Between Two Cities
A Hypothetical Course
I sometimes think about different courses I would like to teach. Generally, this is a complete fantasy because never have I had a teaching institute ask me what I would like to teach. There is plenty of “we need you to teach this” to go around, but my own preferences have never been considered in this way.
I don’t fault institutions for this; they have a job to do, and my hare-brained ideas may not matter much for retention rates. And the courses I have taught over the years have been full of good things and deep conversations, so I don’t regret them (well, most of them anyways). But still, it is fun to dream.
Recently, I’ve gone over several iterations of an “Epics” course in my mind. This stems in part from my general belief that the core epics of the Western World are accessible for anyone willing to try, and also beneficial for those same folks. The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, The Faerie Queene; I would argue that (next to the Bible) these are the most important works a person can read and I say that without reservation. Nothing written since the 1596 publication of Spenser’s poem has broken into this top 5. I know that there are many who would object, even if they don’t completely follow SBF’s argument. “Where’s [insert favorite philosopher]? Where’s [insert favorite author1]? Where’s [insert favorite theologian]? Where’s the more modern stuff?” You get the idea. Over such objections, I assert that these five works are essential, so much so that they are in every version of my imagined “Epics” course. Other items come and go (i.e. Beowulf, Paradise Lost, Evangeline), but these five always remain.
Such a class always seems too far out of reach though, as you inevitably have to choose what to cut for the sake of time (and the sanity of hapless students). After reading some of Alan Jacobs recent blogs on Augustine’s City of God, it struck me that a fun way to structure such a class would be to focus on the theme of the City of God versus the City of Man. There are a finite number of institutions that would allow me to teach such a class, and probably an even smaller number of students who would be interested. It would require a commitment to reading a lot, most of it on their own. But for all its challenges, it still strikes me as something of immense fascination.
So here is my theoretical course offering:
Epics 300: The City of God & the City of Man
What am I to learn in this class?
According to Mortimer Adler, “What binds the authors together in an intellectual community is the great conversation in which they are engaged. In the works that come later in the sequence of years, we find authors listening to what their predecessors have had to say about this idea or that, this topic or that. They not only harken to the thought of their predecessors, they also respond to it by commenting on it in a variety of ways.”2 Central to understanding the development of Western culture in general is the possession of a fully developed knowledge of the literature and history that has risen from shifts in values and thought. The job of the student is to read and understand these texts, holding them up to the light of biblical truth, thus revealing what is good and beautiful and true in each. We will use sound historical and literary scholarship. In the end, we will come away certain that there is more work to be done, but we will rest in the knowledge that these dueling cities have been wrestled with, been inhabited by our imaginations, and been the subject of our prayers.
What am I to read in this class?
The following is a list of texts which will serve as our core readings. We will read portions of these together, aloud, in class, though much of the reading will be done on our own. Reading the text thoroughly and with a keen eye will facilitate class discussions, where the bulk of our learning is likely to happen.
Genesis
Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey
Virgil, The Aeneid
Revelation
Dante, The Divine Comedy
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
John Milton, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regain’d
Francis Bacon, The New Atlantis
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength
Harry Sylvester, Moon Gaffney
Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus
Below is the list of suggested additional readings, for students to select on their own to read outside of class that they might have something additional to bring to our discussion. Each of these texts connects to our primary themes and ideas, though in a way that is perhaps outside of our goals for class discussions. Reading one or more of these texts on your own would enrich your time studying this subject, provide deep wells to draw from in your own writing, and challenge you beyond our time together.
Gilgamesh
Hesiod, Works & Days
Jeremiah & Lamentations
Virgil, Georgics
Augustine, The City of God
Beowulf
Kalevala
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
John Milton, Paradise Lost
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Russell Kirk, A Creature of the Twilight
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
Umberto Eco, Baudolino
With a couple of exceptions, this list veers heavily into the imaginative realm. And not all the books will immediately strike one as an “epic,” particularly if you’re using C. M. Bowra’s or C. S. Lewis’s definitions. But I think I can make a case for each text individually, and I certainly think they work together as a whole.
And after looking at it written down, it is an ambitious list to get through in a single semester. I estimate it equals about 160 hours of reading over a 16-week course, roughly 10 hours of reading each week if done individually.3 And if anyone was brave enough to tackle one or more of the books from the “Suggested” list . . . Godspeed to them.
Still, this is a class I would enjoy teaching, if the opportunity ever arises.
Even my own favorite author, Ernest Hemingway, would not make my list of five core essential readings. If you’re truly limited, there are other things I’d say you ought to read first.
Adler, Mortimer. “The Great Conversation Revisited” in The Great Conversation: A Peoples Guide to Great Books of the Western World (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.: Chicago, 1990) 28.
I think reading things like The Iliad or The Aeneid could progress a lot faster (with more comprehension) if done aloud in a communal setting. Brian Wright’s book on this idea is really worth your time.
