Lydia Kapp

Stephen Blackwood, the founding president of Ralston College, says Ralston was established to counter “the failure, the corruption and the crisis of our elites.” He likens his college, among the smallest in America, to “the Little Engine That Could, carrying the freight of our neglected culture in its few little cars.” ~~~~~ “The Navy SEALs of Western Civilization” / by @tunkuv wsj.com/opinion/the-navy-sea… via @WSJopinion

An apt day to remember that Dolly Parton once recorded a cover of Stairway to Heaven - and, in defiance of every moral law in the universe, she absolutely owned it.

“Ancient Greek should be spoken in the classroom and lecture hall, whatever the particular pronunciation, and this is most easily done by treating Modern Greek as the entrance point into its living form.” This was the conviction of the great Scottish Hellenist John Stuart Blackie, Professor of Greek at the University of Edinburgh, as early as 1853. I have studied his work for years and share profoundly his understanding of the unbroken continuity of the Greek language and the importance of teaching it as a living language. Sometimes, the finest response to noise is study.

Delighted to welcome the 5th cohort of @RalstonCollege 's MA in Humanities to Greece. Their two-month journey begins in Samos and continues through Patmos, Ephesus, Constantinople and the Peloponnese, exploring the language, history, philosophy and literature that have shaped our civilisation. Wishing them an inspiring journey filled with learning, friendship and discovery. Καλή αρχή! 🇬🇷📚 #RalstonCollege #Classics #AncientGreece #Humanities #StudyAbroad

Nolan left out a lot of important scenes in the poem. Achilles in Hades. Metis/outis. But there is a key moment Nolan leaves out but it is often overlooked because it happens so fast. It occurs in the Circe episode in the original poem. On the beach, Odysseus decides he must save his crew from Circe. Remarkably, it is the first time Odysseus does something for others instead of out of self-interest. Strangely as well, it’s also the first time we learn the names of his crew. Right then and there Odysseus is immediately rewarded by the gods for taking daring and just action. His reward is mysterious. Hermes arrives to pull a magical plant out of the ground and uses it to teach Odysseus about the nature of things. Hermes points out that there is a root and a flower. “It was black in its root, and its flower like milk; the gods call it moly, but it is hard for mortal men to dig up, but the gods can do everything.” The white and black are connected despite the contrasting polarity of their colors. This is the knowledge that saves Odysseus from Circe’s enchantment. It is also the metaphor that brings him home. Day and night, the sky and the ocean, the bow and the lyre, the dead that haunt and the living we save, a scar from a wound in our past that becomes our identity in the present, an immovable bed rooted in the earth, the ship’s mast (freedom in constraint), the trees in the grove Odysseus must name. In all these cases, Odysseus must remember what Hermes taught him. The root and the flower. Two diametrically opposed polarities must become one. Something Nolan's fans will never get to know.

How Civilizations Die The Provost of @RalstonCollege David Butterfield—an astoundingly talented and courageous man—with @KonstantinKisin and @francisjfoster on the @triggerpod. A bracing conversation on the essential, indeed existential, question of our time. youtube.com/watch?v=XzWXCzro…

Ralston does not seek to invent the novel and the unknown. Instead, we are committed to reviving the age-old principles of humanities education. Here Joseph Conlon, Professor of Greek, explains to our students how our panigiri festival channels those aims. (Filmed by @ManolidouE)