Schools

Spotlight: Wilton's Latin & Greek Curriculum

Wilton is one of the few high schools in Connecticut that offers both Greek and Latin as a foreign language elective.

 

Max Gabrielson has been a Latin and Greek Professor at since 2000, where he has sharpened minds with the ancient whetstone of classical language. Wilton is one of the few schools that still offers classes in the two dead languages, offering its students a glimpse into the ancient cultures which irreparably shaped the modern world. Here’s a glimpse of what Wilton High Schoolers can learn should they choose to take Gabrielson’s courses.

Students begin with Latin I, starting with basic verb conjugations and noun declensions, then progressing up through Latin IV, where course work includes reading and translating selections from the ancient masters. Wilton students read through the burning plight of Icarus and the transformation of Daphne by Apollo in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Virgil’s timeless war epic The Aeneid is also on the syllabus for second-year Latin students.

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Greek language students progress through three class levels, and are also given the opportunity to take three after-school sessions in advanced Greek instruction. Gabrielson has his Greek II students read 500 lines from Homer’s Odyssey Book 9, wherein Odysseus and his crew stumble into a Cyclops’ lair and have to blind the beast to fight their way out.  Other reading material includes Plato’s Gratis, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and sections by Euripides.

“I’m developing a whole new appreciation for Sophocles right now, but I like ‘em all,” said Gabrielson when asked who would be his favorite Greek writer.

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Gabrielson, who holds a master’s in Greek and Latin as well as a law degree, has a particular fondness for Virgil.

“I met Virgil as an undergraduate. He’s the greatest of all Roman writers…students connect with him and his poetry and the find it a very rewarding and challenging experience. There’s just so much figurative language and poetry,” he said. 

He shows mythological-themed Hollywood movies and clips during his lecture, too. 

“Ever since Gladiator there’s been a resurgent interest in Rome. Something about it seems to have captured peoples’ attention, in terms of Hollywood movies,” said Gabrielson.

“[The students] enjoyed seeing how unconnected the movie is from the actual mythology,” he said.

Learning Latin isn’t just an exercise in language, either. Students learn the history of Ancient Rome and the formation of the Republic and they also beef up their English vocabulary.

Students can also participate in “a battery of examinations” through the MEDUSA contest. A number of Wilton students have won the competition throughout the years.

Gabrielson’s teaching style leans more toward poetry, although next year Gabrielson will be focusing more on Caesar, as upcoming AP exams will have questions specific to the famous Roman dictator.

“I have to say I don’t read Cicero nearly as in-depth as Virgil and Ovid. I think teachers are starting to move away from Cicero in a lot of schools. My own personal preferences are in favor of poetry, but it would be a good idea to get more Cicero and Caesar too,” he said. 

If you're looking to brush up on your Latin or Greek, head over to Gabrielson's website


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