Online Ancient Literature

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Ancient Literature

God hates false gods. He tells his people to beware of them and to hate them as well. Yet we study pagan writings, filled with references to false gods, to help us know God better.

First, We gain understanding of a what a world looks like that is not influenced by the message of the cross. It is not a pretty picture. We also gain an appreciation and love for God’s truth, as our imaginations walk through a world that is lost and does not know his truth.

In addition, we gain a valuable foundation for understanding the history of Western literature and the influence of ancient pagans on the culture of the West. By reading Homer, we understand Milton, Shakespeare, and other Western authors better.

Finally, it is not surprising that the great themes of literature repeat themselves over and again throughout the years, as all storytellers are image bearers and God himself reveals himself, in part, through the narrative story of history.

C.S. Lewis says that “The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact.” The God who comes to earth to save his people really happened in history, just as it does in many of the great myths.

We'll begin with selections from Edith Hamilton's Mythology as we prepare to enter the world of the ancient Greeks. We'll read Homer's Iliad and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Antigone. In the spring, we'll return to Homer, tackling the Odyssey and then finishing the semester with The Oresteia of Aeschylus.

See the Ancient Literature Booklist.

View a sample fall semester Syllabus.

Class Schedule

Each family participates in the Literature course based on the schedule set out in the Syllabus. Students complete the reading assignments in advance of viewing the Class Discussion Videos, which are posted every Monday morning and removed the following Sunday at midnight.

Parents, of course, will choose which day of the week the readings are due and when (during the week) the student will view the Class Discussion Video.

Students must begin their first reading assignment of the fall semester in early September (precise dates to be announced in August).

The Instructor

Mike Schutt is an English major who went to law school, practiced law, taught law school full time, and now serves as director for the Christian Legal Society Fellows program, and is the executive director for Worldview Academy. He LOVES books and literature, and he LOVES teaching young people to think through reading classic literature! His English degree and his worldview teaching come together nicely in his high school literature class.