Why is Classics Important?

By Saanvi K

One may say that a love of Classics and the importance that those who study the subject treat it with emerges from the simple idea that we as human beings enjoy storytelling, folklore and marvelling at past glories, however, while these ideas are true, an appreciation of Classics and the world that we study runs much deeper than just this.

Studying the ancient world and its languages provides a gateway to the foundation of Western civilisation; prevailing philosophical texts and concepts that still encourage debate to this day; an overarching idea of how society functions and what it means to be human; and a way to truly understand and utilise the art of language.

Despite the beauty of this wide area of study, only 1121 students sat A Level Latin, 213 sat A level Greek, and together only 3622 sat A level Classical Civilisation or Ancient History in 2019 (Holmes-Henderson, 2021). The concept of ‘Classics Poverty’ in secondary schools appears to be a major cause for this; Classics is generally sidelined for subjects that it may be considered easier to achieve a higher grade in, reducing the funding reserved for Classics Departments in secondary schools, and ultimately reducing the exposure to Classical subjects that students receive. However, there are many ways that the importance of studying Classical subjects can be reiterated: an introduction to Classical education can be provided in primary schools, which has been exemplified by some; there are projects that can be put in place to promote the teaching of Classics in both primary and secondary schools; and a greater emphasis on events, such as debates and competitions.

Studying various aspects of Classics encourages the development of cultural literacy, giving students an insight into the origins of the Western world as Greco -Roman civilisation has long been regarded as the birthplace of Western civilisation. The study of culture entails learning about the arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and other areas of human work and thought in a particular time. This is incredibly valuable to modern society as learning about our heritage allows us to appreciate and understand where much of our world today has come from This also aids us in developing personal values due to the philosophical and moral points made in

ancient literature, such as the comparisons made in Plutarch’s ParallelLives For example, his comparison of the lives of Theseus and Romulus evaluates their similar actions and judges who was the more moral out of the two. We also develop respect for other cultures and our ability to empathise with others well grows due to the understanding the perspective of seemingly alien ancient societies and their customs required in order to successfully analyse their lifestyles. Furthermore, creativity and artistic expression is inspired by the ancient world due to the reverence that Greek and Roman architecture and artwork are still treated with. Greek sculptures, due to their beauty, realism and raw portrayal of the human form, have inspired sculptors for centuries, such as Michelangelo and Raphael who were influenced by the work of Phidias, with their microscopic attention to detail still attracting artists to Athens, Romes and the British Museum to study these ancient artworks, such as the Parthenon marbles. The Romans and their engineering feats, such as the monumental dome of the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the aqueducts, inspired engineers for years to come, with the spark of interest in them from the Renaissance period having heavily affected building styles for centuries.

A recent resurgence of Classical mythology and literature in popular culture could be used to increase the exposure that people have to Classics, not only at school level, but any: hugely popular books, such as Rick Riordan’s PercyJacksonseries have been seen to cultivate a deep love of myths, legends and their subtle meanings (as it did in me); new screen adaptations, such as Nolan’s future Odysseyfilm; and musical theatre adaptations, such as Jorge Rivera-Herrans’ Epic:TheMusical. All of these mediums have encouraged discussion concerning various versions and interpretations of ancient beliefs and I believe from personal experience and having seen that of others that simply promoting books such as Rick Riordan’s at a primary school level further provides a springboard for students to actively want to understand Classical culture and compare contemporary and modern society side by side.

Studying Classical ideas, particularly in literature is still invaluable as ideas from that time are still highly relevant today; many philosophical ideas concerning morality, religion, death, politics and human emotion and difference in viewpoints are still concepts that are grappled with in the modern day. For example, Greek tragedies, which dealt with heavy philosophical concepts, such as the extent to which man is control of his own fate, encouraged contemporary and continues to encourage audiences/readers to consider their own place in society, what the meaning of life is to them, and their political beliefs. One such play, Antigone by Sophocles, centres around the question of whether rigidly following the law is true morality and is still popularly performed and applied to modern situations (for example, considering the dilemma of a judge on the outcome of a difficult trial as my school did), providing an evaluation of how far rules should be followed and the consequences of taking them too far. Plays such as Oedipus Rex and Elektra have their own modern adaptations in London and the National Theatre

Encouraging the implementation of Greek play performances in schools as mine did widens the exposure of students and those in the audience to these questions of morality in myths and tragedies due to the deep understanding of the play that the actors must gain in order to perform it. Furthermore, this is beneficial for schools which do not have a high budget for plays as Greek play did and do not require elaborate sets (if one was/is needed at all). There are other great literary works, such as the Iliad, which questions whether it is worth making sacrifices in life in order to be remembered (as Achilles chose to forfeit a long life for a short one for glory), and the Aeneid, which questions whether imperialism can be justified and if, for the sake of many, the sacrifice of a few is truly ethical. Studying Classical literature allows the reader to personally evaluate their understanding of morality and therefore consider and shape their views of the world. One personal example would include my experience with GCSE Classical Civilisations, where evaluating the true extent of Odysseus’ heroic qualities and the disparity between the ancient heroic ideals and the modern ‘true’ hero is part of the course and encourages us as students to deeply consider which qualities we look for in those we look up to in our modern society. Speaking from experience, I can say that this course has taught me to appreciate and consider a wider range of aspects of someone’s character before evaluating and judging them and that even having a school library display of books on the gist and morals of such texts, such as Troy by Stephen Fry would have a major impact on the number of students who choose to study such subjects. Not only this; holding talks and debates within and between schools, such as concerning Plato’s models from his ‘Symposium’, would encourage deep critical thinking due to the need to weigh out all possible advantages and disadvantages of each and arriving at a conclusion based entirely on our own views due to his famous use of the Socratic method. Even holding debates in lessons, such as on whether it was the Roman or Greek methods of honouring the dead that fulfilled their aim best, which ultimately brought us down to considering what truly constitutes the idea of honouring the dead, who those processes are truly for and whether shows of wealth are always supercilious, forces students to get out of their comfort zones and consider the perspectives of those who lived in the Ancient World. Increasing the frequency of discussions such as this would exercise students’ ability to evaluate and analyse ideas of both the Ancient World and the world around them quickly and require them to deeply consider their own understanding and opinion of heavy concepts. Studying Ancient languages, such as Latin or Greek, has been seen to better develop literary attainment from an early age, even more so than modern foreign languages (Amber Taylor, 2022). The language and style of classical texts are usually quite sophisticated and require deep focus to understand the nuance and interpret a potentially allegorical or moral meaning; for

example giving deeper language analysis of the similes used by Homer in the Odyssey in relation to the dying suitors (comparing them to dying fish) allows the reader to understand that it is truly intended for the reader to pity the suitors and encourages the reader to remember their moral compass and therefore the question of whether the suitors truly deserved to die (from both ancient and modern perspectives) and if this was true justice. The opportunities provided for deep and thorough analysis can aid our own writing and communication skills, which are applicable in many situations throughout our lives. Furthermore, the art of rhetorical speaking and writing was especially prominent in Athens and many classical texts written by masters of persuasive rhetoric are filled with examples of techniques that can be analysed and learned to employ, with devices such as artful metaphors similes (such as Homer’s many vivid similes), and analogies. Understanding these nuances and those of persuasion can aid our own writing and communication skills, applicable in many situations. Furthermore, students with EAL ‘could [be seen to make] make sudden and extraordinary jumps in vocabulary and verbal skills –advancing on average a full year above those not taking Latin’ according to a study at Gallaudet College in the USA (Kelly, 2022) Projects such as Classics in Communities (Kelly, 2022), which promotes the teaching of Latin and Ancient Greek at primary and secondary level in UK state schools and aims to mitigate the effect of the government stopping of Latin funding and teach primary school teachers the required skills and understanding of these languages to teach the children as well as researching the impacts of learning them on cognitive development in the students, are highly beneficial as the particular focus on ‘non-specialist’ teachers widens the number of children who are exposed to and are taught Ancient languages. This project also found that for those with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Latin is able to bridge the ‘literacy gap’ (Kelly, 2022).

The virtue of studying Classics is that, rather than being about a singular aspect of a small time period, it is the study of an entire world, including its history, geography, literature, politics, warfare, economics, art, philosophy, religion, architecture, science, mathematics and more. It is a study of how all of these aspects hold weave together to form an ever- changing tapestry of constantly evolving societies and therefore allows us from a modern perspective to be able to see how they fit into the grand scheme of things far more clearly than our own world as it is interdisciplinary. In this sense, we study classics to learn what it means to be human and part of a society and, as stated by Dr. Varunadatta Edirisinghe, ‘it is an account of human beings who think, act, live in good times and bad just as we do. […] Classics invites us to discover who we are, our strengths and weaknesses, all the things that make us human, compelling us to evaluate our thoughts and actions and their impacts’ (Boange, 2024) In this way it is a unique

subject due to its wide scope. Despite this, there is a lack of available teacher training for these subjects (Holmes-Henderson, 2021), which leads to the knock-on effect of fewer students choosing to study them at GCSE, A Level and subsequently as a choice for Higher Education, which results in this ‘Classics’ poverty and denies capable and willing students the opportunity to study them. I believe that making introducing the ways of life of these Ancient Civilisations from a primary school level (by teaching topics and conducting fun events such as a ‘dress-up’ day) will help to foster this interest as it did for me in my primary school.

Bibliography

Amber Taylor, A. H.-H. (2022). Classics education in Northern Irish primary schools; curriculum policy and classroom practice. CambridgeCore.

Boange, H. (2024). Enduring importance of studying Western Classics in the 21st Century. SundayObserver

Holmes-Henderson, S. H. (2021). AlevelClassicspoverty.Council of University Classical Departments.

Kelly, D. A.-H. (2022). AncientlanguagesinprimaryschoolsinEngland:ALiteratureReview. University of Oxford.