This is especially true when one of the classes is Bible As Lit, since I am not only assigning massive chunks to be read every night (which I then have to re-read as well), I am having to do mountains of research for every class. (Yes, if I had been wise I would have done the prep work over the three weeks I had off between classes. But I was very busy writing short stories then, so.)
I did some of this research the last time I taught the class; except that was five or six years ago, and lots of new research has been done. I am keeping like a day and a half ahead of the students, if that.
Still, it's a great class, one of my favorites. We're on the bit of I Samuel with David and Jonathon tomorrow. That's always a delight to teach.
One of my sources for that one tries to claim that the love between D&J is only a political love. I suppose I'll pass this theory on to my students. And then I guess I'll roll my eyes. Um, yeah. Okay.
The reason this theory isn't total nonsense is that I Samuel can be read as an apology, or a defense, of David's usurpation of Saul's throne. In which case all of Jonathon's protestation's of love for David and his you-take-the-throne, I don't want it, are put in there to defend the idea that David doesn't take the inheritance of his own will: It's Jonathon's idea.
But that's not incompatible with D&J being lovers, either. And so many other things indicate that their relationship is more than just buddies: what each of them says about the other's love being better than the love of women; what Saul says to Jonathon, about him "uncovering his mother's nakedness" in his relationship to David; the oath they make to one another at that very odd ceremony during the New Moon (shooting arrows by a sacred stone -- that looks very much like some buried religious thing to me).
The kid is auditing this class, btw. Part of home-schooling! She's doing very well so far.
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