Homerathon
In his great work Walden the philosopher Henry David Thoreau recounts being told of the plan for a telegraph network which would permit Maine and Texas to communicate. "Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate," he wrote. Thoreau's quip takes hits us more squarely in today's age of communication technology. It seems that in proportion to the expansion of such technology the superficiality of our discourse and human relationships has also increased. In a bewildering inundation of "information," we are losing our sense of traditional "wisdom." Much is made of saying many things with great frequency and through many different gadgets, but scant consideration is given to what is worth saying. At Loveland Classical Schools, and in a classical education, it is the Great Ideas and Ultimate Issues which are worthy of being discussed. They liven our minds, open new possibilities for life, and engender our aesthetic, moral, and intellectual sensitivity. The most ancient method of conveying the Great Ideas is the lost art of storytelling. Before the tyranny of the screens-television, computers, cell phones-for millenia people passed time, and wisdom, by telling tales.
This year's epic is The Iliad, the grim tale of the final year of the Trojan War prior to its fall at the hands of the invading Greeks led by the famed avenging rage of Achilles. Sixteen freshmen will be taking turns reading aloud from the poem in the multi-purpose room overnight after a Greek dinner and short performance of the final scene of Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound" by a few of the freshmen. The freshmen have invited back the sophomores as guests of honor for the Homer-athon, and both classes will take part in the oration together for the first hour. Members of the LCS community are encouraged to come for the first part of the night from 6-8 p.m. to take part in the dinner and watch the first hour of oration. The Reporter-Herald and Denver 9 News are coming this year to do stories on the event.
A word of assurance for parents: the Homer-athon is not a "sleepover." In fact, sleeping is not permitted. It may be thought of as an informal twelve-hour class! At heart, it is an event to promote bonding among a graduating class over something academic. Students have reflected that the Homer-athon helped their class become closer-knit by struggling through a difficult academic experience together. Marathon oratorical events such as this have become a trend among some of the leading university classics and humanities departments in the country. No other school does such an event in the area, and perhaps in the country. In the day of text messaging, the Muse still holds her spell over students at Loveland Classical Schools.