Books covered in this unit: The Iliad and The Odyssey.
Table of Contents: 12 lectures, see "More Info" tab below for titles.
GREEKS: The Epics
Unit 1 of The Greeks
By Wesley Callihan
"The Epics"covers the two great poems of Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey. Join Wesley Callihan, a veteran teacher of the classics, as he guides the student through the world of Homer. In story-like fashion, he steers the reader through the plot, poetic devices, background, philosophy, history, and beauty of the poems, as well as how we should approach these monuments of Western culture from a Christian perspective. This course doubles as a museum field trip! Throughout the history of western culture, the classics have always been the subject matter of artistic inspiration. As you study the epics of Homer, you will have the opportunity to see over a hundred exhibits, ranging from historical artifacts to famous renditions of Homeric scenes in classical painting. The DVD set includes a full-color booklet guide to the most important artwork contained in the course. The student workbook contains study questions for each lesson, discussion questions, a roadmap to additional resources, a final exam, as well as an answer key.
As a "Great Books" course, the primary textbook is the great books themselves. We offer recommended translations, but if you already own any of these books, or want to get them online for free or on your tablet, feel free to do so!
NEW: Additional FREE resources for Old Western Culture HERE.
WHAT IS “OLD WESTERN CULTURE”?
“Old Western Culture” is a literature curriculum named after a term coined by C.S. Lewis to describe the fabric of ideas that shaped Western Civilization. For centuries, a “Great Books” education lay at the heart of what it meant to be educated. It was the education of the Church Fathers, of the Medieval Church, of the Reformers, and of all the Founding Fathers of the Unites States. It is a CLASSICAL EDUCATION, based on the great books of western civilization. It is a CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, which sees the history and literature of the West through the eyes of the Bible and historic Christianity. It is an INTEGRATED HUMANITIES CURRICULUM, bringing together literature, history, philosophy, doctrine, geography, and art. And it is a HOMESCHOOL oriented curriculum, made by homeschoolers with the needs of homeschooled in mind, including flexibility, affordability, and ease-of-use. We bring a master-teacher into your home, and encourage parents to gain an overview of Western Civilization themselves by watching the video lessons with their children.
HOW DOES OLD WESTERN CULTURE WORK?
Old Western Culture is a video course. It is built around a master teacher, Wes Callihan. With decades of teaching experience, he guides students through the story of Western civilization. Each unit of The Greeks (year 1 of Old Western Culture) contains 12 video lessons (48 in year 1, approx 30 min each).
Each lesson begins with a brief review before jumping into summary, commentary, analysis, and inter-disciplnary connections of the works covered. After each lesson, students complete the assigned readings, and asnswer comprehension questions in the Student Workbook.
WHAT BOOKS ARE COVERED IN YEAR 1, THE GREEKS?
The Greeks is divided into 4 units:
1. The Epics. Works covered: The Iliad and The Odyssey
2. Drama and Lyric. Works covered: A collection of Greek plays and poetry.
3. The Histories. Works covered: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon
4. The Philosophers. Works covered: selected readings from Plato and Aristotle.
WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE WES CALLIHAN?
Wes Callihan is a master story teller! With a remarkable ability to communicate a passion for history and literature, he makes profound ideas accessible, relevent, and interesting. Also known for his distinctive "rabbit trailers," forays into funny and obscure historical anactodes, which have a way of showing up at the dinner table. (After all, rabbit trails are "hooks for the imagination and memory.") Wes Callihan is a true classical scholar, fluent in both Latin and Greek. He lectures only from the notes in the margins of his worn copies of the Great Books.
Visit our all new SAMPLE LESSONS page!
The Sample Page will allow you to take the Old Western Culture curriculum for a test drive! Watch full lessons from the curriculum, fun excerpts, browse the workbooks, exams, and art guides, as well as get to know Wes Callihan, the instructor.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Introduction to Old Western Culture
2. The Backdrop to the Iliad.
3. The Anger of Achilleus. (Iliad I-IV)
4. The First Critical Turning Point. (Iliad V-IX)
5. The Deception of Zeus. (Iliad X-XV)
6. The Second Critical Turning Point. (Iliad XVI-XXI)
7. The Death of Hektor. (Iliad XXII-XXIV)
8. The Telemachy. (Odyssey I-IV)
9. The Court of Alkinoös. (Odyssey V-VIII)
10. Odysseus Tells of his Wanderings. (Odyssey IX-XII)
11. The Homescoming of Odysseus & The Judgement of the Suitors. (Odyssey XIII-XXIV)
12. The Legacy of Homer in Western Civilization.
Average lesson length is 30 min.
When you purchase The Epics you receive the DVD set, Blu-Ray, or access to the online streaming portal.
Accompanying materials include:
- A Student Workbook and Answer Key in PDF format (optional physical version available).
- A "Guide to the Art" booklet (inside the DVD case).
- An A and B exam with teacher guide and answer key.
- All required texts in eText (PDF and Kindle edition). Physical books recommended for the pleasure of the reader.
All these materials, including full lessons, can be previewed on our Sample Page.
Old Western Culture is intended for mature and discerning students. We recommend this course for ages 14 and up. The course will deal with mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality, battle scenes (mostly in actual reading), and classical paintings. Old Western Culture is meant to equip your child with a Biblical lens from which to process these themes. We assume your child has a working knowledge of the Bible and basic Christian doctrine.
LICENSING FOR SCHOOLS AND CO-OPS
Schools, co-ops, or other non-family group settings have two main ways to use Old Western Culture.
DVDs with textbooks. When using the DVDs in a group setting like a school or homeschool co-op, we ask that each student have their own workbook. The workbook is the license in this context. No additional licensing is required for the DVD.
Our online self-paced version of Old Western Culture was designed for homeschool co-ops and small schools! This version allows each student to have an individual account and access to the videos, as well as self-grading comprehension quizzes after each assignment. Tutors and teachers can be set up to teach a group, and can see at a glance how each student is progressing. This is ideal for the co-op situation that meets once per week. This method allows students to come to class well prepared, having engaged with the material at a much deeper level, and with better questions, than if they had only read the texts.
We encourage schools to do the same. This is known as "flipping the classroom," a term made popular by Salman Khan. The basic principle is to use the homework time as the lecture time through video, and class time for more in-depth discussion. While becoming popular due to Khan's influence and the advance of technology, this is very much in line with the principles of classical education, where lecture is followed by "recitations," or, small group interaction and socratic discussion.
Each year of Old Western Culture is a double-credit Literature and Social studies course. The double-credit assumes that the student will watch all the videos, read the required reading, answer the daily worksheets, and take 4 exams (one for each unit). This a robust course academically, and requires a lot of reading. Wesley Callihan will coach your student on how to approach the reading in the video. Average daily reading load is 30-40 pages. A single unit of Old Western Culture would be a half credit.
To better understand the scope and sequence of the course, we offer this more detailed breakdown of the credits.
As an "integrated humanities" course, Old Western Culture will constantly be incorporating history, doctrine, philosophy, art, art history, and of course literature.
4 DVDs. Region 0. Runtime: 5hrs. UPC: 635961215325
The workbook gives the student questions to answer for every lesson, discussion questions to think about, and a host of further resources for the student that wants to go further (or study for a paper!). A Teacher's Edition includes all the answers. We encourage students to answer the questions on their own before referencing the Teacher's Edition.
A PDF version of the Workbook and Answer Key can be downloaded here: RomanRoadsMedia.com/Materials.
We sell a physical workbook (with answer key). This offers an alternative to using the PDFs, and reduces printing time, costs, and hassle.
THE GREAT BOOKS
The Epics uses two primary texts: The Iliad and The Odyssey. Wesley Callihan recommends the translations by Richmond Lattimore. Quotations from the text in the course will reference the line numbers of Lattimore's translation. However these particular translations are not required. If you own a different version of either book, feel free to use it. Or you can go online and access many of these books for free! Kindle owners can purchase Lattimore's translation of the Iliad or The Odyssey at a very good price!
GUIDE TO THE ART
Old Western Culture is not an art course. However, due to the subject matter there are over 100 examples of classical art incorporated throughout the course! It's like taking a field trip to some of the greatest museums while studying the subject matter of the paintings! Since the course generally does not talk about the paintings themselves, the art booklet (included with every DVD, Blu-Ray, and Portal purchase) covers some of the most important paintings and art, explaining its background, history, and what made it famous.
Old Western Culture contains judiciously chosen works of classical art that may include occasional nudity. We are in the process of filming a video that better explains our position on how we view the artistic heritage of the West as Christians. In the meantime, we feel THIS ARTICLE, The Naked Truth by Ty Fischer of Veritas Academy, reflects our position.
We charge a flat shipping rate of $7 for our physical products. You will only receive one charge per order regardless of quantity.
INTERNATINAL SHIPPING: In an effort to encourage homeschoolers abroad, we offer the same flat shipping rate of $7 per order for our international customers!
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