Student Initiatives: ORMAND (con't.)

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The idea for the Bardic reading is deceptively simple: take a really long, really interesting work of classical literature (preferably of the oral variety), start reading it in shifts about noon, and keep reading it until we’re done. We always read in English, allowing each reader to pick his or her favorite translation. Over the past 12 years the department has had 9 such readings, usually of the Iliad, Odyssey, or Aeneid. Two years ago we braved all of Vergil (excepting juvenilia). Last year we marched at a stately pace through a 12-hour Odyssey. This year students have decided to return to the Iliad, though a suggestion to read Apuleius’ The Golden Ass nearly carried the day.

It is difficult to explain the undeniable charm of this event. In part we enjoy it simply because of the fun that our students have putting it on. In part it is interesting to note how these well-known texts are different when listened to aloud: I find, for example, that the long, endless catalogues of death in the Iliad suddenly take on new and fascinating appeal. And in part it is simply the camaraderie that is created at two in the morning when you realize that you can no longer feel your toes because you are so bone-crushingly tired, and that you still have four books to go. Based on experience, we know that this year’s Iliad will take about 16 hours; we invite you to drop in any time between noon and, oh, say 4:00 am if you’d like to join us.

Gluttons all things Oberlinian can find various updates on our department, as well as pictures of some of the notorious figures mentioned here & of the last Bardic Reading on our web page. This page is updated sporadically and inconsistently, but is rarely more than a year out of date.