“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” - Aristotle Grammar, logic, and rhetoric: these three pillars form the trivium. Latin for “where the three roads meet,” the trivium is the foundation of the seven liberal arts paramount to quality classical education. Additionally, these elements form the basis through which we define the world around us through language, come to the logical conclusions that guide the courses of our lives, and communicate these definitions and ideas effectively to the outside world. The necessity of these subjects is apparent, and daily we see the harm found in their absence. We see current generations, both young and old, struggling to communicate clearly, reason effectively, and resort to frustration and outbursts when they feel they are unheard. For the Greeks and other classical educators, these were the essential elements required for a sound education, and yet they have tragically fallen out of favor for many of our educational institutions. Daily, it seems, we are choosing to turn away from our great intellectual and academic inheritance, which is to our great detriment. The trivium and classical education are due a renaissance and will be the subject of the next series of essays.
An Introduction to the Trivium
An Introduction to the Trivium
An Introduction to the Trivium
“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” - Aristotle Grammar, logic, and rhetoric: these three pillars form the trivium. Latin for “where the three roads meet,” the trivium is the foundation of the seven liberal arts paramount to quality classical education. Additionally, these elements form the basis through which we define the world around us through language, come to the logical conclusions that guide the courses of our lives, and communicate these definitions and ideas effectively to the outside world. The necessity of these subjects is apparent, and daily we see the harm found in their absence. We see current generations, both young and old, struggling to communicate clearly, reason effectively, and resort to frustration and outbursts when they feel they are unheard. For the Greeks and other classical educators, these were the essential elements required for a sound education, and yet they have tragically fallen out of favor for many of our educational institutions. Daily, it seems, we are choosing to turn away from our great intellectual and academic inheritance, which is to our great detriment. The trivium and classical education are due a renaissance and will be the subject of the next series of essays.