On the occasion of World Poetry Day on Friday, 21 March, 2025, the Acropolis Museum invites visitors to its courtyard to attend a marathon listening session of Homer's epic Iliad, organized by the THIRD PROGRAM of ERT broadcaster.

The event will be broadcasted on the radio of the THIRD PROGRAM of Ert and entrance to the Museum courtyard will be free for visitors to watch.

LIVE STREAMING: https://www.ertecho.gr/radio/trito/

From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., students of Classical Philology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, under the philological supervision of Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Philology Vasilis P. Vertoudakis, will recite Homer's Iliad — twelve selected rhapsodies from Alpha (A) to Omega (Ω), in Modern Greek translation. Part of the first rhapsody will be recited by the General Director of the Acropolis Museum, Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis.

The Homeric epic, the oldest work not only in Greek but also in European literature, dates back to around 750 B.C. and preserves the myths, values, and ideals of the ancient world. From Achilles' heroism to Troy's fate, the Iliad continues to inspire, move, and raise questions about war, glory, and human nature. Few works combine in such a unique way the brutality of war with human emotion, the fears, the hopes, and the passions of its protagonists.

The Iliad belongs to the tradition of oral poetry and is profoundly auditory in nature, having functioned as a performance text during major festivals such as the Panathenaic festival, held in honor of the goddess Athena in Periclean Athens, as well as at other celebrations in various regions of the Greek world.