The Theatre of Homer is envisioned to be a campus of interrelated buildings, structures and gardens all to serve the purpose of introducing international visitors to Greece's greatest artist via stunning presentations of operas, plays, poetry, dance and research. All of the architecture will be in the compelling style of the great Bronze Age Palace of Knossos which looks at once modern and ancient. The whole cultural complex will be a very successful attraction for tourists from around the world. The Theatre of Homer campus will include the following elements:
1. The Propylon Gate House (which will have the name "Theatre of Homer" inscribed in marble above the main doorway and will have a marble bust of Homer to greet all visitors inside it.)
2. The great Theatre of Homer itself designed to hold a few thousand people with state of the art sound, visual projection systems and Deus ex Machina systems. The building will be central to the main courtyard. It will primarily perform, on a yearly festival basis (in the manner of the Bayreuth, Germany festival for Wagner) the trilogy of operas: "ILIOS", "THE ODYSSEY", and THE AENEID" (by Virgil which is essentially a sequel to the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY.) In this manner people will see not only what has been the national epic of Greece for 2,800 years but also, inspired by Homer, what became epic of ancient Rome (the AENEID).
3. The Tholos Theatre will be built in the style of the so-called "Treasury of Atreus" at Mycenae, with its Bronze Age corbell-roofed dome (with its wonderful acoustics), the Tholos Theatre will allow performances of the ancient Greek and modern plays inspired by Homer.
4. The Library of Homer will be a research center for Homeric Studies. It will house all relevant books on the subject. It will have state of the art book preservation capabilities and will have modern computer technology that will facilitate, for example, teleconferencing of scholars around the world to hold virtual symposia on Homeric Research. The Library will have its own, eventually prestigious, publication series that would also address relevant art and archaeological research.
5. The Garden of the Gods will be four acres in extent (as mentioned for King Alchinous' garden in "The Odyssey"). It will include all plants and flowers mentioned by Homer in both his epics. There will be modern statues of the principal gods and goddesses (again in Bronze Age Greek styles), and in front of each statue the sacred plant associated by the ancients with each deity: Zeus - the oak tree; Athena - the olive tree; Aphrodite - the rose; and Apollo - with the sacred laurel (note both common and scientific names of each plant will be provided). The garden plan will also reflect the following ancient quotation: "… their luxuriant trees are always in the prime, pomegranates and pears, and apples glowing red … and last, there are two springs, one rippling in channels over the whole orchard - the other, flanking it, rushes under the palace gates to bubble up in front of the lofty roofs …"
-Homer, The Odyssey, Robert Fagles, trans.
6. The Maria Callas School of Opera where Greek students are encouraged to develop their talents.
7. The Melina Mercouri School of Acting where the stars of tomorrow are encouraged.
8. The Nikos Kazantzakis School of Writing where the poets, novelists, playwrights and screenwriters of tomorrow will be encouraged.
9. The Museion will be a small but beautiful, museum outlier to the National Museum of Greece. Inside artifacts (pottery, sculpture, etc.) will be displayed with a theme of the ILIAD or ODYSSEY. Also on display would be the principal costumes from the operas on fine manikins (also the armor, weapons and Jewelry produced for the shows).
10. The Exedra (semi-circular marble benches). These will be deployed around the campus and will provide small venues for poetry readings (both ancient and modern) and for philosophical discussions. Also Ancient musical instruments can be performed at these small venues for
the joy of visitors.
11. The Symposium Restaurant will be a world-class beautifully decorated restaurant that will showcase the best cuisine of Greece (both past and present).
12. The Cafeteria will be an eating facility will provide modest-priced eating far affordable to all visitors to the campus.
13. The Gift Shop will be large and well appointed, shop will have the best selection of artifact replicas (from the National Museum), jewelry (e.g. the "blood-stone necklace of Helen of Troy") and the best selection of books (both popular and scholarly) for the discerning visitors.
Taken together, the THEATRE OF HOMER campus will inspire the world with the great contributions Greece has made to world culture. It will undoubtedly be a great tourist attraction and will further inspire the world's tourists to visit the many other compelling destinations throughout mainland Greece and its beautiful islands. And it will certainly serve to properly showcase Greece's greatest, most influential , artist: HOMER.
