Ancient Epics (World Literature)

  • Duration: 15 Weekly 60-min. Discussions
  • Schedule: Fall 2026
  • Price: $400 first child + $300 per sibling
Videoconference Live Sessions
  • Thursdays, 12:15–1:15 p.m. CT
  • August 20–December 17 (15 sessions, plus breaks on Oct. 8 and Nov. 26 and a catch-up session as needed on Dec. 17)
Overview

This preceptorial offers support for Lutheran students reading through the Homeric and Virgilian epics. Focused on faith-based dialogue, students will be immersed in the literary concepts relevant to these great works of literature which have stood the test of time. We will examine how these works have influenced Western culture, as well as apply lessons learned from the readings to our own lives. This preceptorial will have once-a-week live sessions online for one hour.

Required Books
  • Homer, The Iliad (any unabridged verse translation, such as by Robert Fagles, Emily Wilson, or Ian Johnston, selecting either a more or a less archaic translation according to the student’s preference)
  • Homer, The Odyssey (any unabridged verse translation, such as by Robert Fagles or Emily Wilson, selecting either a more or a less archaic translation according to the student’s preference)
  • Virgil, The Aeneid (any unabridged verse translation, such as by Robert Fagles, Emily Wilson, or Shady Bartsch, selecting either a more or a less archaic translation according to the student’s preference)
Objectives

This curriculum features many objectives, including those that follow. The student will ...

  1. ... read the Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, plus Virgil’s Aeneid
  2. … analyze these epics from a Christian worldview.
  3. … compare and contrast various authors and works
  4. … grow in an understanding of Greek, Italian, and English culture and its influence on greater Western culture.
  5. … choose, practice, and recite selections from these works.
  6. … memorize and recite pertinent Scripture verses.
  7. … hone in on themes in these epics.
  8. … practice leadership skills with class discussion and prayer.
  9. … make life applications from lessons learned from the readings.
  10. … be immersed in a classically Lutheran learning dialogue.
  11. … participate and collaborate in a liturgical model of learning.
  12. … learn through leisure and contemplation.
Outline
  • Weeks 1–5: Iliad
  • Weeks 6–10: Odyssey
  • Weeks 11–15: Aeneid
Related Course(s)

Instructor

Mrs. Marie MacPherson earned an MA in the Great Books from Memoria College and a BA in Elementary Education from Bethany Lutheran College, with a certification as a Lutheran teacher in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod as well as a classical Lutheran education certificate from the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education. As a homeschool mother with nearly two decades of experience, she has coordinated music camps, art enrichment courses, and speech teams. She is author of several books, including Teaching Your Children Chastity and a two-volume devotional entitled Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood. Homeschool moms across America have come to Marie for advice, which finally led her to suggest to her husband that they expand their service to their neighbors by establishing Lifelong Lyceum.

Our Unique Approach

  • Supporting families in lifelong learning
  • Offering interactive live sessions through small-audience videoconferencing
  • Teaching according to the classical pursuit of goodness, truth, and beauty
  • Cultivating the values of Western civilization: natural law, cardinal and theological virtues, Socratic questioning, syllogistic reasoning
  • Promoting the ideals of America’s founding: representative government and the rule of law for protecting people’s God-given rights to life, liberty, and property
  • Standing on the foundation of the historic Christian faith as taught in Holy Scripture and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Augsburg Confession
  • Training homeschool students in specified subjects, with the parent ensuring that the child stays on pace (“Did you finish your reading for tomorrow’s videonconference live session?”) while Lifelong Lyceum handles the details of instruction and assessment
 

Final Call for Fall 2026 Registration

For our Natural Childbirth Class, registration is available now by clicking here.

For all other courses, please browse our catalog of offerings and click here to pre-register. (Lifelong Lyceum will reserve your seat as availability permits and send you an invoice to complete your registration.)

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Testimonials

Not only does Mrs. MacPherson have a huge breadth of knowledge ranging across many fields, but she possesses that rare gift of being able to impart that knowledge to her students in a meaningful way. My sons marveled at how much they learned in a single course and appreciated the clarity with which complicated ideas were communicated. We will definitely be looking for more classes from Mrs. MacPherson!

—Elise, Kentucky

My high school student was well equipped and deeply edified by Marie MacPherson’s seminars on the Greek tragedies. She guided students with rigorous and thoughtful discernment into meaningful life application and strong scriptural integration. Her teaching cultivated intellectual inquiry, historical perspective, and spiritual reflection. My son benefited tremendously from the fruitful contemplation she fostered throughout the course.

—Kate, Ohio