IB Classical Greek students in Rome to live-stream Iliad reading marathon.

St Stephen’s School, located in the heart of historical Rome (Aventine Hill), will host a 24-hour Iliad Reading Marathon on 7-8 February 2025.

This event is organized by IB Classical Greek students Gaia, Indira, Massimo, and Sebastian and our teacher Inge Weustink.

Sponsored by the St Stephen’s Lyceum, we’re calling it a “Homerathon.”

Students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, and special guests will be reading the 24 books of the Iliad in different languages: Homeric Greek, English, Italian, Modern Greek, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Esperanto, American Sign Language, Turkish, Arabic, Latin, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Sardinian, Russian, Icelandic, etc.

A translation in English will be projected on a screen throughout the entire event.

Our goal is to embrace the power of Classics in the Modern Age. Reading the Iliad in different languages, from the Homeric Greek in which it was recited almost 3,000 years ago, to many of the languages we speak today at St Stephen’s, will be a powerful way to reflect on war and peace from antiquity till today.

This event is also connected to St Stephen's School’s year theme: “Peace.”

Homer’s epic about the war between the Greeks and the Trojans can be considered as much a poem about peace as a poem about war.

This project is also curated on an artistic level. We, IB Classical Greek students, are designing booklets containing visual and textual representations of each book of the Iliad for the audience to navigate through.

The atmosphere will be welcoming and informal, with an open forum and interactive 24-hour reading.

The 24-hour Iliad Reading Marathon will start with the reading of book 1 at 18.00 on Friday 7 February.

From then, one book an hour will be read. Book 24 will be read on Saturday 8 February at 17.00.

You are welcome to participate in the whole event or part of it. Food and drink will be available. You can bring a pillow, a blanket, etc.

The “Homerathon”, held at the school, will be live-streamed and recorded.

We hope that many people, from all over the world, will be inspired to participate.

Register for the event here.

Article by Gaia G. and Sebastian S.

St Stephen's School, Via Aventina 3, tel. 065750605, www.sssrome.it.