The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used for both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.”

In this class, we will gain a better understanding of not only these two interwoven stories, but also what the epic poem has to say about its sprawling cast of humans and gods, fate, power, war, love, justice, and more. Focus will be given to the narrative, poetic technique, and the translation itself. We will cover 4 books of the epic per class over the course of 6 weeks and supplement our discussion with the following incisive secondary sources:

“The Iliad, or The Poem of Force” by Simone Weil

“The Iliad as Ethical Thinking: Politics, Pity, And The Operation Of Esteem” by Dean Hammer

“The Poetics of Loss in Greek Epic” by Sheila Murnaghan

“Bitch that I Am”: Self-Blame and Self- Assertion in the Iliad” by Ruby Blondell

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/the-reality-of-the-poem-2-a-workshop-craft-class/

Note: This is an overflow class to meet demand from the first offering.

The aim of this workshop will be to reinvigorate the very foundations of our poetic voice, in tone, form and language—to the best of our abilities. Together we will challenge our ideas of the self and speaker in the poem, opening up new possibilities in our practice. We will look candidly at the so-called autobiographical in poetry, and how playfulness, imagination, dreaming, myth-making and world-building create a closer relation to the truth of our experience than “sticking to the facts” does. Each class will be a workshop discussion of one another’s poems. We’ll look for the most powerful lines to enhance, and where we’re fumbling and weakening. We will read supplementary handout materials between classes and examples of poets whose work inspires and guides us as writers. This will be a challenging but supporting workshop.

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/divine-gifts-and-their-terrible-cost-reading-emily-wilsons-new-translation-of-the-iliad/

The famous god whose legs are bent replied,

‘Take heart, dispel these worries from your mind.

I wish that I could hide him far away

from cruel death when harsh fate comes for him

as easily as I can make him armor

so marvelous that any human being

would be astonished at the sight.’

                              —The Iliad, Book 18

Emily Wilson opens the introduction to her thrilling new translation of The Iliad by explaining that it “tells two interwoven stories across its twenty-four books. The first describes the overwhelming anger of a Greek warrior, Achilles, and its catastrophic consequences. The second tell how a brave Trojan warrior, Hector, leave his city and family to attack the Greek invaders—and returns home only after death. […] The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used for both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.”

In this class, we will gain a better understanding of not only these two interwoven stories, but also what the epic poem has to say about its sprawling cast of humans and gods, fate, power, war, love, justice, and more. Focus will be given to the narrative, poetic technique, and the translation itself. We will cover 4 books of the epic per class over the course of 6 weeks and supplement our discussion with the following incisive secondary sources:

“The Iliad, or The Poem of Force” by Simone Weil

“The Iliad as Ethical Thinking: Politics, Pity, And The Operation Of Esteem” by Dean Hammer

“The Poetics of Loss in Greek Epic” by Sheila Murnaghan

“Bitch that I Am”: Self-Blame and Self- Assertion in the Iliad” by Ruby Blondell

More details: https://classroom.ruthstonehouse.org/product/divine-gifts-and-their-terrible-cost-reading-emily-wilsons-new-translation-of-the-iliad/

The famous god whose legs are bent replied,

‘Take heart, dispel these worries from your mind.

I wish that I could hide him far away

from cruel death when harsh fate comes for him

as easily as I can make him armor

so marvelous that any human being

would be astonished at the sight.’

                              —The Iliad, Book 18

Emily Wilson opens the introduction to her thrilling new translation of The Iliad by explaining that it “tells two interwoven stories across its twenty-four books. The first describes the overwhelming anger of a Greek warrior, Achilles, and its catastrophic consequences. The second tell how a brave Trojan warrior, Hector, leave his city and family to attack the Greek invaders—and returns home only after death. […] The beautiful word minunthadios, ‘short-lived,’ is used for both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.”

In this class, we will gain a better understanding of not only these two interwoven stories, but also what the epic poem has to say about its sprawling cast of humans and gods, fate, power, war, love, justice, and more. Focus will be given to the narrative, poetic technique, and the translation itself. We will cover 4 books of the epic per class over the course of 6 weeks and supplement our discussion with the following incisive secondary sources:

“The Iliad, or The Poem of Force” by Simone Weil

“The Iliad as Ethical Thinking: Politics, Pity, And The Operation Of Esteem” by Dean Hammer

“The Poetics of Loss in Greek Epic” by Sheila Murnaghan

“Bitch that I Am”: Self-Blame and Self- Assertion in the Iliad” by Ruby Blondell