Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus
Mythology as a path to the future.
I have always loved the classics, as a young boy, the first book I ever read on my own was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In those pages, I learned everything a boy needs to know. I learned about duty, honor, love, and betrayal. That book captivated me it would lead me to read the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Beowulf, and the Nibelungenlied. These timeless tales rooted in the European tradition explained the tragic reality of the human condition and gave the reader the tools to navigate life.
In grade school, we barely touched on these works. My teachers substituted reading the Odyssey for watching a made-for-TV movie. Beowulf received similar treatment, unfortunately for my classmates and me, we graduated before Angelina Jolie played Grendel’s mother so we settled for some old BBC documentary. So that was it. That was my education in the classics. Instead, we read Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby. Fine books but they did not inspire much outside of sleep for most students.
You may think that I am being an elitist. That I am looking down and casting aside new literature as tasteless and vapid. That I am holding my opinion as better, after all, literary taste is subjective right?
Well, you would be correct I am being elitist because the classics are better. They didn’t last for centuries because they were okay, they lasted because they are timeless. They are stories that inspire greatness. In fact, Alexander the Great was trying to emulate Achilles when he conquered the world. King Arthur inspired many Englishmen to do greatness and many Germanic warriors dreamed of slaying dragons like Roland. These stories in the most literal sense shaped our world. Have inspired good men to be great.
Now it may be that schools do not teach these because, of the massive amounts of violence, sex, and all-around adult themes at least as far as the Greek and Roman myths are concerned (our Anglo-Saxon myths are a little more honorable). But that is doubtful if you have ever been to an American high school you will find activities that would make Zeus blush. We have all seen what passes as sex ed. It is more likely that our beloved education system is just, awful.
This is the part where I present a solution and lucky for you it’s one with real-world success. Do it yourself. I recently read J.R.R Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf to my oldest son. Within a week he had brought home the Odyssey. I then told him about the Iliad and the Aeneid, both of which he read faster than I have ever seen him consume a book. These books have sparked many discussions about honor, duty, sacrifice, etc. Time will tell if there is any lasting impact but the outlook is positive at the moment.
There is a lot of complaining on the right about what is wrong with society. Most of us want to get involved and there comes a time when you must take action. For most of us that doesn’t mean you have to be Napoleon or that you have to run out and infiltrate your local city council.
What it does mean is influencing your little circle of people. You would be surprised what you can do by just putting the right book in the right hands. So many young men need inspiration and when they are too young to hit the gym, they can hit the books. If books transmit ideas and ideas have consequences then get the right books into the right hands.
Our young men need heroes, they need examples of right and wrong. They won’t find it on Netflix and they won’t find it in the public school curriculum. They won’t find it in the inverted moral system that we live under. Where they can find at is home. They can find it on dads bookshelf. They can find it in Achilles, Roland, or King Arthur. They can find it in you.
The importance of myth cannot be overstated a people with no mythology have no purpose, no memory, and no soul. So read the classics, or re-read them. Pass them to your sons, and show them where they come from. You will find often they are more than just stories. They just might inspire something great in you or teach you a thing or two about hubris. If Alexander conquered the world because he wanted to be Achilles, maybe Achilles can inspire our sons to be the next Alexander.
-TJS