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A reading, viewing, and discussion program, at various sites in the Inland Empire region of California, on classical literature and the Greek-Trojan wars in dialogue with letters, articles, literature and documentaries about more recent conflicts.

Rumination about war has long been a significant part of public, civic culture in the West, as expressed in ancient Greek works such as Homer’s Iliad, Sophocles’ Philoctetes, and Euripides’ Hecuba -- which were recited or performed in the context of civic festivals. Using these ancient Greek texts as part of a dialogue, our proposed NEH program seeks to connect contemporary veterans to this longer tradition for thinking about the experience of war. Our program will foster conversations about some of the deepest, most intense and profound human experiences of fear, danger, risk, trust, betrayal, rage, alienation, guilt, loyalty and comradeship that human beings ever face – by means of fiction, documentary sources, and through the lives of military veterans. At each discussion, we will pair letters, articles, and documentary sources from more contemporary conflicts (the Vietnam War, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Syrian Civil War) thematically with ancient sources.