Jesuit Education/Chapter 13

by Robert Schwickerath

 

Chapter XIII.

Syllabus of School Authors.

§ I. General Remarks.

The Ratio Studiorum divides the literary curriculum into five classes. Father Jouvancy speaks of six,^[1] adding that the sixth is sometimes combined with the fifth. Father Kropf in 1736, in his programme, has six. Most Jesuit colleges in this country have six classes in the literary course, to which are added two years of philosophy with higher mathematics, natural sciences and economics. These eight classes correspond to the high school and the college course. The four lower or grammar classes are equivalent to the high school, whereas the four higher classes: Humanities (Freshman), Rhetoric (Sophomore), Junior and Senior Philosophy, correspond to the American college, with one essential difference, '"that the work of the Jesuit college is not professional study, but general culture and preparation for professional study."^[2]

When in the following pages we speak of the study of the authors, it is understood that a systematic study of grammar has preceded and partly accompanies the reading of the authors. Of late there is a tendency to begin reading too early, almost from the beginning, and to study the whole grammar inductively. Such reading cannot be fruitful. Let us hear two German schoolmen on this question. Director Jäger of Cologne said in the 41st Conference of the German Philologians and Educators (Munich, 1891): "The reading of the authors should remain the principal object of the classical training, but it must be an intelligent reading, reading that is understood because of solid grammatical training imparted previously. Only thus can the study of a language become a means of scientific knowledge. Therefore, sufficient time must be devoted to the grammatical training." Professor Seeliger makes the following very timely observations: "One point in the linguistic training must not be lost sight of: namely, that the understanding of the authors must be solid; but a solid appreciation of the authors can be built only on the foundation of a knowledge of grammar. Teachers now-a-days try too much to keep this end out of sight for fear of public opinion; some weakly yield to the Zeitgeist and hush it up altogether, to proclaim the more loudly that the reading of the authors is the only object of classical instruction. But I think grammatical discipline is very salutary, even for the youth of the present age, indeed, a remedy against many dangers of our time. And any one of us teachers who conscientiously endeavors to make instruction effective should fearlessly profess to be a grammaticus, and act according to this profession."^[3]

The Ratio Studiorum prescribes the authors to be studied in the various classes, and in Jouvancy's commentary and similar documents, other authors are mentioned which may be read alongside or instead of those enumerated by the Ratio. As we have seen, the matter and the order in which the different subjects are to be taught are not essential to the Ratio. Consequently it is not necessary to follow strictly the given list. If in any point the Ratio can and must be adapted to the times, it is in the choice of authors. Therefore, those which are generally read in other classical institutions of the country, should be preferred and taught according to the spirit and method of the Ratio. In fact, all authors read in the modern classical schools are mentioned in the Ratio or by Jouvancy.

In different ages we find different tastes and opinions. We must not, therefore, be surprised to find authors recommended as school books which do not suit our taste. We give here a list of authors as contained in different documents of the Society.^[4] When the Ratio enumerates many authors for one and the same class, it is understood that the choice was left to provincial or local superiors.

First Grammar Class (first high school class): Latin: easy selections from Cicero, if possible in separate editions; Fables of Phaedrus, Lives of Nepos.

Second Grammar Class. Latin: Ratio Studiorum: the same as preceding. Jouvancy: somewhat more difficult letters of Cicero, Virgil's Bucolics, selections from Ovid and other poets. – Greek: Fables of Aesop.

Third Grammar Class. Latin: Ratio Studiorum: Letters of Cicero, Caesar's Commentaries, easy poems of Ovid. Jouvancy: Cicero's Somnium Scipio- nis, Virgil's Georgics, especially books I and IV. Ovid's Metamorphoses. – Greek: Fables of Aesop; the Tablet of Cebes; select dialogues of Lucian.

Fourth Grammar Class. Latin: more important letters of Cicero; De Senectute, De Amicitia etc.; select elegies and epistles of Ovid, or selections from Tibullus, Catullus, Propertius, and Virgil's Eclogues; or the fourth book of Virgil's Georgics, the fifth and seventh book of the Aeneid etc. – Jouvancy: Caesar, Cicero's De Officiis. – Greek: St. Chrysostom (select Homilies), Xenophon. – Jouvancy: Orations of Isocrates.

Humanities (Freshman). Latin: Cicero, especially ethical writings and easier orations. Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Curtius etc.; of the poets, above all Virgil (Aeneid); Odes of Horace, etc. – Greek: Orations of Isocrates, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, Epistles of Plato,^[5] and Synesius, selections from Plutarch; of the poets: Homer, Phocylides, Theognis etc. Nadal prescribes besides: Aristophanes.

Rhetoric (Sophomore). Latin: Rhetorical works and orations of Cicero; Quintilian; historians. Jouvancy: Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius etc.; poets (not specified by the Ratio); Jouvancy: Seneca, Juvenal etc. – Greek: Demosthenes, Plato, Thucydides, Homer, Hesiod, Pindar etc.; also St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Basil, and St. Chrysostom. – Jouvancy: Sophocles or Euripides. – Nadal prescribes Demosthenes, Thucydides, the tragedians, Pindar, and "all the more important and more difficult authors."^[6]

From this last statement, and in fact from the whole list, it appears that all the important authors were included in the Jesuit plan, and that those who made the sweeping assertion that "the greatest Greek authors were all excluded from the Jesuit schools,"^[7] have not looked at the documents of the Society. All the most important authors were explicitly prescribed. It is evident that not all the authors which are mentioned could be read. The different provinces of the Society drew up lists, or catalogues of authors, which varied in different years. Thus in the Province of Upper Germany in 1602-1604 a catalogus perpetuus was drawn up, i. e. a list of authors to be read every four or five years. We subjoin the list of the books for Rhetoric class.^[8]

A. D. 1604: Cicero, Orator ad Brutum; orations, vol. II. The Annals of Tacitus. The Tragedies of Seneca. – The Philippics of Demosthenes. The ἕργα καἱ ἡμέραι of Hesiod.

A. D. 1605: Cicero, Partitiones Oratoriae; orations, vol. III. Livy, I. decade. Juvenal – The Olynthiacs of Demosthenes. Homer, Iliad, books I and II.

A. D. 1606: Cicero, De Oratore, three books; orations, vol. I. Livy, III. decade. Statius, Thebaid. – Isocrates, Panegyric. Euripides, Hecuba.

A. D. 1607: Cicero, De Optimo Genere Oratorum; orations, vol. II. Tacitus, Historiae. Claudian and Herodian. – Aristotle, Rhetoric. Sophocles.

A. D. 1608: Cicero, Partitiones Oratoriae; orations, vol. III. Statius, Sylvae. – Xenophon, Cyropaedeia. Homer, Odyssey, I and II.

In the Province of the Rhine in Rhetoric class were read:

A. D. 1629: Cicero, Partitiones; orations, vol. I. De Claris Oratoribus. Horace, Odes, b. III. Seneca, Hercules furens. Livy, I. decade. – Demosthenes, Olynthiacs. Chrysostom, De Sacerdotio, b. IV. Homer, Iliad, b. IV. Greek epigrams.

A. D. 1630: Cicero, orations, vol. IV. De Inventione; Orator. Horace, b. IV. and Epodes. Livy, III. decade. Seneca, Thyestes. – Homer, Iliad, b. V etc.

These lists represent a considerable amount of reading from the best authors. Modern writers object to some of the authors recommended by the Ratio. However, to avoid unfairness, it should not be forgotten that the opinions held in former ages about certain authors were different from those current at present. The same objections can be made against Protestant school plans of former centuries. Thus Melanchthon, as well as the Jesuits, considered the smaller poems formerly attributed to Homer, v. g. the Batrachomyomachia, as a fit school classic. Also Hesiod, Aratus, Plutarch, and Lucian are recommended by Melanchthon.^[9]

Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, the Disticha Catonis, Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, Lucan, Pliny, Prudentius, Publilius, Sedulius, Seneca, Severus, Vellejus, Aelian, Aesop, Cebes, Hesiod, Lucian, Phocylides, Plutarch, Pythagoras, Theognis etc., were read in the Protestant schools of Brunswick and other countries.^[10] Besides, in these schools the works of the Neo-Latinists, as Buchanan, Castalio, Eobanus Hessus, Erasmus, Lotichius, Sabinus, Sleidanus and others, were read more extensively than in the Jesuit schools, which confined themselves almost exclusively to the ancient classics. As the ancient authors possess a far superior educational value, the choice of the Jesuits betokens great pedagogical wisdom.

It is evident that authors like Theognis, Phocylides, etc. are not read in modern Jesuit schools. In fact the Jesuits have, in the choice of authors, suited their schools to the times.

It may also be questioned whether it is advisable to read selections from Cicero's letters in the lowest classes, as they can be given only piecemeal; they furnish an excellent subject for higher classes, after the students have become acquainted with Roman history. For the lowest class good connected pieces, short stories from history, mythology etc., as found in Latin Readers, will serve the purpose better than Cicero's letters. In the next class the Lives of Nepos may be taken up, followed by the study of Caesar's Commentaries in the third. Such a plan was suggested by the German province as early as 1830. In the propositions sent to Rome in that year it was said that Cicero's letters, with very few exceptions, require a considerable knowledge of Roman history and should be replaced by select historical passages etc. from the writings of the same author.^[11]

Father Jouvancy, in several chapters of his Ratio Discendi, gives brief notes on the most important Latin and Greek authors and their characteristics, "to show," as he says, "in what order they should be read and what fruit may be derived from their study."^[12] A few of his remarks, as is to be expected, cannot stand in the light of modern philological and historical criticism. However, for the greater part his observations are most judicious and correct. We shall embody the substance of these chapters of Jouvancy in the following notes on the authors, supplementing them from the splendid History of Universal Literature of Father Baumgartner,^[13] and comparing them with the opinions of other prominent scholars.^[14]

§ 2. Latin Prose Writers.

Cicero is first and preeminently prescribed by the Ratio for every grade. And rightly so, if we except the lowest classes. For he is the master of the Latin language and the best representative of ancient culture, indeed, as regards Latin oratory, the only representative.^[15] In former times, particularly during the Renaissance, Cicero was overestimated; now, after the sweeping condemnations of Drumann, Froude, and Mommsen, it has become the fashion to treat him with contempt. Cicero finds a more sympathetic, and we think more just, treatment at the hands of the great Cardinal Newman, in his Personal and Literary Character of Cicero,^[16] where the life of this gifted Roman, his works, and his style are admirably described. Cicero's style is so splendid and masterly that the greatest of the Romans, Caesar, could not help admiring his inventive powers, which, as Newman says, "constitute him the greatest master of composition that the world has seen." Of late years a healthy reaction has set in against the vagaries of such radical critics as Mommsen and Froude. Quite recently Professor von Wilamowitz of the University of Berlin, stated emphatically: "In spite of Mommsen, Cicero must remain the centre of Latin instruction."^[17]

Which works of Cicero are to be read? The Ratio Studiorum and other documents mention his epistles, orations, philosophical and rhetorical works. Some specimens of all these should be studied.

I. Of his orations the following deserve especially to be read.^[18]

i. Verrinae I, IV, V; in the fourth, De Signis, the marvellous grouping of the material is highly instructive. 2. De Imperio Cn. Pompei (De Lege Manilia), has a most lucid disposition. 3. In Catilinam, especially the first and third exhibit a splendid eloquence. 4. Pro Milone, distinguished by masterly argumentation. 5. One or other of the Philippicae (the second seems to be the best). 6. Pro Ligario. 7. Pro Marcello. 8. Pro Archia Poeta (contains a magnificent passage on the Liberal Arts). – Cicero's invectives (against Catiline and Anthony) are sometimes wanting in gravity, and are too declamatory; his laudatory orations, on the other hand, are among his happiest efforts. But all abound in descriptions full of life and nature, and his skill in amplification is unsurpassed.

II. Philosophical writings:

1. The finest part is his Somnium Scipionis, on the immortality of the soul, (in his De Republica, which cannot well be read on account of the many gaps in the text).^[19] 2. Cato Major, or De Senectute, is clear and easy, and is better than Laelius: De Amicitia.^[20] 3. De Officiis is well fitted for the highest classes. 4. The Disputationes Tusculanae, especially lib. 1, form good and relatively easy reading.^[21]

III. Rhetorical Works. De Oratore, Orator ad Brutum etc., are read in Rhetoric class (Sophomore).

IV. The Letters of Cicero form the most valuable, as well as the largest, collection of letters (870 pieces) we possess of any of the ancients. They are the most important source for the history of this remarkable period. In a very pleasant manner the writer exposes all his good and weak points: his honest, although short-sighted patriotism, his affectionate heart, his fickleness, inconstancy and vanity. Drumann and Mommsen, who take his naive confessions in a wrong light, are too severe on Cicero. Professor Mommsen is altogether biased against Cicero in favor of his hero Caesar. Mr. T. Rice Holmes has well said with reference to Mommsen: "Historical imagination is a great quality, but it should not be allowed to run riot."^[22]

These letters are an excellent subject for study in the middle or higher classes. A selection can easily be made so as to illustrate Cicero's stormy career from 62-43 B. C., as well as to reflect the whole history of that period fraught with events, which were to change the world's history. For this purpose the following selection used to be read in a Jesuit college of this country: Ad Fam. V, 1; V, 2; Ad Att. II, 22; Ad Fam. XIV, 4; Ad Att. IV, 1; Ad Fam. VII, 1; XIV, 4; Ad Att. VII, 11; Ad Fam. XVI, 12; Ad Att. VIII, 3 (Cicero's opinion of Pompey and Caesar); Ad Att. IX, 18 (a highly interesting description of Cicero's interview with Caesar); Ad Att. XII, 18; Ad Fam. IV, 5 and 6; Ad Att. XIV, 12; Ad Fam. XI, 27 and 28; XI, 1; IX, 14; XII, 4; X, 28, etc.^[23]

The translation of Cicero should be exquisite and polished, as is the noble and refined diction of the original.^[24]

Caesar. Of the character of this "greatest of the Romans," Mommsen has given a splendid delineation in his Roman History, although this sketch is overdrawn and entertaining rather than convincing. We have here to do with Caesar only as historian, particularly as the writer of the Commentaries on the Gallic War. For simple straightforward historical style these commentaries remain up to this day, an unsurpassed model.^[25] Caesar's style is remarkable for clearness, ease, perfect equality of expression, and a simplicity bordering on severity. There is something of the imperator or the dictator in his very language. He commands style and language as he does his legions. After the first difficulties are overcome, the reading ought to be quick, as that of all histories and epics in general. Continual references are to be made to the maps. Drawings and plans, illustrating the descriptions of battles and sieges, will arouse interest and facilitate the understanding of the text. The translation of this author, quite different from that of Cicero, should be plain and forcible, like the original itself. From the historical standpoint it must not be overlooked that Caesar's Commentaries are not an unbiased historical work, but one written for a political purpose, viz., the justification of his proceedings in Gaul. The great general was also a skilled strategist in writing, a master in the art of grouping events, so as to represent his measures as justified without losing the appearance of strict historic objectivity. In particular the speeches are frequently clever partisan writings. From the ethical point of view it will be also necessary to indicate occasionally the brutality of this great imperialist in dealing with the Gallic and German tribes. Roman military antiquities should be studied in connection with the reading of the Commentaries,^[26] while the civil, political and social antiquities are best treated in connection with the study of Cicero. So it was done in the Jesuit schools under the name of "general erudition."

Livy's great history of Rome is not a critical work, but a popular narrative, written with the warmth of an enthusiastic patriot. His Latin is not as elegant and grand as Cicero's, but is, as Jouvancy says, "forcible and dignified."^[27] In a period of moral decadence he upheld the old virtus Romana which had made Rome the queen of the world. Of special beauty are the speeches which Livy makes his heroes deliver in important moments. They form part and parcel of his narrative and dramatically exhibit the inner feelings of the principal personages. Books I and II should be read; but above all XXI and XXII, the glowing account of the second Punic War, especially Hannibal's daring exploit in crossing the Alps. – Care must be taken to analyze his periods and to render them into shorter English sentences.

Sallust, in his Bellum Jugurthinum and Conjuratio Catilinae, of which latter event he was a contemporary, gives an insight into the political machinations and the corruptions of Roman society. His style is carefully formed after that of Thucydides, and is distinguished for vigor and conciseness, but becomes sometimes sententious and abrupt. He is also censured for archaic expressions, and on the whole, lacks graceful ease and smoothness. The delineations of character, (e. g. of Catiline, Jugurtha, Marius), have always been considered masterpieces. Jouvancy rightly says: "Sallust exhibits an abundance of material and a wealth of ideas."

Tacitus is the greatest historian of Rome, if not of antiquity.^[28] He was a stern Roman of the old stamp, an enthusiastic admirer of the virtus Romana, which in his time had almost totally vanished. But the sad condition of his time made him gloomy, pessimistic, and one-sided. "Tacitus and Juvenal paint the deathbead of pagan Rome; they have no eyes to see the growth of new Rome, with its universal citizenship, its universal Church (first of the Emperors, afterwards of Christ). ... The Empire outraged the old republican tradition, that the provincial was naturally inferior to the Roman: but this, which is the greatest crime in the eyes of Tacitus, is precisely what constitutes its importance in the history of the world."^[29] Tacitus' sympathetic description of the simple and incorrupt manners of the Germans, in his Germania, was intended to set the Roman corruptions in a more glaring light, and is evidently too much idealized. In psychological depth, warmth of feeling, and vigor of expression, Tacitus surpasses even Thucydides. His style is dignified, manly, studiously devoid of everything feminine and merely ornamental; it is so brief and concise, as to be often obscure. Jouvancy says most appropriately: "His sentiments are striking and profound, so that only deep reflection can fathom them, and mere reading is not sufficient."^[30] For these reasons his Annales and Historiae are the proper reading only for the highest classes and for mature men.

Of other Latin prose authors not much need be said. Cornelius Nepos' Biographies of Great Generals, written in a simple style, form easy and instructive reading for the lowest classes. – During the Middle Ages, as well as in the first centuries of the Christian era, one of the favorite authors was Seneca. The reason is obvious. No philosopher of antiquity has approached the Christian view of life as closely as Seneca, so that a legend sprang up that the Roman had become acquainted with St. Paul and Christianity. Tertullian says: Seneca saepe noster, and Augustine, Jerome, and Lactantius appeal to his testimony. His letters contain the loftiest moral sentiments, – in sharp contrast with the author's life –; "whole letters, with few changes, might have been delivered in the pulpit by Bourdaloue and Massillon."^[31] However, it is questionable whether Seneca's works are suitable reading for young pupils. A distinguished critic says: "Seneca is not to be read. His every sentence must have a sharp point, a striking antithesis. This is no wholesome food for boys."^[32] Jouvancy seems to say the same, when he speaks of the "abruptness and ruggedness of Seneca's style."

§ 3. Latin Poets.

Phaedrus wrote several books of fables, partly translations, partly imitations of the famous fables of Aesop. The gracefulness, precision, elegance, and simplicity of style, make the fables of Phaedrus excellent reading to start with in lower classes. Besides, his sound moral precepts afford other pedagogical advantages.

Ovid is the most gifted of Roman poets, more brilliant than Virgil, unsurpassed in his power of describing and "painting," and in his ease and fluency of versification. Father Jouvancy, in a few words, expresses the best judgment that can be passed on this writer: "Would that he were as chaste and pure as he is elegant and pleasing." This is only too true. Therefore, his works must be read with great caution. There are some of his productions of whose existence young students should be ignorant. The Amores, Ars Amandi, Remedia Amoris, cannot be condemned in too strong terms. The poet himself confesses: "Nil nisi lascivi per me discuntur amores." Critics, who cannot be suspected of squeamishness or religious prejudice, have severely censured the erotic poems of Ovid, as "gems of frivolousness, handbooks of lasciviousness, which on young readers must produce the effects of sweet poison that enters into the very marrow."^[33] In some parts of the second and third book of the Ars Amandi, the poet burns a firework, the stench of which leaves no doubt as to where we are. The poison is all the more dangerous as it is offered sweetened with the virgin honey of genuine poetic diction.^[34] But even the Metamorphoses contain many seductive passages, for which reason only selections should be in the hands of the pupils.

The Metamorphoses are the most important work for class reading. There is, on the whole, not very much depth of feeling or thought, but myth after myth is related, in a marvellous variety of detailed description, in a most fascinating style, and in a truly Homeric naiveté. Indeed Ovid has little of the stern Roman character; he has more of the gay, imaginative Greek. As regards his style, the elegance and unlabored ease of his versification is unrivalled. He says himself of his facility in writing verses: Et quod temptabam dicere, versus erat.^[35] The brilliancy of his imagination, the liveliness of his wit, the wonderful art of bringing every scene distinctly before the eye, whether he describes the palace of the Sun-God or the cottage of Philemon, have been universally admired. If properly treated, Ovid will please and delight boys. Above all, the account of the primeval chaos and creation should be read. It is, as Father Baumgartner says, "clear and grand and forms the noblest and most beautiful cosmogony which classical antiquity and the pagan Orient have handed down."^[36] Then should be read the four ages of the world, the war with the giants, the deluge, Phaeton (perhaps the most splendid and highly poetical of his efforts), Niobe, and the lovely idyl Philemon and Baucis.

The translation of Ovid should be easy and fluent. The students should be encouraged to translate Ovid into English verse. The study of Greek and Oriental mythology can easily be connected with the study of the Metamorphoses. Father Jouvancy, in an appendix to his edition of select stories from the Metamorphoses, gives a short, but useful account of the various deities.

Nagelsbach thinks it foolish to torment boys of fourteen or fifteen years with the Tristia or Epistolae ex Ponto; as a youthful mind could not take interest in those perpetual lamentations. A few pieces, however, may be read with advantage, v. g. the departure from Rome, or the poet's autobiography (Ep. ex Ponto IV, 10), etc.

Virgil is the Prince of Latin poets" (Jouvancy), the greatest poet of the Augustan age, the most celebrated imitator of Homer, the master and model of Dante,^[37] the favorite of Augustus and Maecenas, the friend, whom Horace calls 'the half of my soul',^[38] and the anima candida, the stainless soul, the 'Virgin poet', as he was styled in Naples."^[39] His language is not as easy and as fluent as that of Ovid, but is grand, noble and stately; but in his ideas and lofty sentiments, Virgil is infinitely superior to Ovid.

In modern times Virgil has been severely censured – for not being Homer. Indeed, he is inferior to Homer in many, in very many points. But let it not be forgotten that his epic is an entirely different species of poetry, it belongs to the artistic or literary epic, whereas Homer's is primitive epic. Hence it would be unfair to judge both according to the same standard. Virgil is an imitator of Homer, and did not come up to his master. For this the critics censure him, but they should remember the words of Voltaire: "Homer has made Virgil, they say; if this be true, it is undoubtedly his finest work."^[40]

In his Eclogues or Pastorals Virgil imitates the Greek idyls of Theocritus. But he is not as varied, lively and natural – at the same time not as coarse – as his Greek model. Theocritus' Idyls are genuine Pastorals, full of rural simplicity of thought and unadorned style, whereas Virgil's Pastorals are rather political allegories. For a full appreciation they require much learning, and hence they are less fitted for younger boys. The first, however, and above all the celebrated fourth Eclogue, should be read. On account of this fourth Eclogue, the poet was considered as a prophet during the Middle Ages. The mysterious prediction of the son, with whose birth – as the Sybils foretold, – the golden age was to return, naturally reminds us of the prophetic passages of Isaias. Virgil evidently refers to the son of a noble Roman, most probably of Asinius Pollio; but it is highly probable that he borrowed the idea and some details from Old Testament writings, whose contents, especially the expectation of a Redeemer, had become known through the Jews in the dispersion.^[41] Pope's Messiah, a Sacred Eclogue, should be read in connection with this fourth Eclogue of Virgil.

The four books of the Georgics are the best didactic production in Roman literature. They have been styled poetical essays on the dignity of labor, as set against the warlike glory, that was the popular theme of the day. This is Virgil's most characteristic work, which breathes the genuine air of Italy. The language is magnificent, superior to that of the Aeneid. The work abounds in beautiful descriptions and contains charming episodes. It is not advisable to read the whole work, as the student will not be satisfied with such a topic. Select passages, however, may be studied in class, especially from book II, and book IV (the life of the bees: their little state, character, pursuits, and wars).

Virgil's greatest work, the Aeneid, is in many points an imitation of both Iliad and Odyssey; but in its spirit it is a national poem in the best sense of the word, "a reflection and an echo of all the grandeur of the history of Rome,"^[42] a prophetia post factum. By a most ingenious device, the poet succeeded in exhibiting, and, as it were, foreshadowing the greatness of historical Rome in its legendary history. How bold and successful, for instance, is it to connect the legendary ancestor of the Roman rulers with Dido, the foundress of Carthage. Her imprecation: "Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor," is the most clever and most poetical conception of the Punic wars. Then take the sixth book, where Aeneas, in a grand vision, sees all the future splendor and glory of Rome, and show in Homer's poems, or in any other work, a passage of nobler, more majestic and more poetical character. It is true, the hero of the poem, Aeneas, does not inspire the reader. He lacks the fiery passion and impetuous vigor of Achilles, the chivalrous spirit of Hector, the inventiveness and cunning of Odysseus. But he is more than all that: he is the chosen instrument of Divine Providence for bringing about the greatest achievement in human history: "the settlement of that race in Italy, from which were to spring the founders of Rome." Only narrow prejudice, therefore, can depreciate Virgil's immortal work. Rightly has a Jesuit said: "This grand picture warmed with strong national and religious enthusiasm, elevated by the consciousness of Roman majesty and dignity, illumined by the light of a higher world, outweighs many a beautiful passage of the Iliad. This is not merely frosty imitation, not studied artifice, this is poetry, as it can well forth only from the inspired heart of a true poet. This noble idealism and genuine enthusiasm is the soul and the life-inspiring principle of the whole poem."^[43]

I think it is Nagelsbach who says, that every classical scholar should study carefully all the works of Virgil. For the pupils, of course, selections must suffice. But, as far as possible, these selections should give a view of the whole poem. The I. book, the II. (compare Lessing's Laokoon), the V., and above all the VI. , should not be omitted. In reading the sixth book, references to Dante's Inferno should be given throughout. The translation of Virgil is no easy task; it ought to be noble and dignified.

Horace is the great lyric poet of Rome. His Epistles and Satires, carefully selected, make good reading for Freshman Class, his Odes for Sophomore. There is a great variety in his poems. All show good sense, clear judgment, extraordinary taste and elegance. His descriptions of nature are true, portrait-like, vivid and very effective. With the greatest candor he opens his heart to his friends, without disguising his weaknesses. His shorter poems are light, graceful and tender. The patriotic Odes are very different. They show the poet's aim at effecting some large social or political purpose and consequently rise to a grander and more dignified tone. Although reckoning himself among the followers of Epicurus (Epicuri de grege porcum), he rises above the coarser tenets of that school, and many of his sayings contain much practical wisdom. He is, as Lord Lytton says, the most "quotable" of authors.^[44] He is not easy of translation.

The comedies of Platus and Terence, as Jouvancy says, are written in pure Latin, but contain many impure things, for which reason they should be studied in expurgated editions. This point is strongly

insisted on by the Ratio Studiorum.

§ 4. Greek Prose Writers.

Before speaking of the Greek authors, it may be well to make a few observations of fundamental import. There is a difference between the study of Greek and of Latin, which seems to be well expressed in the "Prussian School Order" of 1892 and 1901. There we find as the object of studying Latin: "The understanding of the principal authors and logical training;" as the object of the study of Greek: "The understanding of the principal classical authors." A similar distinction was made centuries ago by the Jesuits. As early as 1669 Father Fabri wrote: "To write and to speak Greek is not necessary. An educated man must, according to the adage, speak Latin, understand Greek, and read Hebrew. Latine loquatur, Graece intelligent, Hebraice legat."^[45] It is evident that the study of Greek contributes also to the logical training of the mind, but it ought not to be sought so directly as in Latin. The Latin language with its rigorous syntax seems to be better fitted for that purpose. It is different with Greek. In a former chapter,^[46] we mentioned that Latin grammar was eminently logic, and its study a course of applied logic. "Greek on the other hand, might almost be called a course of aesthetics, by means of which we learn to distinguish a thousand gradations of meaning which our barbarous languages will not allow us to accentuate."^[47] However, the principal object of the study of Greek is the reading of the Greek classics. "The Greeks are for us not one of the civilized nations of antiquity, but the civilized nation (das Kulturvolk), which has given us the models for all kinds of literary productions."^[48] And Father Baumgartner observes: "The intellectual culture of the Greeks became a power which not only survived their political decadence, but for all coming centuries exercised a decisive influence on the development of the world's culture."^[49]

In order to attain this object of the study of Greek, the reading of authors should be begun as soon as possible. Etymology should be limited to the essentials occurring in "the authors which form the staple reading in colleges. The old grammars contain many forms which never or quite exceptionally are met with in the course of reading. To this class belong many rare forms of declension, comparison, exceptional augments and reduplications, and, above all, numerous irregular verbs. They should be left out, as has been done in the best modern grammars.^[50] The Jesuits always favored brief textbooks, "perquam breves," says a document in 1829.^[51] This was in accordance with their fundamental principle: Pauca praecepta, multa exempla, exercitatio plurima.

Greek syntax may at first not be taught systematically but inductively, incidentally, as the rules are met with in reading. Then the various rules are to be put together systematically. Important rules (the use of Subjunctive and Optative, the position of the article, and the like) should be learned with the practice of the forms. The various conditional clauses, the meaning of tenses (especially of the Aorist), and the use of the participles must be well explained. These points are the whole Greek Syntax in mice.^[52] The study of vocables should be a direct preparation for the future reading of authors. Many vocables, found in exercise-books in vogue during the last century, are altogether useless to this end. This evil arose from the system of confining Greek reading for two years to translating unconnected sentences. According to the spirit of the Ratio, the reading of connected pieces, easy narratives and easy authors, should be begun as soon as possible.

The best author to begin with is Xenophon. For the sweetness and graceful simplicity of his language he was styled the "Attic Bee." In former times his Cyropaedia was the favorite book, also in Jesuit colleges. But this work is not as easy, nor as interesting as the Anabasis. The Anabasis, or The Retreat of the Ten Thousand, is a book most fit for youth,^[53] and a good preparation for Herodotus. The speeches which are interwoven with the narrative prepare for the reading of Demosthenes. The geographical and ethnographical details about Asia Minor will prove useful for the study of the Acts of the Apostles (Travels of St. Paul) and of the Crusades. Books I-IV should be read with maps, and with the plans of battles drawn on paper or on the blackboard. If this is done, and the reading is not too slow, the boys will take a real interest in the clear and simple narrative of battles and marches through the countries of hostile tribes. Boys delight in warfare and travels. – Whether the Memorabilia should be read is questionable, as a better picture of Socrates will afterwards be given in Plato's works. After the Anabasis selections may be read from the Cyropaedia and the Hellenica.

Herodotus, the "Father of History", as Cicero styles him, is a most attractive author. He seems not to have been read in the colleges of the Old Society. In modern times, in many plans of study, he receives more attention; some selections may well be read, especially such stories as have been taken into the literatures of all civilized nations. In their original garb they will exercise a special charm on account of their naive character.

Thucydides, the "Father of Pragmatic and Political History," wrote the history of the first part of the Peloponnesian War. He ranks very high as historian, being distinguished for critical spirit, accurate research, and severe impartiality. His style is concise, often so concise as to degenerate into obscurity. This conciseness and the depth of thought make him a difficult author for young students. In the highest class, choice passages may be read: v. g. the plague in Athens, the funeral oration of Pericles. Demosthenes was an ardent admirer of the harangues of Thucydides, and the two great Roman historians, Sallust and Tacitus, have taken him for their model.

Plato. Plato is recommended in the Ratio as one of the authors for Rhetoric class; in modern Jesuit colleges Plato is mostly read in Freshman class, for which he is an excellent author. In the words of a Jesuit critic, "Greek philosophy is one of the choicest fruits of Greek culture which, together with Greek poetry, history and oratory, was destined to form the basis of the culture of the Western nations."^[54] Plato, one of the greatest thinkers of all ages, vaguely felt and presaged some of the grand religious and moral truths which were to be clearly revealed by Christ. Thus he became the παιςαγωγὀς είς Χριστόν. No philosopher, in fact no writer of antiquity, exerted a greater influence on the early Christian writers. His many errors, mixed with some Christian truth, gave rise to numerous heresies in the earlier centuries, and misled even gigantic intellects like that of Origen. On the other hand, as Father Baumgartner observes, "numerous minds, searching after truth, have through his writings been raised out of the depths of materialism to the purer heights of idealistic speculations."^[55]

In Plato, there is, in the words of his disciple Aristotle, "a middle species of diction, between prose and verse," and Cicero said: "If Jupiter were to speak in the Greek tongue, he would use the language of Plato."^[56] Some of his dialogues are so sublime, so harmonious, so rhythmical, that they may truly be styled poetical. There are not many which, both for contents and style, can be read in colleges. Best suited for this purpose are the Apology and Crito. The Apology, or Defense of Socrates, the only work of Plato which is not in the form of a dialogue, probably contains the substance of the answer Socrates made to the insidious charges of his accusers. The tone is throughout fearless, at times even defiant, the accused merely pleading that, whatever he did, was done at the bidding of the divinity, who spoke to him through a mysterious inner voice, and that all his doings were directed towards improving the minds and morals of his fellow-citizens. It is, on the whole, grand and elevating reading. A Jesuit professor and distinguished critic, Father Stiglmayr, wrote recently: "What a pity, if youths should no longer drink inspiration from such a source!"^[57]

In the Crito we find Socrates in prison, during the interval between his condemnation and death. Crito advises him to fly, Socrates refuses, "as it was not allowed a good citizen to withdraw from proper authority and violate the laws of the state." The dialogue contains very fine passages.

The Phaedo is one of the most remarkable of Plato's dialogues. It relates a conversation held shortly before the death of Socrates, in which the great Athenian undertakes to prove the immortality of the soul. The last chapters narrate in a touching manner, how, when the summons came, Socrates with much composure and tranquillity of mind, drank the fatal cup, in the midst of his weeping friends. This dialogue may be read, as Nägelsbach says, with a good class of students. It is always advisable to read the Apology, then the Crito, and finally the last chapters of the Phaedo. Thus the students will get a clear picture of the whole life and the heroic death of the most remarkable man of antiquity.

Demosthenes. Rhetorical talent was a gift common to all Greeks. The splendid speeches in Homer's poems are not accidental fictions, but the expressions of old traditions, of national manners and peculiarities. The diplomatic Agamemnon, the subtle Odysseus, the passionate Achilles, the conciliatory Nestor are oratorical types which were renewed in the life of the Greeks from generation to generation.^[58] Greek oratory reached its zenith in Demosthenes, the "prince of orators". The Ratio Studiorum assigns his masterly orations to the highest class of the literary curriculum, which is, indeed, the proper place for this author. One or other of the Olynthiacs or Philippics should be studied, as was done early in Jesuit colleges. It may be questioned whether it is possible to do justice to the oration On the Crown, except with a very good class of pupils. This speech is not only the masterpiece of Demosthenes, but is regarded as the most perfect specimen that eloquence has ever produced.

A word must here be said on the reading of the Greek New Testament. Professor Bristol says that the present ignorance of the Greek New Testament on the part of the people who have had a classical education is little short of disgrace, and he wishes that it should be read an hour a week.^[59] This is exactly what was done in many colleges of the Old Society, as may be seen from Father Kropf's programme of 1736, in which the reading of the Greek Gospel (chiefly that of St. Luke), is prescribed for every Saturday in the fourth and fifth classes, and the Acts of the Apostles for Rhetoric (Sophomore).^[60]

§ 5. Greek Poets.

Homer is "the Father of Poetry." He was truly the "educator of Greece" and influenced the literature of all coming ages as no other writer ever has done. To dwell on his excellence, would merely be, as the Greek adage has it, (Greek characters). The Odyssey and Iliad should be read so as to give the pupil a perfect view of the whole. There are but few passages which cannot be read with boys. Homer is very naive and outspoken, as, in general, ancient literature is more honest, direct, and straightforward than modern literature, which often merely suggests what is offensive. But this very suggestiveness makes modern writings more insidious, as the mind is set thinking to find out what is meant. Homer is never licentious; the song in the Odyssey which is most objectionable is put into the mouth of another bard, and even in this song there is no glorification of sin, no mistake as to what is right or wrong. This straightforwardness in delicate matters must not offend the mature reader, or he must also object to Holy Scripture. It is evident that not all passages of Scripture are to be read by the young, no more than many of the profane writers. As to Homer, Jouvancy says very appositely: "A few comparisons which are somewhat low, and other traces of primeval simplicity and of a naiveté no longer known, must not shock any one. Every sensible reader will also make allowances for the lies and other crimes which the pagan writer imputes to his gods."^[61] If single lines with rather objectionable contents occur, the only way is to translate them correctly, but in careful and decent expressions, which have to be thought out beforehand; to omit them would almost surely lead some pupils to study them out at home. To give a wrong translation is dishonest, and "the end does not justify the means." Besides, as all sorts of translations may be had from our public libraries, and actually are in the hands of the students, such a fraud would be detected and would surely undermine the confidence of the pupils in their teacher. When the first passage is met with, the teacher may call attention to the above mentioned characteristics of ancient literature, sacred as well as profane. If a few prudent and grave remarks of this kind are made, the pupils will not suffer any harm from such reading.

We have said above that the epic dialect is to be studied inductively. When the first difficulties are overcome, the pupils will begin to like Homer, provided the teacher is what he ought to be. The introductions of the Odyssey and Iliad, as also other passages from Greek and Latin poetry, should be learned by heart. As of Virgil's Aeneid, so also of the Odyssey and Iliad, the whole cannot be studied. But care should be taken that the selections are such as to give the pupils a clear view of the whole work.^[62] The translation of Homer must be simple and natural. Anglo-Saxon words ought to prevail.^[63] It has been previously stated, and it is self-evident, that the teaching of antiquities, descriptions of the life and manners of the heroic age, should accompany the reading of Homer.^[64]

It is not necessary to dwell on the Greek Tragedies, and their importance for the higher classes of the literary curriculum. The Ratio does not mention them in particular: but Sophocles and Euripides are recommended by Jouvancy, and they were read in the colleges, as appears from the catalogues given on previous pages.^[65] – The amount of the world's best literature, with which the student in the Jesuit Colleges was made acquainted, is certainly not insignificant.

 

1. Ratio Docendi, ch. I, art. 7.
2. Rev. F. Heiermann, S. J., in Woodstock Letters, 1897, p. 376: "The Ratio Studiorum and the American College."
3. Neue Jahrbücher, 1898, vol. II, p. 83.
4. From various rules of the Ratio Studiorum, and Jouvancy, Ratio Docendi, ch. II, art. 7.
5. Now universally considered spurious, although even in the 19th century scholars were not wanting who defended their genuineness, as Grimm and Grote.
6. Monum. Paed., p. 92.
7. See above p. 8, note 1.
8. Pachtler, vol. IV, pp. 1-29.
9. Hartfelder, Philipp Melanchthon als Praeceptor Germaniae, vol. VII of the Monumenta Germaniae Paedagogica. Berlin 1889, pp. 360-397.
10. Koldewey, Braunschweigische Schulordnungen, vol. I and VIII of the Monumenta Germaniae Paedagogica, passim.
11. Pachtler, vol. IV, p. 442.
12. Ratio Discendi, ch. I, art. 1, § 2; art. 2, § 5; ch. II, art. 2, § 7, and art. 3, § 3.
13. Geschichte der Weltliteratur, especially vol. III, which deals with the classical literature of Greece and Rome; on this work see above p. 233-234.
14. We quote chiefly from Nägelsbach, Gymnasial-Pädagogik (3. ed.); Dettweiler, Didaktik und Methodik des Lateinischen and Didaktik und Methodik des Griechischen; Willmann, Didaktik als Bildungslehre; Anthon, Class. Dictionary.
15. Dettweiler, Did. des Lat., p. 193.
16. Historical Sketches, vol. I, pp. 239-300.
17. Transactions of the Berlin Conference 1900, p. 207. – See also Weisweiler, Cicero als Schulschriftsteller, and Zielinski, Cicero im Wandel der Jahrhunderte, Leipsic, Teubner.
18. Cf. Dettweiler, l. c., p. 193 sq. – Nägelsbach, Gymnasial-Pädagogik, p. 123.
19. There exist good separate editions of the Somnium Scipionis, for instance, Reid's (Pitt Press Series).
20. In the introduction to his excellent commentary on the latter work, Professor Seyffert says: "De Senectute may be read in Tertia (fourth class), De Amicitia should not be taken up before Upper-Secunda (sixth class)."
21. See Dettweiler, p. 200. – On Cicero's philosophy see also Döllinger, The Gentile and the Jew, vol. II, p. 118 sq.
22. Caesar's Conquest of Gaul, p. 755 (see also p. 803).
23. On "Cicero's Letters as Class Reading," see the excellent article of Dr. O. E. Schmidt in Neue Jahrbücher, vol. VIII, pp. 162-174. This author wishes them to be read, after the orations against Catiline, De Senectute, or De Amicitia have been studied. He adds also a plan for a new selection of the letters.
24. See also various works on Cicero, by Middleton, Forsyth, Trollope, Collins, Boissier, etc.
25. Father Baumgartner, vol. III. p. 383.
26. A magnificent and most helpful work for the study of the Commentaries is T. Rice Holmes' Caesar's Conquest of Gaul. London, Macmillan, 1899.
27. Rat. Disc., ch. 1, art. 2, § 5.
28. See Father Baumgartner, vol. III, pp. 531-538.
29. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, p. 175.
30. Father Baumgartner, l. c., vol. III, p. 534, speaks of the "markige, lapidare, ur-römische Stil des Tacitus."
31. De Maistre, Soirées de St. Pétersbourg, IX. – On the spurious Letters of Seneca to St. Paul, see Bardenhewer, Gesch. der altkirchl. Literatur, vol. I (Herder, 1902), p. 470.
32. Nägelsbach.
33. O. Ribbeck, Geschichte der römischen Dichtung, vol. II, pp. 217, 265.
34. Schanz, Geschichte der römischen Literatur, vol. II, p. 147; see Baumgartner, vol. III, pp. 466-488.
35. Tristia IV, 10, 26.
36. Vol. III, p. 478.
37. Dante, Inferno, I.: "Lo mio maestro et lo mio autore."
38. Odes I, 3: animae dimidium meae.
39. Baumgartner, vol. Ill, p. 415.
40. Homère a fait Virgile, dit-on; si cela est, c'est sans doute son plus bel ouvrage.
41. See Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum etc., 1898, vol. I, pp. 105-128: "Every unbiased mind must admit that Hellenistico Jewish sources furnish the best explanation of this eclogue." Cf. Isaias 11, 6-8. Lactautius, Div. Inst., VII, 24, 11. – Josephus, Bell. Jud., VI, 312. – Suetonius, Vesp., 4.
42. Nägelsbach.
43. Baumgartner, vol. Ill, p. 436.
44. See Father Baumgartner's sympathetic sketch, vol. III, pp. 437—457.
45. Fabri, Euphyander (1689). – Chossat, Les Jésuites à Avignon, p. 286.
46. Chapter XII, Classical Studies, p. 347.
47. Dr. Karl Hildebrand; see The Month, 1886, Feb., p. 167.
48. Dettweiler, Didaktik und Methodik des Griechischen, p. 11.
49. Baumgartner, vol. III, p. 5.
50. Perhaps one of the best modern grammars is the Small Greek Grammar by Professor Kaegi, which has been recently translated into English by J. Kleist, S. J. (Herder, St. Louis, 1902.)
51. Pachtler, vol. IV, p. 404.
52. "Also the epic dialect should not be studied systematically before reading Homer, but incidentally, and afterwards systematized." (Prussian School Order.)
53. "Ein rechtes Jugendbuch." Dr. Dettweiler. See this author on Xenophon, Didaktik des Griechischen, p. 29; also Willmann's Didaktik, vol. II, p. 519.
54. Father Baumgartner, vol. III, page 268. Further references see in Histories of Philosophy, v. g. by Zeller, Brandis, Ueberweg, Windelband; Willmann, Geschichte des Idealismus. Döllinger, The Gentile and the Jew, vol. I, pp. 304-332.
55. Father Baumgartner, vol. III, p. 277.
56. Brutus 31; Orator 20.
57. A beautiful appreciation of the Apology is given by this Professor in two articles in the Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, vol. LXII, 1902. – Professor Bristol, in his Teaching of Greek in the Secondary School, thinks the Apology not a suitable introduction to the study of Plato. His arguments are not convincing.
58. See Father Baumgartner, vol. III, p. 257. – As a confirmation of this statement take the IX. book of the Iliad with its magnificent speeches.
59. The Teaching of Greek in the Secondary School, pp. 267–268.
60. Kropf in Herder's Bibliothek der katholischen Pädagogik, vol. X, pp. 341–344.—See above pp. 123–124.
61. Ratio Disc., ch. I, art. 1, § 2. – See also Nägelsbach's Homeric Theology.
62. Professor Bristol, in his excellent work The Teaching of Greek in the Secondary School, suggests that books IX-XII of the Odyssey should be read first, then V, VI, VII, VIII, and part of book XIII. I must confess that such an inversion seems not advisable. Why not follow the author? I doubt also whether of book I. not more than the first 79 verses should be read. The whole first book is interesting and important for the correct appreciation of the whole.
63. A good help for class translation is found in the prose translation of the Odyssey by Butcher and Lang; of the Iliad by Lang, Myers and Leaf.
64. Works by Jebb, Gladstone, Mahaffy, Grote, Nägelsbach, etc. – A splendid literary appreciation of the Iliad and Odyssey, see Baumgartner, vol. III, pp. 19-63.
65. See pp. 373-374; see also Baumgartner, vol. III, pp. 133-244.