About Louis Markos

Louis Markos is Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative and Professor in English & Scholar in Residence at Houston Christian University, where he holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. His books include Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C. S. Lewis; Apologetics for the 21st Century; From Achilles to Christ; On the Shoulders of Hobbits; and Heaven and Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition. His My Life in Film: How the Movies Shaped My Soul is due out in 2024 from Stone Tower Press.

The Inferno: A Novel

By |2024-02-11T19:14:25-06:00February 11th, 2024|Categories: Books, Catholicism, Christianity, Dante|

In taking his autobiographical protagonist through hell, Winston Brady does many things that would, I believe, have pleased Dante Alighieri. Like Dante’s "Inferno," Brady’s "Inferno" tests the will and courage of its hero, forcing him to wrestle with his American identity and legacy, to understand the grave nature of sin, and to seek repentance from [...]

Plato’s Big Mistake

By |2024-01-31T21:32:52-06:00January 31st, 2024|Categories: Classics, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louis Markos, Plato, Timeless Essays, Virtue|

Every time I reread the “Protagoras” or “Meno,” I am surprised anew that a man of Plato’s towering intellect and searing insight into human nature could have been so mistaken about the human propensity to sin and rebellion. Plato never cared much for the sophists, viewing them as amoral peddlers of a relativistic kind of [...]

A Thousand Words: Reflections on Art and Christianity

By |2023-12-20T07:39:28-06:00December 19th, 2023|Categories: Art, Beauty, Books, Christianity, Louis Markos|

If orthodox believers in churches and schools do not take upon themselves the responsibility of passing down the deposit of Christian art that has been entrusted to us, the next generation will grow up with little to no knowledge of, or gratitude for, the images by which the Christian worldview captivated the heart, soul, and [...]

Tolkien and Lewis Under the Christmas Tree

By |2023-12-15T17:26:54-06:00December 14th, 2023|Categories: Books, C.S. Lewis, Christian Humanism, Christmas, Gifts for Imaginative Conservatives, J.R.R. Tolkien, Louis Markos, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays|

With a seemingly (and thankfully) endless supply of books about J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis flowing out from every conceivable press, it is easy to overlook some hidden gems. To assist Imaginative Conservative readers with their Christmas book shopping, I have highlighted below some books about Lewis and/or Tolkien that have been published over the [...]

Chaucer on Variety

By |2023-11-16T18:18:11-06:00November 16th, 2023|Categories: Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Books, Imagination, Literature, Louis Markos, Poetry, Timeless Essays, Wisdom|

True pilgrimage is a communal undertaking: a temporary society on the move. Rather than turn inward in search of enlightenment, turn outward toward your companions and learn to see the world through their eyes. Learn to get along with people whose passions, beliefs, and strategies for survival are radically different from your own. Author’s Introduction: [...]

Dante on Virtuous Pagans

By |2023-10-04T17:33:44-05:00October 4th, 2023|Categories: Christianity, Dante, Great Books, Letters From Dante Series, Louis Markos, Reason, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays, Virgil, Virtue|

It was there, in the first circle of Hell, that I first understood what it meant to be a virtuous pagan. It meant to be led by the dim but true light of reason, to seek continually after the higher things, to pursue with courage and devotion a life of virtue. Author’s Introduction: Imagine if [...]

Virgil on Courage

By |2023-08-07T21:41:56-05:00August 7th, 2023|Categories: Aeneas, Character, Heroism, Imagination, Letters From Dante Series, Louis Markos, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays, Virgil|

Courage is found in unexpected places. It is not the sole province of soldiers, nor does it find its only fulfillment in the vanquishing of enemies. Indeed, courage manifests itself most powerfully, not in a single deed of valor, but in a lifetime of endurance. Author’s Introduction: Imagine if Homer, Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, and the [...]

Homer’s Advice for Husbands and Wives

By |2023-04-25T15:26:18-05:00April 25th, 2023|Categories: Homer, Imagination, Letters From Dante Series, Timeless Essays|

You teach your students that the men of the past looked upon their wives as chattel, that they saw them as possessions rather than as people of value and worth. How deeply mistaken you are; how far from the truth. Author’s Introduction: Imagine if Homer, Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, and the other great poets of ancient [...]

Husbands and Wives in Homer

By |2023-01-15T11:42:22-06:00January 15th, 2023|Categories: Great Books, Homer, Iliad, Literature, Louis Markos, Marriage, Odyssey, Western Civilization|

How do I know that there were dead white males who loved and respected their wives? Because the twin literary fountainheads of Western literature each highlights a mature and faithful couple who share mutual affection and regard for one another: Hector and Andromache in the "Iliad"; Odysseus and Penelope in the "Odyssey." As a Texan [...]

Rehabilitating Masculinity

By |2022-04-05T08:13:48-05:00April 4th, 2022|Categories: Books, Christianity, Louis Markos|

We have all been repeatedly warned against toxic masculinity in church leaders. But in "It’s Good to Be a Man: A Handbook for Godly Masculinity," authors Michael Foster and Dominic Bnonn Tennant warn us against a toxic femininity that has browbeaten men into being ashamed of their masculinity and embracing androgyny. It’s Good to Be [...]

Jordan Peterson on the Sin of Resentment

By |2022-02-01T20:52:23-06:00January 31st, 2022|Categories: Books, Christianity, Louis Markos, Senior Contributors|

Rather than covet what we do not have, let us be grateful for the gifts and the traditions that have been passed down to us. Though he does not say so specifically, what Jordan Peterson ultimately calls upon modern, autonomous, post-Enlightenment individuals to do is to heed the commandment to honor one’s father and mother. [...]

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