The Blues of Achilles can be performed in a number of different contexts and settings including:
An hour-long complete storytelling piece weaving spoken-word narrative between the 17 songs, suitable for a public event/the general public
A class-length workshop to include selected songs and discussion, suitable for students studying the Iliad and/or war-related texts
A virtual performance and lecture adapted for Zoom or a streaming platform
A lecture/colloquium program to include selected songs and the consideration of academic topics such as classical reception, oral tradition, epic, adaptation, veterans issues, and more
Fees vary based on program and travel costs. Contact Joe here for more information and a booking quote.
Some works and texts that inspired and informed The Blues of Achilles in addition to Homer’s Iliad and can be integrated into performances and workshops include: The Singer of Tales, Albert Lord; The War That Killed Achilles, Caroline Alexander; Achilles Unbound: Multiformity and Tradition in the Homeric Epics, Casey Due; The Best of the Achaeans, Gregory Nagy; The Iliad or The Poem of Force, Simone Weil; On the Iliad, Rachel Bespaloff; All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque; The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien; Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut; Dear America, Letters Home from Vietnam; If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O’Brien; Dispatches, Michael Herr; Achilles in Vietnam, Jonathan Shay; Catch-22, Joseph Heller; Memorial, Alice Oswald; An Iliad, Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare; The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker; The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller; For the Most Beautiful, Emily Hauser; Devils and Dust, Bruce Springsteen; Machine Gun, Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsys; Vietnam Blues, J.B. Lenoir; War is Starting Again, Lightnin’ Hopkins; What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye; Soldier’s Heart, Jacob George (1982 - 2014)