News broke that Christopher Nolan was adapting Homer’s The Odyssey for his next film. And then a lot of people revealed that they were not subjected to Homer’s work in school. What is happening with our curriculum?
I do admit that I was a kid who loved English classes in school. I took AP English for two years and even minored in English. So when someone brings up classical works, I probably have at least a passing knowledge of whatever it is they’re talking about. But prior to my dedication to the AP English courses that still haunt my dreams, I was introduced to The Odyssey and The Iliad.
Which is why this news that some people don’t know what it is shocked me. You were not forced to read them back to back in school? Homer was a huge part of multiple years of schooling for me and it seems as if that was common (at least at some point).
Many online began to question what happened between when we were school and now. Really though, did someone in the government decide that Homer wasn’t important? Who made that call because they’re wrong for it!
But it is also important to remember that the lack of knowledge on The Odyssey is a failure of the United States’ Education system.
It has made many of us who grew up learning about Homer in classes confused though. Because if it was a thing as recently as 2010 (for me), who changed it and when did it vanish? Or is it still important in some schools but just not others?
What happened to George W. Bush’s entire “no child left behind” idea? All the children are being left behind, sir!
What happened to having to read The Odyssey?
This is one of those things that really just boggles the mind. I could tell you entire sections of my classes that were decided to Homer’s work. We had to learn it in middle school and high school and I lived in three different places during that time. So if Pennsylvania, California, and North Carolina all had me learning about The Odyssey, what is going on with those who weren’t forced to read it?
It isn’t just that this specific poem became a hyper fixation for people. It is the fact that The Odyssey is the basis for many iconic works. Even O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based around Homer’s poem!
Hopefully Nolan’s work will have those who don’t know what The Odyssey is going back to explore the work but it is proving a baffling experience for those of us who had to read it in school. What else are you guys not being taught? Did you have to read The Great Gatsby? Is Huckleberry Finn still on the table? Please, I need to know what they’re not forcing these kids to examine! I want to know what I can reference and not be angry about later on!
