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Western Culture 1: Complete Set
- Age: 14+
- 2 Full Credits
Old Western Culture: The Greeks is a full year of instruction which includes four units: The Epics, Drama & Lyric, The Histories, and The Philosophers.
Description
Old Western Culture: The Greeks is a full year of instruction which includes four units: The Epics, Drama and Lyric, The Histories, and The Philosophers. With over 20 hours of video with accompanying exercises, and a robust reading load, The Greeks offers the homeschooler a complete literature and social studies course.
The course is intended for high school aged students (14+), as well as for the adult enrichment student. It includes hundreds of classical paintings, maps, timelines, and more woven into the video lessons! Please see the selections on the sidebar for more information about the course and to learn about the details of each individual unit. Relive the Great Books that shaped Western civilization!
WHAT’S INCLUDED
The streaming course comes with a downloadable student workbook and Teacher’s Edition workbook in PDF format (copies permitted within your own household), and a guide to the art booklet for each unit.
PREREQUISITES
Old Western Culture is intended for mature and discerning students. We recommend this course for ages 14 and up. The course will deal with mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality, battle scenes (mostly in actual reading), and classical paintings.
Old Western Culture is meant to equip your child with a Biblical lens from which to process these themes. We assume your child has a working knowledge of the Bible and basic Christian doctrine. Advanced readers will have an advantage since the reading load is relatively heavy.
CREDITS
Each year of Old Western Culture is a double-credit homeschool Literature and Social studies course. The double-credit assumes that the student will watch all the videos, read the required reading, answer the daily worksheets, and take 4 exams (one for each unit). This a robust course academically, and requires a lot of reading. Wesley Callihan will coach your student on how to approach the reading in the video.
License: This product is licensed for use by one family.
Additional information
| Age | 14+ |
|---|---|
| Age/Grade | |
| Credit | 2 HS Literature and Social Studies |
| Teacher | Wesley Callihan |
Lessons
The Epics:
- Introduction to Old Western Culture
- The Backdrop to the Iliad.
- The Anger of Achilleus. (Iliad I-IV)
- The First Critical Turning Point. (Iliad V-IX)
- The Deception of Zeus. (Iliad X-XV)
- The Second Critical Turning Point. (Iliad XVI-XXI)
- The Death of Hektor. (Iliad XXII-XXIV)
- The Telemachy. (Odyssey I-IV)
- The Court of Alkinoös. (Odyssey V-VIII)
- Odysseus Tells of his Wanderings. (Odyssey IX-XII)
- The Homescoming of Odysseus & The Judgement of the Suitors. (Odyssey XIII-XXIV)
- The Legacy of Homer in Western Civilization.
Drama & Lyric:
- Background of Greek Drama: Development of Theater
- Background of Greek Drama: The Period | the Poets | and the Presentation
- Aeschylus’ Oresteia: The Agamemnon
- Aeschylus’ Oresteia: The Libation-bearers and The Eumenides
- Sophocles’ Oedipus the King
- Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus
- Euripides’ Medea and Trojan Women
- Aristophanes’ The Frogs and The Clouds
- Lyric Poetry: Sappho and Pindar | and Theocritus
- Lyric Poetry: Hesiod
- Lesser Epics: Quintus of Smyrna | The Fall of Troy
- Lesser Epics: Apollonius of Rhodes | The Argonautica
The Histories:
- Overview of Greek History
- Herodotus 1: The Story of Croesus
- Herodotus 2: Stories of Egypt and the other nations
- Herodotus 3: The Beginning of the Persian Wars and the Battle of Marathon
- Herodotus 4: The Battle of Thermopylae
- Herodotus 5: The Battle of Salamis | and the End of the Persian Wars
- Thucydides 1: Introduction | Thucydides’ Philosophy of History | and the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War
- Thucydides 2: The Early Years | Pericles | and the Great Plague
- Thucydides 3: Mytiline | Exile | Revolution | and Melos
- Thucydides 4: The Sicilian Campaign | and the Downfall of Athens
- Xenophon: The March of the Ten Thousand
- The Lessons of Greek History
The Philosophers:
- Overview of Greek philosophy | introduction to Socrates | Plato | and Aristotle
- Plato: The Apology: Socrates | St. Paul | and The Doctrine of Wisdom
- Plato: The Crito and Phaedo: Socrates | Christianity | and the doctrine of body and soul
- Plato: The Phaedrus: Socrates | Augustine | Dante | C. S. Lewis | and the Dialectic of Desire; True teaching
- Plato: The Republic: understanding morality
- Plato: The Republic: The Forms and the influence on Medieval Christendom
- Aristotle: The Metaphysics: Aristotle | Aquinas | and the Doctrine of Wisdom
- Aristotle: The Metaphysics: the Cosmos in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
- Aristotle: The Ethics: Happiness the Chief End of Man
- Aristotle: The Ethics: Friendship
- Aristotle: The Poetics: Stories | Oedipus | and Jane Austen
- The Lessons of Greek Philosophy
FAQs
What is “Old Western Culture”?
“Old Western Culture” is a literature curriculum named after a term coined by C.S. Lewis to describe the fabric of ideas that shaped Western Civilization. For centuries, a “Great Books” education lay at the heart of what it meant to be educated. It was the education of the Church Fathers, of the Medieval Church, of the Reformers, and of all the Founding Fathers of the Unites States. It is a CLASSICAL EDUCATION, based on the great books of western civilization. It is a CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, which sees the history and literature of the West through the eyes of the Bible and historic Christianity. It is an INTEGRATED HUMANITIES CURRICULUM, bringing together literature, history, philosophy, doctrine, geography, and art. And it is a HOMESCHOOL oriented curriculum, made by homeschoolers with the needs of homeschooled in mind, including flexibility, affordability, and ease-of-use. We bring a master-teacher into your home, and encourage parents to gain an overview of Western Civilization themselves by watching the video lessons with their children.
How does Old Western Culture work?
Old Western Culture is a video course. It is built around a master teacher, Wes Callihan. With decades of teaching experience, he guides students through the story of Western civilization. Each unit of The Greeks (year 1 of Old Western Culture) contains 12 video lessons (48 in year 1, approx 30 min each).Each lesson begins with a brief review before jumping into summary, commentary, analysis, and inter-disciplinary connections of the works covered. After each lesson, students complete the assigned readings, and answer comprehension questions in the Student Workbook.
What books are covered in Year 1, The Greeks?
The Greeks is divided into 4 units:
1. The Epics. Works covered: The Iliad and The Odyssey
2. Drama and Lyric. Works covered: A collection of Greek plays and poetry.
3. The Histories. Works covered: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon
4. The Philosophers. Works covered: selected readings from Plato and Aristotle.
Why do people love Wes Callihan?
Wes Callihan is a master story teller! With a remarkable ability to communicate a passion for history and literature, he makes profound ideas accessible, relevant, and interesting. Also known for his distinctive “rabbit trailers, ” forays into funny and obscure historical anecdotes, which have a way of showing up at the dinner table. (After all, rabbit trails are “hooks for the imagination and memory.”) Wes Callihan is a true classical scholar, fluent in both Latin and Greek. He lectures only from the notes in the margins of his worn copies of the Great Books.
1 review for Western Culture 1: Complete Set
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rebecca (verified owner) –
I did the first half of this course with my 8th grader and plan to finish the 2nd half in the fall of 9th grade. (She is an advanced reader). I took the course alongside of her and we are having a great time! My teen loves the books, and we laugh and look forward to the next reading. The videos are SO helpful! Without our faithful teacher, Wesley Callihan, I would NOT have understood some of the details and historical perspectives. This course is better than any study guide and we have read more books this year than I could have imagined possible! (He provides a timetable to help). We will be doing his next course as well. So educational!