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The classics in my opinion are good for a multiplicity of reasons.  One, they are able to tell a story that seems crystal clear and fresh at the same time.  Two, they are able to teach us about society when the books were written, or are able to tell us about the morals of the day.  Three, they are able to teach us that literature, like age can be appreciated more as it matures into something that future generations can learn from.  Four, they are able to impart different styles upon the reader, who may in fact take up writing novels.  Novels can inspire us through our imaginations to write for future generations in hopes that they will appreciate our work like we appreciate the work of generations prior to us.  Lastly, novels are good for timber if they are kept properly dry since college.

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No one has said anything about the "Epic of Gilgemesh".
The first historic recorded literary hero story.
Read it!

Kind of like a modern "Sinbad" but written during the Sumarian Dynasty.

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thanks for all your help guys.....i got a 100 on the paper.

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Classics?
Down here in the South, "Classics" mean different things.
Smoky and the Bandit, Bullit, Gator.
Thems classics, boy.
Dukes of Hazzard is in the running.

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I used to go to a college where the manditory curriculum were the Great Books.  They're read and discussed in roughly chronological order over 4 years.

This is what's mandated by experts on the Great Books, to be read and discussed over the short 4 year college term. [url]http://www.sjcsf.edu/academic/seminar_list_02-03.htm[/url]


Me too. Glad to hear others who shared at least some of that experience. But I can say that I have not stopped using what I learned, and that is, how to learn.

A day when you don't learn at least one new thing is a day wasted.
I wanted to do this for my college education because in just 5-10 years, the knowledge you get from standard univeristy courses will be expanded on, maybe even made obsolete.  They start you in baby steps in undergrad studies, expecting you to get to the cutting edge and serious scholarship in postgrad studies.  In big schools, the top experts won't even deign to teach you.  They leave that to grad students.

The Great Books program's different, because the tutors in your class consider themselves students too, just very advanced ones. The greatest experts willing to teach go to St. John's, where they're immune from the usual politics and political correctness found in modern academics. They study the same texts as the students alongside them. These books are the pinnacle of Western thought and intellectual achievement.  It's not pablum or watered down; they're the original texts written by the brilliant pioneers that have shaped and described our greatest ideas.

I ditched this program because I couldn't afford it, and it was the biggest mistake of my life.  I regret nothing in life so much as leaving St. John's College. It is a very special place.