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Homer’s Iliad: A Three-Part Course with Dr. Joseph Luzzi
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Joseph Luzzi received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a Professor of Comparative Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College, where he has taught since 2002 after being a visiting faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. A frequent contributor to publications including the New York Times, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education, he is the author of 5 books, including "My Two Italies," a New York Times Editors' Choice selection and "In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love," a Vanity Fair “Must-Read” selection. His work has been translated into multiple languages and his many awards include a Yale College Teaching Prize, Dante Society of America Essay Prize, and Wallace Fellowship at Villa I Tatti, Harvard's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. In 2017 he was named Cittadino Onorario/Honorary Citizen in Acri, Calabria, his Italian parents' birthplace. His next book is "Botticelli's Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance," which will be published by W. W. Norton. Professor Luzzi is the founder of the Virtual Book Club, an online community of readers dedicated to exploring some of the best books ever written. Learn more at JosephLuzzi.com.
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
60 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
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Dr. Luzzi is enthusiastic and inspirational as he brings The Iliad to life and into the contemporary world to show us why this story is still so relevant and powerful. An excellent series - highly recommended.
This is one of the best on-line courses I've taken, and I've taken quite a few.. Dr. Luzzi is an extraordinary teacher whose enthusiasm for his subject is infectious. His knowledge of his subject is deep, and his exploration of it is breathtakingly good.
Of course I knew of the Iliad and of Achilles but this was my first encounter with the text. It was time well spent and Dr Luzzi was a wonderful guide. Book 24 couldnt have its power without the gore and ferociousness of the earlier part of the song. That last book , as Dr Luzzi says, is a high point in Western literature - so moving and so human.
I look forward to the Odyssey - another poem I've not encountered textually , though well known in its plot and charaterization.
Thank you for a remarkable journey
Anyone who has not read the Iliad or read it ages ago should take Prof. Luzzi’s passionate, entertaining, knowledgeable, and relevant walk through the Iliad.