May 22, 2020 | By Hannah Loomis

Where are you from?

Grass Valley, California

Which book did you write on?

Homer’s Iliad

What’s the title of your essay?

“Radiant Strangers: Grace and Necessity in Homer’s Iliad”

What was the essence of your argument?

The Iliad is a song about humans encountering one another as beings divided in striving. Homer’s insight into human failings in both love and war reveals a mind open to the question of the whole of human existence in the cosmos. His character Achilles experiences loss and the ruin of his highest hope in being the absolute hero. He is faced with the necessity of death and time in the exemplar of a terrible grief and magnificent love in Priam. Here, he experiences the radiance of a stranger that revivifies his own life, and opens his soul to the possibility of grace in facing necessity.

How did your essay connect to the different aspects of the Program from throughout your four years?

My essay was a chance to bring together thoughts on ancient poetry’s place as a contender for the best view of human life. This demanded a gathering of thoughts from each part of the Program, bringing to bear four wonderful years of finding out that there is no part of the human mind that is simply alien to me. The music, math, and experimentation that were fundamental to my time here guided me to thoughts that will give me a better way of life.

What was the writing process like for you?

Simply the best period of my education. The example of real free time for the pursuit of higher ends will forever shape my aspirations.

What is the most important lesson you learned during your time at St. John’s?

 That I have a soul for which I must care with ferocious courage and tender moderation.