Do the Classics Have a Future? by Mary Beard | The New York Review of Books:
"To put this as crisply as I can, the study of the classics is the study of what happens in the gap between antiquity and ourselves. It is not only the dialogue that we have with the culture of the classical world; it is also the dialogue that we have with those who have gone before us who were themselves in dialogue with the classical world"
And so, it is of course a study of our own culture. As long as we value our own culture, we'll continue to reference classical antiquity, and attend touring exhibitions of their artefacts. I think the one worry or risk, that is referenced here, is that we will be satisfied with the 'popular' version, one further detached from scholarly study of the texts and artefacts themselves, but more directed by the 'Gladiator' movies.
However, I have faith enough that the subject is so compelling, that money and people will continue to support it. In today's twitter instant society, it almost feels like a controlled experiment, where people really had to think about what they had to communicate, and so made it count in a way that most of today's instant opinion pieces perhaps lack.
"To put this as crisply as I can, the study of the classics is the study of what happens in the gap between antiquity and ourselves. It is not only the dialogue that we have with the culture of the classical world; it is also the dialogue that we have with those who have gone before us who were themselves in dialogue with the classical world"
And so, it is of course a study of our own culture. As long as we value our own culture, we'll continue to reference classical antiquity, and attend touring exhibitions of their artefacts. I think the one worry or risk, that is referenced here, is that we will be satisfied with the 'popular' version, one further detached from scholarly study of the texts and artefacts themselves, but more directed by the 'Gladiator' movies.
However, I have faith enough that the subject is so compelling, that money and people will continue to support it. In today's twitter instant society, it almost feels like a controlled experiment, where people really had to think about what they had to communicate, and so made it count in a way that most of today's instant opinion pieces perhaps lack.
Comments