Bullfinch and the Bible

It is always difficult to prove the need for another undergraduate course of instruction. As the Edsel recently proved, the product often creates the market, not the reverse. Nevertheless, many English concentrators and others in literature courses often find themselves lacking sufficient background in Biblical and classical lore to appreciate many illusions and mythical themes in the works at hand. For students who are foggy on the Song of Solomon or the Odyssey, an introduction to these basic poetic works in English translation might be a valuable preface to Spenser, Milton, and Joyce.

In these and other writers, certain themes can be traced directly to their Biblical and classical origins. A course which treats those ideas in Job, Tristan and Isolde, and Ecclesiastes recurrent in later works would be a valuable addition to the present catalogue.

In the days of classical education in secondary schools such a course would be unnecessary. However, with Latin and Greek no longer in favor and Bible reading for its own sake almost a thing of the past, some means must be found to make the myth, not the footnote, come alive for modern students. It seems sentimental to believe that a student who has already passed the language requirement will begin a program of Greek in order to read Homer in the original. It is not unrealistic, however, to study classical works in translation as myths which are to occur again and again in literature.

Similarly, the study of Old Testament stories, with the exception of Job, has remained the responsibility of the individual. At present there is no undergraduate course in the Old Testament such as Dr. Buttrick's course in the New Testament. Perhaps better than a course in the Old Testament alone, a course discussing major themes from both Classical and Judaic civilization would make this part of the Bible interesting and relevant.

Besides tracing certain ideas and attitudes in our culture back to their foundations, a thorough study of Biblical and classical myths would be enjoyable and valuable in itself.