WHAT SOCRATES CAN TEACH CLASSICAL EDUCATORS
In 399 B. C., the citizens of Athens voted to have the great philosopher and teacher, Socrates, put to death, an act that marked the final end of the Golden Age of Greece. However, out of that dark moment in the history of Western culture, there arose a document that encapsulated for all time the very ideals that the trial served to destroy. For, in Socrates’ Apology (that is, his defense before the court) was preserved a record of that spirit which had made Athens the envy of the world and the School of Hellas. Join me as I consider key passages from the Apology that can serve as guidance and inspiration to classical teachers today.
Louis Markos holds a BA in English and History from Colgate University and an MA and PhD in English from the University of Michigan. He is a Professor of English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, where he holds the Robert H. Chair in Humanities and teaches courses on British Romantic and Victorian Poetry and Prose, the Classics, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and Art and Film. Of his 21 published books and two lecture series, some that have been particularly popular in the classical world include The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis (Teaching Company/Great Courses), The Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek and Roman Mythology through Christian Eyes, Ancient Voices: An Insider’s Look at Classical Greece, From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics, On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis, Literature: A Student’s Guide, Heaven & Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition, Atheism on Trial, three Worldview Guides to the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, and The Dreaming Stone and In the Shadow of Troy, children’s novels in which his kids become part of Greek Mythology and the epics of Homer. His son Alex teaches Latin at the Geneva School in Boerne, TX and his daughter Anastasia teaches music at Founders Classical Academy in Lewisville, TX.