Classic Greek Dramas Will Come To Life At F. H. Library

Queens Library has announced that it is hosting a new free program series, “Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives: A National Conversation.” The first program will be held this Thursday night, Apr. 14, in Forest Hills.

As announced, the event will be held at 6 p.m. at the Queens Library at Forest Hills branch, located at 108- 19 71st Ave. Admission is free.

The program will include a classical drama brought to life by the Aquila Theatre Company in a staged reading of scenes from Homer’s Odyssey, Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Ajax and Euripides’ Herakles.

It will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Professory Emily Fairey of Queens College.

“A play becomes ‘classical’ because we recognize after a time that it transcends the culture it was created for. It has the power still to provoke that central question of what it means to be human,” said Peter Meineck, program and artistic director of Aquila Theatre and clinical associate professor of classics at New York University.

“Ancient Greeks, Modern Lives” is a collaboration of the Aquila Theater Company, the Urban Libraries Council, the American Philological Association, the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University and the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.. It is a major national humanities program traveling to 100 public libraries and art centers across America with a mis- sion to inspire people to come together to read, see, and think about classical literature and how it continues to influence and invigorateAmerican cultural life.

The program has been made possible by a Chairman’s Special Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Great Ideas Brought to Life; and has received additional support from a major grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.

For more information about this and other programs, services, locations, events and news, visit the Queens Library website, www.queenslibrary.org, or call 1-718-990-0700.