This is part of a series devoted to classical education.
This post is about the Trivium.
Next, I will post about the Quadrivium.
You can find the first post in this series here.
Keep checking back to learn more!
In ancient Greece, liberal arts referred to the education that a free man would need to participate in the happenings of society (public debates, courts and juries, military). This education was the privilege of the free man, while, those who were enslaved, learned their trade.
Today, those who are proponents of classical education consider this to still be the case. While many progressive education schools push children to choose a vocational path, a classical school would strive to teach children what is Good, True, and Beautiful for the sake of producing citizens who were wise and virtuous no matter what career path they choose when they grow, knowing that in any and all vocations these children choose and are placed in, having learned in the classical manner will produce citizens who are discerning, thinking, and knowledgeable.
The liberal arts comprises itself of the trivium and the quadrivium.
What is the trivium?
The trivium is Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. While sometimes people use the terms "grammar," "logic," and "rhetoric" to describe the steps of learning any and all things (grammar being the level in which one memorizes the facts, logic being the level in which one learns the reasoning, and rhetoric being the level in which one learns the art of persuasion), traditionally the terms referred specifically to language.
One might think that each level of the trivium is totally separate from another, but this isn't exactly true. It is true that as a student masters the Grammar level his instruction will continue with the Logic (and the same for the Rhetoric), but each level is also intermixed.
To give an example from my own life to describe this intermixing, yesterday, while at the doctor's office, I read Robinson Crusoe to my almost 6 year old son. By listening to the rich language, he had a taste of the Rhetoric. This is why those who love classical education are often also those who love reading aloud to their children and those who appreciate the classic books. When I read from Daniel Defoe's novel, I help my son to love the language of the Father of the English Novel. In the same way, we cultivate the Logic in young children as we read Aesop's Fables and teach cause and effect.
Join me again next time when I discuss the Quadrivium.
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