Aeneas really, really does not want to be in this poem. As in, he would rather be dead. That's how the Aeneid starts out: when we're introduced to our hero he's a very unwilling participant in a grand plan for world history, and he doesn't feel remotely up to the task. Virgil might have felt the same way, crushed under the political and artistic pressure of telling a founding story for Rome's new era. Which makes this a perfect time to read the poem, as a troubled America gets ready to celebrate 250 years since its own founding.

 Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com

A helpful list of translations: https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/12/05/do-we-have-too-many-english-translations-of-the-aeneid/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20there%20is%20not,English%20translations%20of%20the%20Aeneid.

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Mailbag: Check out Omeros, by Derek Walcott

How many English editions of the Aeneid can we possibly need? Which one is the best one, and why? Is the C.S. Lewis version real, or just a myth? Today, as we prepare to launch into our series on Virgil's great epic, I share a reading from a few different translations, a discussion of some of the issues at play, and a verdict on the GOAT when it comes to the Aeneid in English.

 Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com

A helpful list of translations: https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/12/05/do-we-have-too-many-english-translations-of-the-aeneid/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20there%20is%20not,English%20translations%20of%20the%20Aeneid.

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

I maked this: "The Crisis of Purpose in the West": https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/report/resurrection-or-surrender-the-crisis-purpose-the-west

It's a new year, and it's time for a new epic. You asked, we delivered: here comes Virgil's Aeneid! BUT FIRST: while we were gone over the Christmas vacation, Twitter descended into an intoxicating madness of epic adaptation, debate, and counter-programming. I'll recap the major points and give my take on: Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, whether you should have heard of Homer before, and what you should think of Emily Wilson's new translations. Then we'll launch into our new series for the year, on the little Roman epic with big hopes to rival Greece.

Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com

Read my review of Emily Wilson's Odyssey and Iliad translations: https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/homer-without-heroes/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

I maked this: "The Crisis of Purpose in the West": https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/report/resurrection-or-surrender-the-crisis-purpose-the-west

I wanted to like this movie. Really, I did. I tried to like it. But modern realism is just totally unsuited to the Homeric epics and like, also...maybe to telling a coherent story at all? Ralph Feinnes and Juliette Binoche are both terrific actors, but The Return failed for me at every level and here's why. Plus: read more at The New Jerusalem. 

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

And the Inkling Award goes to...

This year, for the first of what I hope will be many times, I'm announcing my awards for the best books I read in four categories, with one bonus:

Non-Fiction  Criticism Fiction Theology Bonus Category: Worst Book of the year

You can find links to the winners above, and a few runner-ups here, here, here, here, and here. Who will win? Who belly-flopped the hardest? Were there any good movies this year? All this and more, plus a preview of things to come.

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

"I cannot rest from travel," says Odysseus in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Ulysses. But wasn't resting from travel...kind of the whole point? Come to think of it, what does happen to an indelible character when his story comes to an end? Maybe the answer is, it doesn't. As a coda to our series on Homer, here's one last look at Odysseus through the years, as his story has inspired everyone from Dante to Spongebob.

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/

Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar: 

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Listen to EPiC, the Musical: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2kdmTOXncgNHSuYVMhdd5I?si=t3N9X8bGSPmp6ZX5t7QDRw

Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Hey you! Yeah, you!! PUT DOWN THAT NAT KING COLE CHRISTMAS ALBUM. It's not time yet!! Technically, it won't even be time on December 1, which is the beginning not of Christmas but of the Advent season. It's also the beginning of the liturgical calendar. And since these sorts of things can be hard to focus on unless you really set out with intention at the beginning, I thought this year I'd invite you to read and meditate with me during the season. And don't worry, you can still play Christmas music.

To join in my Rejoice Evermore advent calendar, go to https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the

and become a paid subscriber for 20%. OR buy a copy of my book and send me the receipt: https://a.co/d/1DoFRmW

It's payback time. Odysseus at last throws off his disguise and wages holy war on the men who tore up his house and home for ten years, in what is still one of the most metal sequences in all of world literature. Does he go too far? Lots of people think so--but I don't. I think he gets right up to the brink and then, in a key moment that brings the hero's journey to its close, his son pulls him back from the brink. After that it's really all over but the shouting--and a little husband-wife trickery--before we bring this journey to a close.

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Confession: for a long time I never understood why Tolkien had to make up a language to go with The Lord of the Rings. It felt a little bit like trying to tell an adventure story while getting bogged down in the details of imaginary corn law. But when the Daily Wire asked me to invent a new language for the Pendragon series, I instantly understood Tolkien in a whole new way. So when a listener asked me to comment on the idea that world building essentially is language building, I was all in. Here's what I learned from my first time language building, or "conlanging."

Check out more behind-the-scenes footage from Daily Wire: https://x.com/dailywireplus/status/1717656941122461910

Order Osweald Bera: https://ancientlanguage.com/vergil-press/osweald-bera/

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Odysseus' journey isn't over when he reaches Ithaca's shores. It won't be fully over until he takes back his rightful place at the head of his household--but first, he has one last journey of self-discovery to make. With the help of his nursemaid Eurycleia, he has to learn at last that he's not just the person war has made him: he's also the person he left behind at home. At the end of all his wanderings, he returns at last to find himself.

Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home