Advice for graduates is read and take a turn with Homer and friends | Editorial

Many appear to think I am Mr. Grumpy for some reason. I have always considered myself to be a bouncy ray of sunshine, but there are others with opposing viewpoints.

I don’t mind opposing points of view as long as they don’t oppose mine. I think that’s what makes me very American.

My not so ray of sunshine personality was pointed out to me recently when Kris Hill, the star reporter at the Maple Valley-Covington Reporter, placed a comment on her Facebook page a few weeks ago asking what advice to give graduating high school students.

First a few thoughts on parenting. As a parent of two, both in college, when my kids graduated from high school I tried my best to hide my relief.

I foolishly thought the money wagon constantly leaving the gate was coming to an end.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.

For those parents whose children are not yet in college… enjoy the cheap days while they are around.

There is also the illusion the kids will move out.

Again, ha, ha, ha.

One glance at the current economic crystal ball indicates one day after the college graduation ceremony your child will be moving back into the no longer spare room. Forget about all the plans for that extra room in the house. Don’t even paint, just make the bed and wait.

Now for my advice to graduating students, which I am sure will place me firmly in the crazy guy camp.

Math and science are very important skills. It is always good to figure out how all the money disappeared from your checking accounts before calling home.

Science is nice, particularly when sending things into space and cooking tofu stew.

However, my suggestion is students spend a large portion of time reading and contemplating Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” and a little Shakespeare on the side.

Will it help the students get a job? Probably not. I imagine it would look funny on a resume to write: I worked at a grocery store, volunteered at the food bank and I know Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy by heart.

There are reasons to know these works. These stories have been with us hundreds of years for a reason. They speak to our collective soul.

I spend most of my free time reading Greek things and cheering up in the Inferno.

That may be why my daughter says I have the life of a jar of pickles.

I believe “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” are stories that are part of our world today. If you are interested in why men go to war, and the terrible consequences of battle, read these works. Dying in battle and what war does to a people hasn’t changed much in 2,000 years.

The other element in Homer is undying love. In “The Iliad” it is the love of Helen, a woman whose beauty launched the Trojan war when she was taken by Paris and whisked away to Troy.

A war over the love and the beauty of Helen – it probably didn’t happen that way. It was likely a trade or land war, but it would be more understandable to me if it was Helen.

Writers have spent thousands of years trying to imagine what Helen looked like, and debating if she left her husband Menelous to run way with Paris, or if she was kidnapped.

Homer never describes her. We never get the, “that is some yahtzee-tautzee hot girl” from Homer. Helen is only described by her affect on those around her. That is great writing.

“The Odyssey” was the tale of Odysseus fighting all odds to return to his wife Penelope. After Troy fell, Odysseus spends a whole bunch of pages finding his way back, never stopping and never forgetting his wife. That is the way a marriage should be.

Dante wrote the entire “The Divine Comedy” around Beatrice. The author fell in love with her when she was 8 and he was about 9. Beatrice refused to marry Dante and she died at 24. Dante’s unrequited love created one of the greatest literary masterpieces ever written.

I have always said there is nothing like Dante’s trip through hell to improve my mood.

For all those who have seen and enjoyed George Lucas’ “Star Wars” series, the genesis of that work is in Homer.

Will Homer, Dante and Shakespeare help a student land a top job at Boeing? I doubt it, but these works may shed a glimmer of light on who we are, where we have been and where we are going.

My advice is for students is to read, and take a chance on Homer. Maybe spend some time with Shakespeare. Open the pages of Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” and don’t stop reading at the Inferno. Beatrice is waiting in paradise.