The Examining Life

Episode 11: Tennyson's Ulysses

Welcome to "The Examining Life," a podcast of the Arts of Liberty Project. Hosted by Drs. Jeffrey Lehman and Andrew Seeley, the podcast covers both works from the Western tradition and contemporary events of interest. Lively, personal, and timely, "The Examining Life" contributes to the renewal of liberal education.

What happens to the hero when the story is over? How can we understand the great heroes of literature? In this episode, Lisa VanDamme and Kyle Steele of VanDamme Academy join Dr. Andrew Seeley to discuss Tennyson's Ulysses. This poem becomes the starting point for a larger conversation about reading literature today.

"The Examining Life," like the rest of the Arts of Liberty project, is importantly supported by generous donations. Please consider donating so that we can continue our work in the restoration of liberal education!

If you enjoyed this episode of "The Examining Life," sign up for our monthly bulletin, which contains updates regarding new content from the Arts of Liberty and important events in the world of liberal education!

Podcast Colloquy Excerpt

Plato's Republic, Book 7, 525b-526

"Then it would be fitting, Glaucon, to set this study down in law and to persuade those who are going to participate in the greatest things in the city to go to calculation and to take it up, not after the fashion of private men, but to stay with it until they come to the contemplation of the nature of numbers with intellection itself, not practicing it for the sake of buying and selling like merchants or tradesmen, but for war and for ease of turning the soul itself around from becoming to truth and being....

"And further," I said," now that the study of calculation has been mentioned, I recognize how subtle it is and how in many ways it is useful to us for what we want, if a man practices it for the sake of coming to know and not for trade."

"In what way?" he said.

"In the very way we were just now saying. It leads the soul powerfully upward and compels it to discuss numbers themselves. It won't at all permit anyone to propose for discussion numbers that are attached to visible or tangible bodies. For surely, you know the way of men who are clever in these things. If in the argument someone attempts to cut the one itself, they laugh and won't permit it. If you try to break it up into small coin, they multiply, taking good care against the one's ever looking like it were not one but many pieces."

"What you say is very true," he said.

"What, Glaucon, do you suppose, would happen if someone were to ask them, 'you surprising men, what sort of numbers are you discussing, in which the one is as your axiom claims it to be--each one equal to every other one, without the slightest difference between them, and containing no parts with itself?' What do you suppose they would answer?"

"I suppose they would answer that they are talking about those numbers that admit only of being thought and can be grasped in no other way."

"Do you see then, my friend," I said, "that it's likely that this study is really compulsory for us, since it evidently compels the soul to use the intellect itself on the truth itself?"

Podcast Resources

If you enjoyed the podcast, please consider sharing it! The Arts of Liberty is also active on Facebook, Twitter, GETTR, and Parler. If you want to stay up to date on the activities of the Arts of Liberty Project, you can sign up for our monthly bulletin here!

Lisa VanDamme

One of our guests for this episode is Lisa VanDamme, founder of VanDamme Academy and Read with Me. Learn more about Mrs. VanDamme here.

Kyle Steele

Our second guest for this episode is Kyle Steele, Head of School at VanDamme Academy. Learn more about Mr. Steele here.

Read With Me

In the Read With Me app, Lisa VanDamme will guide you through timelessly important and stirringly beautiful works of literature, in a manner that allows you to grasp them intellectually, connect with them emotionally, and, ultimately, learn better how to live.

Victor Hugo’s Nintey-Three

Lisa VanDamme referenced Hugo’s Ninety-Three. You can read it online for free here.

Lincoln’s Young Man’s Lyceum

Read Lincoln’s Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois here.