Category Archives: Literature

Pious Aeneas..Hey! Hey! Hey!

A certain young lady that I know is intending to write a paper on, “Whether Aeneas is Pious?” I think this is a splendid topic and have been struggling with just why I think it is a splendid topic. Here … Continue reading

Posted in classical education, Literature | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

γνῶθι σαὐτόν Know thyself

I am reading Macbeth with my ninth grade English Literature class and was particularly delighted with this little nugget of wisdom in Act 4 scene 2. Lady MacDuff has just discovered that her husband has fled and Ross is attempting … Continue reading

Posted in Literature, Shakespeare | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Herodotus and History

Reading Herodotus with students in the ninth and tenth grade presents some challenges. I always tell them not to worry if they don’t feel like they are understanding it on the “first read.” That is the way Great Books are. … Continue reading

Posted in classical education, History, Literature | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Three Catharses

Our current endeavor is to discuss how it is that liberal education frees a person from slavery, and even more specifically how it frees a person from the slavery to passion. In chapter 6 of the Poetics, Aristotle gives us … Continue reading

Posted in classical education, Liberal Arts, Literature, slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Give me that man that is not passion’s slave…

“Give me that man  that is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him  In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart, As I do thee.” Thus Hamlet, speaking to Horatio (Act III Scene 2), extols the man who … Continue reading

Posted in classical education, Liberal Arts, Literature | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Liberal education, Aristotle and Catharsis

Posted in classical education, education, Literature, slavery | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments