The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest, extant literary work. It was written before any/all of the books of the Bible and predates Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey by some 1500 years.

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Dates:

Wednesdays, February 14, 21, 28

Time:   10 to noon

Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy

Chapel Hill, NC

Cost: $30.00

Instructor:

Blaine Paxton Hall (Bio & CV on website)

 

Participants will enjoy afternoon High Tea and Talk, in the British style.   

Date

August 26, Saturday

Time:  3 to  5 pm

Location:

A private home in Fearrington Village

Limited to 6 participants

Cost:  $40.00

 

Formal debate can be traced to the philosophers and scholars of ancient Greek as a means of critical inquiry.

We will look at various formats of formal debate, skills of effective debate, and examples of great historical debates, such as the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 and the Wm. F. Buckley v. James Baldwin 1962

 
Dates:

2 December 2023

13 January 2024

Time:  2 to 3:30 pm

Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

Instructor: 

Blaine Paxton Hall

(Bio & CV on website)

Cost:  Free & open to the public

 

An  historical overview of gender variant persons in art, ancient and modern history, mythology and cross-culturally. Presentation will  Include many slides and photo examples.  Mr. Hall recently presented this at Duke OLLI Symposia on Feb 14.

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Date:

May 13th, Saturday

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Time:

10 am to noon

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Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

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Speaker:

Blaine Paxton Hall

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Cost: 

Donations to The School of Athens are graciously accepted

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We will analyze several examples of classic film in these genres:  

Film Noir, Westerns, Science Fiction, Orson Welles.

 

A foundation myth about the founding of Rome--the travels and adventures of  Aeneas, a survivor of the Trojan War--he and his ancestors are said to have founded Rome.

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Dates:

Saturdays:

April 6, 13, 20, 27

Time:  2 to 4 pm

Location:

Chapel in the Pines, 314 Great Ridge Pkwy,

Chapel Hill, NC

Cost:

$40.00

Instructor:

Blaine Paxton Hall (Bio and CV on website)

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A cycle trilogy of Greek tragedy about Orestes and the curse on the House of Atreus, written by the playwright Aeschylus. The Oresteia is the only extant, complete Ancient Greek dramatic trilogy. It was performed at the Greater Dionysia Festival in 458 BC, where it won First  Prize.  Its themes are still relevant today.

Dates:

Wednesdays, September 13 & 20,

Time:  8:30  am to 10:30

Location:

Chapel in the PInes, 314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

 

Instructor:  Professor Al Duncan, UNC Dept of Classics.  Bio & CV:  https://classics.unc.edu/people-3/faculty-2-2/al-duncan/

Cost:  $45.00

 

A cooking class by a Japanese native; participants will enjoy a light meal of authentic Japanese cuisine and sake. 

Dates:

Saturday, date TBD

Time:  11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Location:

A private home in Fearrington Village

Limited to 6 participants

Cost:  $40.00

 

A course to inspire awe and appreciation for the beauty of math, its ubiquity and symmetry in nature, the power of math, and examples of the many applications of math.

 

A foundation story attributed to the blind bard, Homer.  We'll join the mythical hero Odysseus and his mariners, on their adventures, as they journey back home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.   

Dates:

Wednesdays, May 17, 24 & 31

Time:  10:00  am to noon

Location:

Chapel in the Pines,

314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

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Instructor:

Blaine  Paxton Hall

Cost:  $45..00

 

The Iliad  about  the "wrath of Achilles," and is set during the last year of the Trojan War.  Achilles is the protagonist among many characters, male, female, gods and goddesses. Themes include revenge, war, mortality, love, friendship, honor, pride and fate v. free will

Dates:

Wednesdays, Sept 27, Oct 4, 11, 18; Nov 8th

Time:  10:00 am to noon

Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

Limited to 10 participants

Instructor: 

Blaine Paxton Hall

(Bio & CV on website)

Cost:  $45.00

 

Ekphrastic poetry is written upon an inspirational encounter with a work of visual art--such as a painting, a sculpture or a photograph. 

Dates:

TBD 

Time:  10:00 am to noon

Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy, Chapel Hill

Limited to 10 participants

Instructor: 

Blaine Paxton Hall

(Bio & CV on website)

Cost:  $75.00

 

We will look at examples of contemporary and historical literary memoir. We will  learn techniques for writing literary memoir. Participants will receive a free, new copy of Hestia's House, a literary memoir.

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Dates:  TBD

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Location:

Chapel in the Pines

314 Great Ridge Pkwy., Chapel Hill

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Instructor: 

Blaine Paxton Hall

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Cost:

TBD