A teachable moment

It happened during a class on the Odyssey yesterday, when a student pointed out that there was a large bug right next to me.

“I don’t care. I’m not afraid of some bug,” I replied.

(Yes: teaching is a performance.)

Then someone pointed out that I had just stepped on said bug. I looked down and saw a large fly, nearly dead. And a teachable moment.

“That bug is to me as Odysseus is to the Cyclops Polyphemus,” I said. “No, wait — that means he’s going to defeat me."

Then I bent down as if to look more closely.

“She.”