Posted on 02/21/2010 10:56:00 AM PST by Lorianne
Which implies that these men were far more educated BEFORE they went to college than most of our college graduates today.
Puts the lie to "education" in the current usage.
Half a century later, I still get "Where did you learn that?", . . in High School , is my reply.
I took Latin and French for 4 years (1957-'61)...Not one job required or benefited from either.
I took latin for two years in high school. I can say it benefited me greatly.
Not only because my career path was biology ( knowing the latin roots is helpful beyond belief) but because it exposed me to ancient history in a way that is just not taught in schools today.
The only thing my kids learned about ancient history that I didn’t teach them was the movie 300.
Strachan-Davidson said in Cicero’s Life: “If we were required to decide what ancient writings have most directly influenced the modern world, the award must probably go in favor of Plutarch’s Lives and the philosophical writings of Cicero.”
If I understand correctly, in America, the top honor would likely go to Plutarch. I have, on several occasions, recommended his “Lives” to young people with an interest in political or military careers, not so much to read, but to study repeatedly over the years.
The Modern Library two volume edition is what I have - others may be good as well, but mine is well translated, IMO, and has worn well with repeated reading.
“I took Latin and French for 4 years (1957-’61)...Not one job required or benefited from either.”
I’m a doctor, so Latin (3 years in high school from an ex-Jesuit priest) did provide a little bit of direct help to my career. But that’s not the point. It’s not about my job.
Perhaps your understanding of the benefits of Latin is incomplete. For me, the struggle to learn Latin was enormously important in disciplining my mind, much the way math was. In addition, the opportunity to more deeply understand and more directly enjoy the beauty of the greatest minds from antiquity was incalculable. Ten years ago, when I returned to an enjoyment of such things again after a thirty year hiatus, that foundation was enormously helpful in ways I never would have predicted.
Jefferson was one of serveral Universal Men who lived at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th Century. Jefferson invented the first document copy machine. He wrote a treatise and is considered the father of modern archelogy. This archeological treatise would help Heinrich Schliemann who was classically trained and went in search of Homeric Troy! He had read the Iliad and Odessey and when he had made his fortune in the trade business he retired and found Troy!
Franklin was the precurser of Hefner with his Playboy pursuits but he also flew a kite and identified electricity!
A 8th grade history teacher of mine taught me that knowledge is a lifelong pursuit and his goal was to teach us to learn! We did this by reading and experiencing life!
The French Jesuits missionaries in the early part of America kept a journal of all their work. The were Latin-linguists and as a result they were able to decipher the natives languages with relative ease, even though they were not using Latin. They found that the natives reversed the order of their prefixes and their suffixes from Latin, or French for that matter. But knowing word structure so well gave the Jesuits an upper hand in translating all of the native languages.
Our entire educational system has been dumbed down. I went back to college to understand what was in our Founders heads when they came up with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I went to a college that emphasizes the reading of the original author's works rather than reading an interpretation written in a textbook. It has been one of the most fruitful experience of my life.
Meyer Reinhold (1909-2002), a noted classicist, published a book called Classica Americanan: The Greek and Roman Heritage in the United States. I haven't gotten around to reading it, but it may cover some of the same ground as this book.
Schoolroom? Weren't nearly all of our Founding Fathers tutored or homeschooled. Am I correct that Benjamin Franklin only had 3 years of formal “schoolroom” education?
Yes, most were self-educated. Many then sought out learned men such as religious men for tutoring, etc. Thomas Jefferson did this.
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I’m into the Neoclassical.
I hang out at the local Walmart trying to pick up a leetle esspanyole
My son is in his third year of Latin - he just turned 15. His class really impressed their Latin teacher, and she offered on her own an extra third year course - they do it on Saturdays. (I think she charged $200 for the year! Including summer.)
My wife thought it would be too much for him but I figured he could at least give it a try. I researched a bunch of stuff on the benefits of Latin to try to convince her. Lots of logical thinking, etc. He has a very rational mind, and does very well in it. As well as Spanish now too.
I keep meaning to read some of the classics like he does, but....
In my prep school circa 1960, three languages, Greek, Latin, a Modern language, two for four years.
Ditto
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