Professor H.C.R. Vella will address a public lecture in Mdina tonight, outlining Christianity in Homer’s and Vergil’ s works.

Reading into the depths of the two authors’ verses, despite the encounter with several gods and goddesses pagan to Christian belief, one is constantly invited to observe in them values and practices ingrained within the Christian faith and culture.

Such values and practices include the deep interest shown by the two authors in divine will and the response of human beings to it in their lives, the very strong belief in the existence of afterlife and the conviction that some time the good are rewarded and the evil are punished, and the awareness of personages in their accounts of the need for prayer and ritual observance.

■ The lecture is being organised by the Malta Classics Association, a collaborative initiative of both the staff and the students of the University of Malta’s Department of Classics and Archaeology. It is being held tonight at the Mdina Local Council at 6.30pm. Entrance is free and light refreshments will follow.