We Need Stories
Once upon a time there was a horse that couldn’t be tamed. He was young and strong, nervous and rangy. King Philip wanted to ride him in battle, and every man of the king’s army looked on that beautiful horse with admiration. But man after man could not tame him; with wild, frantic energy he started and bucked at every battle-hardened solder that tried to get close to him. After many men had failed they were about to declare him untamable and send him back into the wild, when the king’s young son stepped forward and said, “Father, I can tame … Continue Reading “We Need Stories”
Why Readers, Scientifically, Are The Best People To Fall In Love With
I recently read an article about why readers, scientifically speaking, are the best people to fall in love with. I agree! I married a woman who loves to read, and loves to learn! She read all the right books while growing up! (Incidentally, she took Wes Callihan’s Great Books courses online in high school). The article points to several benefits that reading will bring a reader. It enables them to speak to someone in a meaningful way. It allows a person to understand other people; it teaches the art of empathy. And it gives wisdom that years of actual experience … Continue Reading “Why Readers, Scientifically, Are The Best People To Fall In Love With”
Roman Speed Dating
Welcome to #ClassicalClickbait, incredible stories from antiquity that still astound us today! Follow the Classical Clickbait Twitter or Facebook for more #ClassicalClickbait! [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he first settlers of Rome—all men—were at a loss to find wives, and eventually turned to some rather desperate measures to make sure they each got a wife! Learn in this clip how they tricked the neighboring Sabine tribe into coming over for a feast, and then carried off the women to make them their wives! Eventually, the fathers and brothers of the wives attacked the Roman men to get the women back, but were in for a surprise from the women they … Continue Reading “Roman Speed Dating”
A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education
Mark Twain is attributed with the saying “Those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t.” We are now a couple generations away from our forefathers who abandoned classical education. We are now the generation that does not even know what it has lost. Wes Callihan gives a glimpse at the kind of richness we have lost in this excerpt from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western civilization. If you don’t study the classics, you have no advantage over those who can’t. Roman Roads Media provides tools to help you accomplish this task! Get started today! … Continue Reading “A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education”
Cicero on Rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Wesley Callihan tells the story of Cicero and Varres, and how Cicero used Rhetoric to convince his audience that Varres was wrong. We can see the three branches of good rhetoric: Ethos (appeal to authority), Pathos (appeal to emotion), Logos (appeal to reason). This excerpt is taken from The Historians, a unit from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western Civilization. For a complete Rhetoric curriculum, where these ideas are taught in depth, see Fitting Words: Classical Rhetoric for the Christian Student. YouTube version
Great Books Challenge for Parents 2016
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]elcome to the 2016 Great Books Challenge for Parents! This Challenge is for any parent, but especially for parents who plan to classically homeschool their children, or who are currently homeschooling their children. Classical homeschoolers love Old Western Culture because they see their children coming to the dinner table full of stories, and thirsty for knowledge and wisdom. Make 2016 the year classical learning comes alive in your home, and earn free curriculum in the process! Last year’s Great Books Challenge, centered around Virgil’s Aeneid, was a tremendous success! This year we are going to continue and build upon that challenge, adding the following unit, Romans: … Continue Reading “Great Books Challenge for Parents 2016”
A total weirdo was hanging around Penelope’s palace…When I saw who he was? MIND. BLOWN.
Penelope was a tragic war-widow…or was she? Will this mysterious stranger’s secret change everything she thought she knew? Odysseus has returned home at long last to Ithaca, his own island, after twenty years of war and wandering. But chaos reigns at home! While he’s been gone, a multitude of suitors, hoping to claim his throne, are pursuing the hand of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. Penelope has held out these twenty years, but is running out of ideas to keep the suitors at bay as she wonders if her husband will ever return, or if he is long-dead. As she gives her … Continue Reading “A total weirdo was hanging around Penelope’s palace…When I saw who he was? MIND. BLOWN.”
Literature Done Right!
How is Old Western Culture “Literature done right”? —It is a CHRISTIAN approach to Literature; it integrates the story of History, Theology, and Philosophy, into THE GREAT STORY. —It is a CLASSICAL approach to Literature, spanning the literary and ideological traditions that have shaped the fabric of our cultural heritage. —It is a HOMESCHOOL approach to Literature: cost effective, structured, flexible, and just as much for parents as for students! Learn the story of Western Civilization from a master storyteller! Old Western Culture: A Christian Approach to the Great Books! Find out MORE.
Visit us on the road!
We are going to 12 fantastic homeschool conventions and conferences this season! Various conventions will have workshops by Wesley Callihan. If you live near one of these conventions, stop by and visit our booth!
The Greatest Roman | By Wes Callihan
Vergil’s Aeneid, the epic poem which tells the story of the wanderings of Aeneas on his way to becoming the founder of Rome, is propaganda. But such a statement would not have bothered Vergil a bit. “Propaganda” in Latin simply means “things which ought to be propagated,” and Vergil certainly believed that the values espoused in his story needed to be spread about a bit. Aeneas was the ultimate Roman, primarily because he revered the gods. “Pious Aeneas” is the epithet used of him throughout the poem, and if anyone missed the point, they were asleep during the reading. Aeneas modeled for … Continue Reading “The Greatest Roman | By Wes Callihan”