You are Aeneas, Troy's preeminent hero. Your loyalty and integrity are legendary. Will your values hold firm after the destruction of your city, a grueling exile, and yet another war?

You are Odysseus, the wiliest hero of ancient Greece. Your love for family is as strong as your quest for adventure. What will you do, when given the choice of immortality? Or when a man-eating monster has you and your men trapped in his cave?

This folk opera of nine tracks, 24 songs, interprets the story of The Odyssey in song, invoking the spirit of the Ancient Greek bards who originally brought forth the timeless story. The Odyssey consists of 24 short songs sung by Joe Goodkin while playing the acoustic guitar. The performance is continuous and runs around 30 mins. The Odyssey is especially suited for high school and college classes reading The Odyssey, but can be adapted for audiences of any age with any level of familiarity with the story.

You are Achilles, the greatest hero Greece has ever known. You fight with honor and pride. Your skills at arms are unmatched. You have never experienced defeat. But on the battlefields of Troy you have a decision to make: stay true to your code of honor and not fight, or come to the aid of your countrymen and win fame and glory, becoming an even greater legend.

They Said It First provides a unique twist on quotation collections: ancient Greek and Roman sayings, alongside English translations, are paired with their more modern counterparts. The likes of W. E. B. Dubois and Mark Twain may have eloquently expressed eternal truths and pithy witticisms—but frequently, Homer or Seneca the Younger got there first.