Chapter III: The Triumph of the West

CHAPTER III BOX SET

• The Story of the Iliad Alfred J. Church
• The Discovery of New Worlds M. B. Synge
• The Storybook of Science Jean-Henri Fabre
• Companion Pamphlet 72 pages

ABOUT THE BOOKS

The Story of the Iliad

Alfred J. Church's The Story of the Iliad (1891, children's edition 1907) is the best introduction to Homer for young readers that we have found. Church was a professor of Latin at University College London, a classical scholar who spent his career making the ancient world available to a wider audience. He knew the Greek text intimately, and his retelling preserves the sweep and grandeur of the original (Achilles' rage, Hector's courage, Priam's grief) while making it accessible to readers as young as eight.

The story begins before Homer does: Church opens with the cause of the war, Paris's abduction of Helen, so that young readers know from the first page what is at stake. From there, the twenty-three chapters follow the action through the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, the deaths of Patroclus and Hector, and the ransoming of Hector's body by his father Priam. A brief epilogue covers the fall of Troy itself.

Children who met Achilles and Hector as names in Chapter I's mythology books will now encounter them as full characters in a great drama. The continuity is intentional. The Chapter House series is built so that each set deepens what came before, and nowhere is that more evident than here.

This Chapter House edition features sixteen illustrations: New color art commissioned from Ruxandra Ionce alongside restored classic line art in the neoclassical Flaxman style.

Ages 8–11 | 3rd–5th grade

The Discovery of New Worlds

M. B. Synge's The Discovery of New Worlds (1903) is the direct sequel to On the Shores of the Great Sea from Chapter II, picking up the story of Western civilization at the height of the Roman Empire and carrying it through a thousand years of upheaval, exploration, and rebirth: Augustus and Constantine, Charlemagne and the Vikings, the Crusades and the Black Death, Marco Polo and Columbus, Magellan and the conquistadores.

What Synge does better than any other writer of children's history is show how one era gives way to the next. She does not present Rome and the Middle Ages as separate subjects. She traces the thread. The decline of Rome sets the stage for the rise of Christianity. The Crusades open the trade routes that fund the Renaissance. The Renaissance produces the navigators who discover new worlds. A child who reads this book will come away understanding not just what happened, but why: How thirteen centuries of human history connect into a single story.

Each of the fifty chapters opens with a poetry epigraph from Tennyson, Browning, Shakespeare, or another master, a touch of elegance that most children's histories would never attempt. Synge expected her readers to rise to the material. They did.

This Chapter House edition features three new color illustrations by Cortney Skinner and preserves Synge's original text.

Ages 8–11 | 3rd–5th grade

The Storybook of Science

Jean-Henri Fabre was one of the greatest naturalists who ever lived. Darwin called him "an incomparable observer." Victor Hugo called him "the Homer of insects." Fabre spent his life studying the natural world with a patience and attention that modern science, for all its instruments and funding, rarely matches. And then he wrote about what he found, not in the dry language of academic journals, but in stories.

The Storybook of Science (1882, English translation by Florence Constable Bicknell) uses a simple narrative frame: Uncle Paul (Fabre himself) sits with three children and tells them stories about the world around them. Why does a spider spin a web? What makes a caterpillar become a butterfly? How do plants grow toward the light? Why do stars move across the sky? Each chapter is a conversation, a question answered through observation, analogy, and wonder. Eighty chapters cover zoology, botany, physics, earth science, astronomy, and more, moving between subjects naturally as the children's curiosity leads.

This is science taught the way Charlotte Mason taught everything: Through living ideas, not dead information. Fabre does not give children facts to memorize. He gives them questions to think about.

This Chapter House edition restores Fabre's original illustrations and adds sixteen corrective footnotes (signed --CH) where 19th-century science is outdated or potentially dangerous. Fabre's advice on snakebites, mushroom identification, and lightning safety reflects the knowledge of his time, which is sometimes wrong in ways that could cause real harm. Our footnotes correct these errors clearly and specifically.

Ages 8–11 | 3rd–5th grade

The Chapter III Pamphlet

The companion pamphlet, included with every Chapter III box set, is a full introduction to the books, the philosophy behind them, and the practice of reading them well.

Contents of the Chapter III pamphlet:

• "Virtus et Miraculum": The founding essay of Chapter House. An argument for why virtue is the proper aim of education and why story is the best way to cultivate it, drawing on Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Confucius, and St. John Chrysostom.

• Introduction to Chapter III: The Triumph of the West: An overview of all three books and how they fit together.

• Literary Essays: Individual essays on Homer and The Story of the Iliad (including a discussion of Church's adaptation compared to Alexander Pope's poetic translation), Synge's method in The Discovery of New Worlds (the BC/AD divide, Columbus, the rise of Christendom), and Fabre's approach in The Storybook of Science (wonder as the foundation of scientific inquiry, with notes on how to use the corrective footnotes).

• How to Enjoy These Titles with Your Children: Guidance for the late-elementary years, including written narrations, pre-reading selections before discussion, and using maps and reference materials alongside the texts.

• A Sample Day with Chapter III: A full sample daily schedule showing how the Chapter House books fit alongside mathematics, handwriting, nature study, and other subjects.

• An Introduction to Homeschooling: For families new to home education.

• A Survey of Educational Philosophies: Charlotte Mason, Classical, Montessori, Waldorf, and Orton-Gillingham approaches.

• Why You Should Read the Bible: A case for biblical literacy regardless of faith background, with a reading list.

• A Note to Christian Parents Apprehensive About Ancient Mythology: A thorough response to concerns about pagan mythology, drawing on St. Paul, St. Basil the Great, J. R. R. Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis.

• Greek vs. Roman Names: A reference table for the gods and heroes who appear in multiple forms across the series.

RECOMMENDED ADD-ON: 4th Grade Bundle

THE BOOKS

• Math Mammoth Grade 4-A Worktext Maria Miller First half of the year; conceptual explanations with steady practice.
• Math Mammoth Grade 4-B Worktext Maria Miller Second half of the year; continues the full fourth-grade sequence.
• Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series: Book E Barbara Getty Cursive italic practice paired with science-based copywork.
• Getting Started with Latin Ernest William Linney Clear, incremental introduction to Latin grammar for beginners.
• This Country of Ours H. E. Marshall Narrative history of America from exploration through the early twentieth century.
• The Children’s Plutarch: Tales of the Greeks F. J. Gould Stories of Greek heroes and statesmen drawn from Plutarch’s Lives.
• The Twenty-One Balloons William Pène du Bois A Newbery Medal adventure set on the mysterious island of Krakatoa.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Deluxe Edition C. S. Lewis Complete seven-book series in a single illustrated volume.
• Heidi Johanna Spyri A classic story of childhood, home, and renewal in the Swiss Alps.
• My Side of the Mountain Trilogy Jean Craighead George A coming-of-age wilderness story of independence and survival.

RECOMMENDED ADD-ON: 5th Grade Bundle

THE BOOKS

• Fix It! Grammar Level Three: Robin Hood Pamela White Refines grammar through editing practice and introduces more advanced punctuation and sentence constructions.
• Math Mammoth Grade 5-A Worktext Maria Miller First half of the year; instruction and practice in one student worktext.
• Math Mammoth Grade 5-B Worktext Maria Miller Second half of the year; continues the full fifth-grade math sequence.
• Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series: Book F Barbara Getty Advanced italic handwriting practice for both basic italic and cursive italic.
• Keep Going with Latin Ernest William Linney A continuation of Getting Started with Latin, with simple lessons for homeschool and self-taught students.
• The Children’s Plutarch: Tales of the Romans F. J. Gould Biographical tales of Roman figures including Romulus, Brutus, Caesar, Cicero, and Augustus.
• Famous Men of the Middle Ages John H. Haaren A classic history of the Middle Ages told through figures such as Attila, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and Joan of Arc.
• Hatchet Gary Paulsen A Newbery Honor survival story about courage, endurance, and self-reliance in the Canadian wilderness.
• Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery The beloved coming-of-age story of Anne Shirley, imagination, friendship, and finding home.
• Great Inventors and Their Inventions Frank P. Bachman Twelve clear, engaging stories of invention in power, manufacture, communication, and transportation.
• The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon The restored original Hardy Boys adventures in handsome hardcover editions.
• Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson Stevenson’s classic tale of pirates, treasure, courage, and betrayal in a deluxe illustrated edition.

Age and Grade Guidance

Chapter III is designed for children ages 8 through 11, corresponding roughly to 3rd through 5th grade. At this age, many children are reading independently, and all three books in this set are within reach of a confident late-elementary reader. They also work beautifully as read-alouds; The Storybook of Science in particular lends itself to reading aloud and discussing one chapter at a time.

Do not let the age range be a strict boundary. A child who has read through Chapters I and II and loved them may be ready for Chapter III earlier than the numbers suggest. And any child (or adult) who has never encountered Homer, never traced the fall of Rome and the rise of Christendom as a single narrative, deserves to do so now, whatever his age.

How to Use This Chapter

The three books of Chapter III are richer and more demanding than those in Chapters I and II, and that is the point. Children who have moved through the earlier chapters arrive at Homer and Synge with a foundation already in place. They know Achilles. They know the Greek gods. They have a sense of the ancient world's shape. Chapter III builds on all of that.

We encourage parents to read ahead before sitting down with their children, especially for The Story of the Iliad. The characters are numerous, the alliances complex, and knowing what is coming helps you ask better questions and respond to your child's reactions more thoughtfully. This does not mean you need to be a Homer scholar. It means reading one chapter ahead.

At this age, narration remains the primary comprehension tool: Ask your child to retell what he has read in his own words before you offer any interpretation. On the upper end of this age range, written narrations once or twice a week make a natural bridge to formal essay writing. Treat written narrations the same way you would spoken ones: Read for understanding, not for correction.

Map work belongs alongside both history books in this set. A child reading The Discovery of New Worlds who can point to Constantinople, to Genoa, to the coast of Portugal should be doing so. The world's geography is inseparable from its history, and the Mediterranean Synge traces in Chapter II and the Atlantic her explorers cross in Chapter III are not abstractions.

For families using Chapter III as part of a broader homeschool curriculum, we recommend visiting chapter.house for our current curriculum recommendations, which pair these books with mathematics, handwriting, nature study, and language arts resources for 3rd through 5th grade.

Series Connection

Chapter III is the third of four curated box sets from Chapter House. The series is designed so that each chapter builds on the one before it, though you may begin at any point.

What comes before: Chapter II: Warriors and Giants (ages 7–10) provides the ancient history background that makes Homer richer. Children who have read Synge's On the Shores of the Great Sea in Chapter II will arrive at The Story of the Iliad with the world of ancient Greece already in their minds. The Norse mythology and Beowulf of Chapter II also provide a sense of the wider heroic tradition in which Homer sits.

What comes next: Chapter IV: The Odyssey of Europe (ages 9–12) continues both threads. Alfred J. Church's The Story of the Odyssey brings children back to Homer for the sequel: Odysseus's ten-year journey home from Troy. H. E. Marshall's Our Island Story continues the British history strand, and Tales from Shakespeare introduces the writer who stands at the summit of the English literary tradition. The story that began with Æsop's fables ends, here, with Shakespeare.