Why I Love the Pagan Classics
And Why You Should, Too
This is a slightly edited version of a talk I gave multiple times at Trinitas Christian School over the years. It is still one my favorite things from that time.
One of my favorite G. K. Chesterton quotes comes from his book, Orthodoxy. The Prince of Paradox, while explaining the deep connection between democracy and tradition, explains,
My first and last philosophy, that which I believe in with unbroken certainty, I learnt in the nursery . . . The things I believed in most then, the things I believe in most now, are the things called fairy tales. (p. 87)
These words have echoed in my mind since I first read them in 2007, and I find them comforting even today. Because like C. S. Lewis’s experience in reading the Norse myths, my own childhood had been permeated by mythology (mostly of a Celtic nature). I had often thought of my love for these stories as a sign of immaturity, something to keep secret. But Chesterton, and later Lewis, helped me to see that there was something true, something of the capital T-truth, in these stories. Louis Markos talks about this in his book, Myth Made Fact. He explains
Before the modern period, the main vehicle for passing down the benefits of virtue and the dangers of vice was stories, whether those stories were considered mythic, legendary, historical, or, often, a mixture of all three. (p. 36)
In other words, creative expressions have been how humanity thought and considered the reality around it for all recorded history. We don’t write or tell stories or sing just because we enjoy it; we also do these things because we must.
How does this fit into the Christian life? For starters, the Bible is chock full of stories, and not all of them seem pristine on the surface. The Christian Scriptures affirm the idea that we are a people in need of creative expression, with complex heroes like Samson and theologically rich poetry like the Psalms. The Christian, then, engages with the artistic world every time he or she opens their Bible, and this exercise helps the believer interact with opposing worldviews as well. We read the literature of other cultures and eras, mining for gold or dropping lead lines into the water, always expecting to find something of value.
Students at classical schools receive instruction in both of these realms. Students are asked to spend a considerable amount of time studying the Ancient Greek & Roman world, and the mythology that characterized this perspective. This is not so that these pupils may one day win Jeopardy. Such a simplistic approach cannot be adequate. Rather, the purpose is something more in line with the words of Saint Paul:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Phil. 4:8)
Classical educators want students to study Greek myths that they might recognize that which is beautiful in these stories, so that they would move beyond the elements which do not hold up to this standard and glorify God in that process. In another of his books, From Achilles to Christ, Dr. Markos reminds us that,
if Christianity is true, then the God who created both us and the universe chose to reveal himself through a sacred story that resembles more the imaginative works of epic poets and tragedians than the rational meditations of philosophers and theologians. (p. 249)
But what are the basic elements that students should be sorting out? While the takeaways and breakdowns abound, a few of them deserve particular note. For instance, the Greeks made the gods in their own image, making them superior in some ways while remaining just as depraved as their human creators. This reveals more about the fallenness of mankind, than the heavens of Mount Olympus, and we see this played out in the consequences of divine actions, like those of the Fall of Troy or the disastrous episode of Pandora’s box. The Greeks also used myths to explain the world around them, citing Helios as the cause of nighttime and Persephone as the source of Winter. Wrestling with these stories stirs our imaginations and challenges students to engage with even more complex stories. Though the Christian has much to reject in the worldview of the Ancient Greeks, there are also things worth a closer examination. Is there significance to Pandora’s perseveration of Hope that the Christian can understand? Do we weep with Helios when Phaethon is struck down due to his impudence and inexperience? Are sometimes rattled by the idea that life is out of our control, a concept Achilles and Oedipus similarly wrestle with? The Greek myths are not only good stories (though they are that), for they contain in them a way of understanding the world that should and can be reckoned with by any thoughtful Christian.
The third grader who starts on this process may struggle on their own to sort out these elements, but they learn to trust their teachers as they are guided through. And this moves our students down the road, that one day they might be seventh graders, college students, or even parents, who can engage with the world around them while distinguishing between that which is praiseworthy, and that which is not.
We learn to recognize the shoemaker who has taken the goddess of victory as their emblem. We can spot the “modern” take on classic tales when we see them in films or on television. We appreciate the foundation that the Greek world laid for later cultures, while simultaneously identifying where such a worldview falls drastically short of the redemption we are called to. And through it all, we hold these lessons up to the lens of Scripture that we might see all the better.
Nice piece! Esp enjoyed the quotes from Chesterton and Marcos, a prof I know from the Teaching Co (you too?)