Since my undergraduate days, I have known about the curriculm of St. John’s College in Annapolis. Their curriculm is based upon the 100 greatest books of Western Civilization, as seen by St. John’s. Over the years, I have promised myself many times that I would attempt their challenge. A few years ago, I tried to engage son, Stuart, in joining me in this personal “Odyssey.”  In order to pique his interest, I needed to jump ahead to the mid nineteenth century with Huck Finn.  What I had hoped would be a lively exchange between us over one summer vacation turned into my daily badgering of him to see if he had read any of Twain’s masterpiece.  I can’t remember if I finished my re-read. I know Stuart didn’t.

     Well, one of ’09 promises to myself was to begin this great voyage. Today, although it took trips to 2 different Henrico libraries, I was able to secure a copy of Homer’s Iliad. If you’re interested in the curriculm, here is a link to it. Now, don’t expect to finish my ‘freshman” year in 9 months, I do have a day job, but I’ll let you know how it’s going throughout the year.