Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin

By Tracy Lee Simmons

Climbing Parnassus presents the reader not so much with a program for educational renewal as with a defense and vindication of the formative power of Greek and Latin. Tracy Lee Simmons’s persuasive witness to the unique, now all-but-forgotten advantages of study in, and of, the classical languages constitutes a bracing reminder of the genuine aims of a truly liberal education.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781497651395

Tracy Lee Simmons

Tracy Lee Simmons is a journalist who writes widely on literary and cultural matters. He holds a master's degree in classics from Oxford.

Reviews for Climbing Parnassus

[colby_glass-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful book. Explains why we should care about Latin and Greek. Many historical examples and stories.

[nlaurent_12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This author is an amazing writer and makes one literally want to take up the classics. I think I may be going back to college when I retire to study them. That is how inspiring this book is. This book slaps down the one size fits all education we currently are all rebelling against on one level or another and brings back the ideas that you need to have some solid information (aka knowledge) before you can successfully think abstractly about that information on a critical level, understand ethical implications and make much needed connections between disciplines. I got the distinct feeling that my entire young and middle adulthood life would have had so many more layers of meaning had I understood the roots of my language and the works I have come to love. Can I live up to this author's urgings to read all the classics in their original languge of Greek when at all possible, and even the Latin works? I don't know. It won't be anytime soon. But we all need something to aspire to and to regard highly. And this author allows us that. Don't be intimidated by these ancient languages. They are not impossible. And they are our roots. You think you understand Western Civilization? Read this book and learn what you failed to consider!