Evaluating Jerusalem and Athens

Assignments for the Week of 3-7



How Should Christians View Ancient Literature?

Monday:  The Historical Context of the Ancient World

A Survey of Mesopotamia and Egypt
Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization,  pages 6-29

Literature of the Ancient World
Peter Leithart, Heroes of the City of Man

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the World of Mesopotamia

Tuesday: The Historical Context of the Ancient World

A Survey of Mesopotamia and Egypt
Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization,  pages 6-29

Literature of the Ancient World
Peter Leithart, Heroes of the City of Man

Joseph and the World of Ancient Egypt

Wednesday:
In-class Writing Assignment on Primeval Saints by James Jordan

Continue
Literature of the Ancient World
Peter Leithart, Heroes of the City of Man

Thursday:  Classwork on Western Civilization, 6--29

Continue with Leithart.

Friday:  Read Papers in Class on Greek Mythological Figures and Biblical Characters

"Here were two races, each very conscious of being different from its neighbors, living not very far apart, yet for the most part in complete ignorance of each other and influenceing each other not at all until the period follwoing Alexander's conquests....Yet it was the fusion of what was most characteristic in these two cultures--the religious earnestness of the Hebrews with the reason and humanity of the Greeks--which was to form the basis of later European culture, the Christian religion."

H.D.F. Kitto, The Greeks, page 8

Covenant Heroes and Lesser Known Greek Myths

Assignments for the Week of September 26-30

Isaac Blesses Jacob

Monday:
          Test Over Mythological Figures 
          Work on The Paper:  Characters to Contrast
           Discuss the Paper

Tuesday:
          Second Attempts at Test Over Mythological Figures
          Work on The Paper:  Writing an Introductory Paragraph

            Discuss the Royal Houses of Thebes and Athens
            Discuss Isaac and Jacob

Wednesday:
             Work on The Paper:  The Thesis Sentence, Concrete Particulars, and Commentary
              Grade Roundup:  Check Tests and Check Readings

               Discuss Shorter Myths
                The Story of Joseph
             
 Thursday:
                In-class Writing Time
               Continue Discussing Shorter Myths
                
                 Continue with the Story of Joseph and Pharoah

Friday: 
                 Peer Reviews of Papers

                  Wrap up discussions of Greek figures and Biblical characters.

Reading Assignments for the Week:

From Edith Hamilton, Mythology:  Read Part 6--The Less Important Myths

From James Jordan, Primeval Saints:  Finish the Book!

"Several times Paul quotes from pagan poets, just as he quotes from the Old Testament to prove a theological point....Since Paul did not have a Bartlett's Familiar Quotations to aid him, we would have to conclude that he had a firsthand acquaintance with Greek literature, including its fiction, and knew parts of it by heart.  The principle that emerges is that the Bible affirms, in a variety of ways, the value of reading literature, since it tells us things that are true and worth knowing."

Leland Ryken, Culture in Christian Perspective

The Rise of Fall of Greek Houses and Biblical Patriarchs

Assignments for the Week of September 19-23

Poseidon with his trident

Monday:  Discussion of Great Adventures and of Four Great Heroes Before the Trojan War

Class Presentations

Tuesday:  What was Hercules' problem?

Handouts on Mythology.

Wednesday:  From Cain to Nimrod--Biblical Patterns of Faith and Rebellion

Work on handouts.

Thursday:  William Faulkner and the Fall of Greek Mythological Families

Work on handouts.

Friday:  A More Extensive Test over .....

Comparisons between Greeks and Jews

Be mentally preparing for a paper next week comparing one Greek figure with a person from Genesis.

Readings for the Week:

From Mythology:  Part Five--the Great Families of Mythology

From Primeval Saints:  Chapters 2-5

Genesis:  Scan and review.

A Quote to Note: 

"We have all been programmed by our Creator with a desire to seek and yearn after the God who is truth. If it is true, as Paul teaches in Acts 17:26-28, that we are all made in His image, that He is not far from us, that in Him we live and move and have our being, then it must also be true that those timeless works of ancient Greece and Rome that record the musings of humanity's greatest seekers and yearners will contain traces, remnants and intimations of that widsom which made us."

Louis Markos, From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics

Coming Soon:  Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days, Leithart's Heroes in the City of Man, and Thornton's Student's Guide to the Classics.

Heroes Mythological and Mosaic

Assignments for the Week of September 12-16



Perseus triumphant over Medusa



Abraham's faith:  Preparing to Offer Isaac in obedience to God

 Monday:  Gods and Goddesses

The Story of Dionysus:  The God-Man of Greek Mythology, the God of Wine (freedom and brutality), and the hope of Eternal Life

Tuesday:   Tales of Love and Adventure

Looking for the Contrasts

Wednesday:  Test Over the 12 Olympians

The Quest for the Golden Fleece

Thursday:  Four Great Adventures

Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis by James Jordan

Friday:  Four Great Heroes Before the Trojan War

Perseus                Theseus               Hercules                  Atalanta

Readings for the Week Include:

Edith Hamilton, Mythology, Parts 2 and 3

James Jordan, Primeval Saints, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2

September 5-9 In the Lurky Realms of Origins and Myths

Assignments and Plans for the Week of September 5--9

Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated.
Thomas Bulfinch 

Classic Work on the Greek Myths--a Love Affair Between a Teacher and Her Subject

Monday:  Labor Day:  "Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonder feeling about Humanities on Tuesday...."

Tuesday:  Omnibus Ancient World handout on Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

This Week, read Part One:  The Gods, The Creation, and the Earliest Heroes

Wednesday:  Surveying how the Historians Approach Origins:

Comparing Carleton J.H. Hayes and Jackson Spielvogel

Thursday:  Gods and Heroes

Friday:  Archeological Labors:  Gathering Artifacts of Civilization--a.k.a. Cleaning Up Downtown

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the Bible.
Penelope Lively