Pupils of Wapping High at Herodotus workshop by Anthony Ellis

The Herodotus Debate

By Anthony Ellis

Herodotus workshop with Wapping High

The Herodotus Debate is an ongoing series of immersive workshops and performances of Herodotus, taking place in schools and educational institutions to bring the ancient historian to a new audience. We work in multimedia, with storytelling, acting, animation, lecturing, live illustration, and lots of discussion. Each workshop focuses on a single passage which raises an interesting topic that has resonance today: Cultural relativism, War and Peace, Democracy and freedom, Luck and chance in human life, Prophecy and fortune-telling, &c. After hearing a 2,500-year-old voice talk about these timeless questions, we move to general discussion, thinking about the relevance of Herodotus' thoughts to issues today and how different or similar his concerns were to our own.

The project was developed in combination with various professional partners, including actor Chris Elderwood, illustrator Blanche Ellis, creative producer Andrea De La Cruz, and animation specialists Creative Connection.

For more information see: The Herodotus Debate website