This article provides excerpts from "The Four Ages of Poetry" (1820), by Thomas Love Peacock; "The Defence of Poetry" (1821), by Percy Bysshe Shelley; and "On Milton" (1826), by Thomas Babington Macaulay. Although Shelley is the main focus, the essays are arranged chronologically. Brackets indicate editorial asides; original spelling and…

This paper celebrates UNESCO's announcement of the re-establishment of the Alexandrian Library, citing the incentive the project provides to review the history of the famed library of antiquity, of the librarians who served it, and of the scholars who used it. After a brief history of the city of Alexandria, including its founding by Alexander,…

This essay provides an exposition of Plato's educational proposals, based on his belief in the supremacy of reason and a need for order, symmatry and discipline. The article disagrees with the Platonic view of a rigid and absolute moral certainty and his argument for the supreme value of theoretical pursuits. (CHK)

The characteristics of the humanism and humanitarianism of the developed Renaissance are revival of classicism, delight in life, experimentalism, individualism, realism, love of beauty, increased secularism, and versatility of gifted individuals. An examination of artistic works created from 1260 to 1310 suggests that these qualities were evident…

T. E. Hulme, a vigorous opponent of romanticism in art, poetry, and philosophy, insisted that the underlying flaw of the romantic view was its rejection of the dogma of Original Sin and the fall of man. His views are explored for the significant bearing they have on the development of aesthetic insight and indirectly on value and outlook.…

A rebuttal by a classicist to a sociologist's view of the classics. (MB)

Suggests the relevance of The Odyssey" to the lives of 20th century adolescents in exemplifying two fundamental archetypal themes: initiation and man's search for his own identity and for meaning in life." (Author/RD)

Presents aspects of the methodological and epistemological encounter of contemporary historical-comparative discourse on education with the ancient Greek historical comparative "logos": (1) technology/methodology; (2) historiology; (3) epistemology; and (4) synkritilogy. The historical context discourse of education can always be placed…

Describes how students flock to the classics department at Macalester College in Minnesota, drawn by archaeological projects and a new approach to studying antiquity. (EV)

Although symbolic interaction (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1969) generally is envisioned as a unique twentieth century product of a democratic society, the roots of this approach to the study of human group life run much deeper. Thus, as a sociological extension of American pragmatist philosophy, the conceptual foundations of what has become known as…

Classicist Steven J. Willett is amazed at the president of the Philological Association, who wants to abandon the "metanarrative" that has always supported our culture. Apparently, the Greek and Roman origins of Western thought are merely an "old story that won't work any longer." Professor Willett's answer to this is a stinging indictment of the…

In arguing that philosophy should be taught in schools, it is defined as a search for truth and the ability to discern and distinguish logical coherence and abstract reasoning. The Classics may be used to teach philosophy; Plato's works, especially the "Euthyphro," are used to support the argument. (CHK)

A disturbing trend is developing in higher education which may jeopardize the quality and importance of the classical tradition in education. This trend is exemplified by demands that the liberal arts be made relevant and comprehensible to the student and that they be related in some way to the search for a good job. The great classical…