To understand the founding of America in 1776 or 1619 or 1492, it helps to understand something about the foundations of democracy in 490 B.C. when the Athenians defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Marathon, writes Morgan E. Hunter in National Review. (Full disclosure: She’s my daughter’s half-sister.)
Yet, in many schools, Greece and Rome are taught in sixth or seventh grade, along with Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India and more, she discovered in research for an Independent Institute white paper, co-authored with Victor Davis Hanson and Williamson M. Evers. If this is Tuesday, it must be the Byzantines.
Texts are too detailed and too dull to intrigue middle schoolers or motivate to learn more later, the authors write. They suggest a simplified, engaging, “teach the legend” introduction to Greeks and Romans, preparing students for Britain’s excellent Classical Civilization courses in high school.
Percy Jackson, a demigod, meets Medusa, in “The Lightning Thief.”
The Percy Jackson books and movies — American boy discovers he’s Poseidon’s son and goes on adventures — are very popular with kids. It’s a start.
I began reading Mary Renault’s novels about ancient Greece in high school (I think). Last of the Wine is the best, though the Alexander and Theseus books are very good too.
In 12th grade at a suburban public high school, I took Great Books, which included Greek and Roman literature, as well as Philosophy, taught by a visiting professor, which included Greek philosophers, and Politics of Change, created by a social studies teacher, which had more Plato and Aristotle. I loved it.
When I took Western Civ in college, I’d already read two-thirds of the reading list. One of my classmates, who’d been recruited as a football player, had no idea who the Greeks were or why we were studying them. He was completely lost.