Homer
Prepares

The Iliad as a series of performances

JAMES McCAUGHEY, performer, and MATTHEW HORSLEY, percussion, present each of the ‘books’ of the iliad as a performance in its own right. 


The twenty-four books are staged over eight nights.

Each night is an entertainment in its own right.

Homer Prepares is a pathway through the poem, reflecting its ancient structures and creating a new, contemporary experience. 

THE FURY OF ACHILLES – THE ARMY MUSTERS

(Books 1 & 2)

A world torn apart.
A world forcibly stitched together again.

COMBAT AND THE BEDROOM – THE WAR BEGINS

(Books 3 & 4)

Love grown cold.
A broken truce.
Fighting starts once more.

A PERFECT DAY – WOMEN AND THE CITY

(Books 5 & 6)

A best of days – Diomedes’ rampage.
The worst of days – Hector leaves the gates.

HECTOR BEYOND THE GATES

(Books 7–12)

Different images of action.
Hector swept forward to the ditch.
Achilles refusing to return.
Animal savagery in the night raid.
Transient splendour as Hector smashes
through the gates.

THE BATTLE FOR THE SHIPS

(Books 13–16)

The massed action of armies.
Fighters stuck together in a day that will never end.
An apocalyptic struggle for the death or survival of the city.

Caught up in the exhilaration and swept to death.
The story of Patroclos.

NAKED IN ARMOUR

(Books 17–19)

The fight over Patroclos’ body.
The making of Achilles’ shield.
The deathliness and magnificence of the hero.

THE GODS ABANDON HECTOR

(Books 20–22)

The hero’s onrush catches up attacker and attacked alike.
The fire of the onslaught destroys the life of the city.
Pursuit turns to outrage; the heroic enterprise destroyed.

THE LAST PASSAGE

(Books 23–24)

Rituals bridge the gap between life and present pain. 
Rituals fail.
A final ritual.
A perilous journey brings the song to rest.

An Imagined Festival

Conversation with James