Introduction to my Group
Following Ted Gioia's Immersive Course in Humanities over Two Years
Hello, and welcome!
I’m Cams, a lifelong reader and learner. And many other things besides, as we all are.
I've joined Ted Gioia's 12-month immersive course in the humanities but feel that I will struggle to keep up with 250 pages a week that would make it a one-year course. So I have decided to make it a two-year project for me.
I also need some accountability -- I'm on the spectrum and structure is a requirement for me to achieve ANYTHING. Accountability by way of publishing and hosting discussions helps me with that.
And, of course, the whole course will be enriched by having discussions around these wonderful books, music and visual arts. So, I have launched this group to enable the accountability and discussions to happen.
I’m starting on 1 August and taking two weeks to go through Ted’s recommended books, music and visual arts. That means I’ll be posting something on 15 August, and may even host a Zoom call if there’s an appetite for that. I’m not a Classics major, but I do have a degree in Russian language and literature and I know Russian literature quite well.
Like Ted Gioia, I’m a lifelong reader, but his book recommendations are all new to me and I’m very keen to dive in and get to know them. I love reading Russian and Soviet history, classics, literary fiction, fantasy and science-fiction, so I’m all over the map with my reading. I’m weak in politics, religion, economics and philosophy, although I suppose politics and economics wouldn’t be thought of as humanities.
Anyway, enough rambling for now. Below is Ted’s post for Weeks 1 and 2. I’m signed up for his paid membership on my other Substack so can’t restack quotes on this one. Or can I… YES, I can! But I’m not sure how that works, so I’ll look at at that later. There’s nothing like building in public!
Ted has only weeks 1 and 2 visible to free list members on his Substack, so if you’d like to look ahead, take a paid membership on his rather than mine. I’ll be posting in advance for the weeks after week 2, which I hope Ted will be okay with.
WEEK ONE
Plato: The Final Days of Socrates (as told in four dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo)
Plato: Republic, Books I, VII
I can’t find a better starting point—the most brilliant thinker of antiquity is forced to drink poison because the rulers didn’t like what he is saying. Socrates defends himself, but ultimately loses his life because he pursues truth not power. And the whole account is only around 150 pages.
This leaves us room to add books I and VII of Plato’s Republic—which give us a taste of justice, and introduce Plato’s famous Allegory of the Cave. Once you know this cave, you see it everywhere.
I prefer Jowett’s translations for Plato, but that’s a very old school choice. You might also consider the popular Complete Works of Plato volume featuring Grube’s translations of these dialogues.
Musical listening for week one: Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1) and Goldberg Variations.
Art for week one (find it online): Paintings by Jacques-Louis David (including The Death of Socrates).
WEEK TWO
Sappho (and others): Lyrics
Homer: Odyssey: Books 1-10
The single most important moment in literary and musical history happened when people started singing about themselves and their feelings. Everything changed at that moment, and not just in the creative world—this is also a milestone in the emergence of human rights and personal autonomy.
By singing about your inner life, you publicly validate its importance.
Sappho did more than anyone to make this happen, but only the tiniest fragments from her work survive. So we will read her as well as other ancient lyric poets. (You might also call them singer-songwriters, because the word lyric comes from the name of the instrument they played, the lyre.)
The Lattimore collection of Greek lyric poetry is just 100 pages. So you can also start Homer’s Odyssey this week. There are many good translations of Homer, but Emily Wilson, Robert Fagles, or Robert Fitzgerald never nod, and won’t let you down.
Musical listening: We’re doing lyric songs, so listen to Schubert’s Winterreise and Joni Mitchell’s Blue.
Art: Ancient Greek sculpture.
Hope to see you in the comments!