Who Killed Homer? by Victor Davis Hanson and John Heath

Victor Davis Hanson, Greek and Latin Professor
PS - If you recently wrote to me about Latin, send another note. It got lost in all the ads.

Hanson, 70 years old, published Who Killed Homer? with his colleague John Heath. I was intrigued because my father, Homer, had a classical name and a relative was named Horace. Both were born in the classical revival in America, which supposedly sponsored fraternities and sororities so they could delve into the classics and recite Latin and Greek. 

When I see an intriguing book, I usually get it at once via Amazon or Alibris. So I ordered this one, and found the book very boring. The authors dwell on their business of Latin/Greek publications, faculties, academic meetings, and lack of job opportunities. 

A revival in the classics today is as unlikely as a young couple naming their baby boy Homer or Horace. 

I could never explain to people why I enjoyed ancient history, Greek, and Latin. When they found out I was taking the classics as my college major, they talked to me about the job opportunities as if I were severely limited and unaware of the cold harsh reality outside of Moline. I was given every opportunity to read, including bedroom book shelves and a walnut bookcase full of books in the basement.

All book reading will stop in a few more years. The grandchildren of Boomers only know the smart-phone and have a personal relationship with staring at a screen. Ear buds are required to filter out the sounds of living human beings nearby, so conversation is limited to single syllable words. One Walmart young lady was pulling a cart with one hand and working her smart-phone with the other, smiling about the message. I was waiting for boom-crash-what-were-you-doing.

I have told many people, perhaps too often, that I discovered students suffered from a total loss in the joy of reading years ago. I used to buy so many great, small, inexpensive books discounted at book stores that I could bring stacks to the classroom. 

Once I had a large set of Twain that I distributed this way. "Who loves Twain?" About half of the large class put their hands up. They were the only ones allowed in the lottery, picking a number between 1 and 30. Two tied. "What color am I thinking about?" I was thinking about green, so one person got the whole set. He said, "I am so happy because I love Twain's books!" I gave away a leather bound copy of Moby Dick, and the recipient thanked me the next week - ecstatic.

I brought books all the time and they were taken with glee. Once I had an especially studious class. When the break started, all of them stayed in their seats, pulled out books, and read. Total silence, no conversation. One of those students graduated summa - top of the very large class.

One day I brought my books but the students looked at me as if I were peddling a large bag of earthworm compost. They were puzzled and uninterested in books. We had moved into the era of laptops - then smart-phones. In writing class one student was extremely offended that I corrected her essay. I was called into the boss' office once because one student earned a B rather than an undeserved A. The complaint went to the top and I found myself accused of plagiarism. I collected some wisdom from colleagues and wrote a letter proving my case, demanding a written apology to me and my wife. That soon followed.

I learned today that faculty at my former school are getting threats from people angry about their grades. 

Above - Gustav Andreen left his position at Yale University to guide a tiny college in Rock Island, Illinois. He built Augustana College into a highly rated liberal arts college. I met his daughter, who was my mother's teaching friend. She said, "Are you going to be a teacher too?" I said, "No."