Highlights from Classical Texts

        Since I was a little girl I have loved to read. One of my favorite things to do after school would be to get a snack and sit down with a good book. I loved the Harry Potter series, Shannon Hale’s books and many other contemporary pieces and I never ventured into older writings. I am grateful for the opportunity we had to read more classical literature in this class because it opened my eyes to the beauty and relevance of these more ancient texts.

         I remember preparing for the first day of class and opening the Iliad for the first time. I was surprised by its careful craftsmanship, impressed with its strong emotional resonance, and enraptured by the story it told. I had heard of Homer’s writings but knew they came from an early time period, so I expected the writing to be somewhat primitive. Reading the first paragraph quickly informed me that I was wrong. Homer writes,

“RAGE: Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage, Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls Of heroes into Hades’ dark, And left their bodies to rot as feasts 5 For dogs and birds, as Zeus’ will was done. Begin with the clash between Agamemnon— The Greek warlord—and godlike Achilles” (Homer).

The phrasing read as penetrating poetry and the word choice demonstrated deliberate, detailed construction. The repetition of epithets like “godlike Achilles” provided insight into character attributes. Descriptions like “Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls” and “Black and murderous” evoked strong emotional reactions as I read. With Homer’s skilled writing, I became very invested in the story and felt like I was joining the Trojan war as I read the perspective of Homer’s characters.

         In a very similar way, the writing in The Aeneid impacted me. Vergil invoked the muse, wrote in dactylic hexameter and included epic similes.  Some examples of the similes I enjoyed were found in the passage describing how Aeneas caught at sea and Neptune calms the storm like leader soothing a crowd;

“ Even as when oft in a throng of people strife hath risen, and the base multitude rage in their minds, and now brands and stones are flying; madness lends arms; then if perchance they catch sight of one reverend for goodness and service, they are silent and stand by with attentive ear; he with speech sways their temper and soothes their breasts…” (Virgil).

As seen in this passage, every word held great significance, which could be a reason for which Virgil only wrote an average of three lines per day.  Along with epic similes and word choice, I enjoyed the symbolism in the protagonists. Characters in The Aeneid parallel to those in The Iliad, so I enjoyed seeing allusions to the book that I had enjoyed so much.

Although very different from the others, another book I enjoyed was Petrarch’s The Ascent of Mount Ventoux. I love climbing mountains so reading about his journey up the mountain was something familiar and particularly interesting to me. The physical exertion of hiking and climbing makes me feel alive and active. More than that, I have always found that I feel closer to God when I am up in His creations, so it seemed natural to me that he would think to pull out St. Augustine’s Confessions. I too have had experiences similar to the one he describes reading the scriptures, “I could not believe that it was by a mere accident that I happened upon them. What I had there read I believed to be addressed to me and to no other” (Petrarch).  Although I did not agree with everything Petrarch wrote, I loved reading The Ascent of Mount Ventoux because it reminded me of the special experiences I have had in the mountains and the perspective those provided.

Reading these pieces was refreshing and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed what I read. There were more modern-day applications and insights than I had anticipated. This class introduced me to literature I had never touched before, but that I now enjoy.

Works Cited

Homer, and Stanley Lombardo. The Essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and Odyssey. Hackett Pub., 2000.

Petrarch. “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux.” Internet History Sourcebooks Project, sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/petrarch-ventoux.asp.

Virgil, and Stanley Lombardo. The Essential Aeneid. Hackett Pub. Co., 2006.