. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P A R O L E . C A L L

I have a new worry about ordering the classics for my students. The old concern was that the antiquated language might turn them off. It turns out I missed a meeting where teachers were informed that the language in the novels on the list we can select from has been “modernized and simplified.” For example, in the crucial last paragraph of Homer’s The Odyssey, the line, “Odysseus obeyed Athene’s words, delighted at heart,” has been reduced to “Odysseus obeyed her gladly.” All this of course translated from the original Homeric Greek. I’m all for getting my students to read; the little bookshelf space I have in my class is at capacity. But to lose the poetry of Homer — having Odysseus cheerfully follow instructions as if he were talking to a receptionist at the dentist’s office — I’m not down with that.