Books that Changed Humanity is a book club with a difference.

Each month, the Humanities Research Centre hosts an expert from one of a variety of disciplines, who will introduce and lead the discussion of a major historical text. All of these texts, which are drawn from a variety of cultural traditions, has had a formative influence on society and humanity. The series aims to highlight and revisit those books which have informed the way we understand ourselves, both individually and collectively, as human beings.

The series aims to bring together readers from all backgrounds and vocations. Individuals from beyond and within the university community are warmly invited to come, listen, and share their thoughts about some great works of literature over a friendly glass of wine. Though the events will be casual in nature, RSVP is essential, both for catering purposes and for the distribution of preliminary reading materials for each text.

In the fourth event, Professor Emeritus Elizabeth Minchin (Classics) will introduce and discuss the Iliad. This foundational text of the Western canon offers a window on the imaginative world of early Greece, a world shaped by its own particular societal structures, but enlivened by human interactions - and passions - which we recognise as being as complex and nuanced as our own.

Prof. Em. Elizabeth Minchin has held teaching and research positions at the ANU since 1990. She teaches Ancient Greek and Latin language and literature and social history; she has won an ANU teaching award and a national Carrick Citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. In 2001 she published Homer and the Resources of Memory (OUP) and in 2007, Homeric Voices (OUP).

Suggested Readings (& a note from the speaker):

Selections from The Iliad of Homer, translated by Richard Lattimore, University of Chicago Press, 1951

Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.

RSVP essential. Let us know you're coming via Eventbrite.

Learn more, and view the series program, on the main series webpage.