“Tell us a story.” We asked Dad for a story often and he was ready. He rehearsed stories from his past, our grandparents’ past, the tales of West Virginia (many true!), and selections from history. Dad rooted us to those West Virginia hills even though we left them as small children, he gave us a sense of where we had been that helped us know where we might go, and he revealed his heart and mind to us, though we... Read more
I asked for new voices and got some outstanding writers! Today we hear from the erudite James R. Harrington. James R. Harrington earned his M.A. in Ancient History at California State University Fulleron and is a member of the Torrey Honors Institute. James has been a classical educator in a variety of settings over the past thirteen years. He lives in Houston with his wife, Sharon, and their daughter. Harrington began with a series on shields in classical literature and now... Read more
Spoiled Films (Mild Spoilers of Pride and Prejudice Ahead) Say anything about a film, even one based on a centuries old book such as Pride and Prejudice, and someone will complain about “spoilers.” You can of course spoil a movie or book: if you don’t know Pride and Prejudice ends with a very satisfying wedding, reading it before seeing the film or (better!) reading the novel does spoil a good bit of the tension. Few of my present students know... Read more
Be Kind, Rewind If you are a certain age (old), then you recall “videos” . . . which for the younglings or those of us old enough to be forgetful were a physical medium that could store and play a single film (unless it was long and so the film came on multiple cassettes). In addition to the film inside the case frequently getting chewed up inside the monstrous Video Cassette Recorder, videos needed to be rewound after watching the... Read more
Christianity is “a strange Asian religion … grafted onto” Western civilization. The Greek and Roman roots of “the West*” would have been sufficient to get us the good bits of our present age or so argues Jeff Williams.* This claim is simple, bold, with the elegance of being wrong about everything consistently. As a result, any response threatens to get bogged down with long list of positive cultural developments in the West, starting with the scientific revolution**, that are partially... Read more
On occasion one meets a critic who is thoughtful and argues an old idea in a new or interesting way. In the past, I have asked people with perspectives different than my own to present ideas and have then responded. This is an uncivil age and since “loving your enemies” is a core Christian value, and it is impossible to love people with whom you have no dialog, I enjoy such opportunities. Since my passion is teaching Greek, Roman, and... Read more
Friendship is powerful, perhaps the most powerful, of all the loves. David loved Jonathon. Naomi loved Ruth. Achilles loved Patroclus. Pause for a moment and assume they were indeed “just friends” and consider this: the love of friends is mighty. The friend is someone you love only for himself and with whom you share a common cause. In Homer’s Iliad, Achilles loves his friend Patroclus disinterestedly. Achilles sleeps with his captive Brieseis, but she is a prize, something less than human to... Read more
I read Iliad as a boy . . . Badly. I wished to see Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium. I did not wish to speak to Helen, honor Helen, be human with Helen. This was unwise. To be like Paris is to be the worst character in Iliad. Paris betrays every honorable value for “love” that is just Eros. Helen is a “prize,” an object to be won, when reality... Read more
Now I surely cease my anger; it is not fitting that I be wrathful, unrelenting forever.* So Achilles says, angry no more, after spending nineteen books dooming his friends because of his wrath. Few things are as dangerous on the Earth as an angry man. Achilles’ anger made men he liked a “feast for dogs and vultures.” Zeus “willed” it, but Achilles need not have been duped into being the fulfillment of this particular will of God. That’s not good. In fact,... Read more
He is so unbelievably shallow, he could only be played by Orlando Bloom: Paris of Troy. He wears leopard skin and as a result slanders this noble beast for the rest of literary time. Helen was so beautiful her face launched a thousand ships, while Paris was so superficial he let Troy burn rather than lose a prize. Iliad is full of passages where Paris lacks any redeeming qualities. He could end the war by doing his duty and dying, but instead... Read more
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