Classics is the branch of the
Humanities comprising the
languages,
literature,
philosophy,
history,
art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient
Mediterranean World; especially
Ancient Greece and
Ancient Rome during
Classical Antiquity (
Bronze Age ca.
BC 3000 –
Dark Ages ca.
AD 500). Initially, study of the Classics (the period’s literature) was the principal study in the humanities. Traditionally, the Classics studied the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Contemporary classicists may include
Orientalist scholars, whose research is concerned with
Eastern Mediterranean civilisations.
History of the Western Classics
The word “classics” derives from the
Latin adjective classicus: “belonging to the highest class of citizens”, connoting
superiority,
authority, and
perfection. The first application of “Classic” to a writer was by
Aulus Gellius, a second-century Roman writer who, in the
miscellany Noctes Atticae (19, 8, 15), refers to a writer as a
Classicus scriptor, non proletarius (“A distinguished, not a commonplace writer”). Such classification began with the Greeks’
ranking their cultural works, with the word
canon (“carpenter’s rule”). Moreover, early
Christian Church Fathers used
canon to rank the authoritative texts of the
New Testament, preserving them, given the expense of
vellum and
papyrus and mechanical book reproduction, thus, being comprehended in a
canon ensured a book’s preservation as the best of a civilisation. Contemporarily, the
Western canon defines the best of
Western culture. In the ancient world, at the Alexandrian Library, scholars coined the Greek term
Hoi enkrithentes (“the admitted”, “the included”) to identify the writers in the canon.
The method of study in the Classical World was “Philo’s Rule”:
μεταχάραττε τὸ θεῖον νόμισμα —the law of
strict continuity in preserving words and ideas. Although the definitions of words and ideas might broaden,
continuity (preservation) requires retention of their
original arete (excellence, virtue, goodness). “Philo’s Rule” imparts intellectual and æsthetic
appreciation of “the best which has been thought and said in the world”. To wit, Oxford classicist Edward Copleston said that classical education “communicates to the mind . . . a high sense of honour, a disdain of death in a good cause, [and] a passionate devotion to the welfare of one’s country”, thus concurring with
Cicero that: “All literature, all philosophical treatises, all the voices of antiquity are full of examples for imitation, which would all lie unseen in darkness without the light of literature”.
Legacy of the Classical World
The Classical languages of the Ancient Mediterranean world influenced every European language, imparting to each a learned vocabulary of international application, thus, Latin was the
international lingua franca in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic, and religious, until the seventeenth century. In turn, the Classical languages
continued, Latin evolved into
the Romance languages and Ancient Greek into
Modern Greek and its
dialects. Moreover, it is in the specialised science and technology vocabularies that the
Latin influence in English and the
Greek influence in English are notable, however, it is
Ecclesiastical Latin, the Roman Catholic Church’s official tongue, that remains a living legacy of the classical world to the contemporary world.
Sub-disciplines within the classics
One of the most notable characteristics of the modern study of classics is the diversity of the field. Although traditionally focused on ancient Greece and Rome, the study now encompasses the entire ancient Mediterranean world, thus expanding their studies to Northern
Africa and parts of the
Middle East.
Philology
Traditionally, classics was essentially the
philology of ancient texts. Although now less dominant, philology retains a central role. One definition of classical philology describes it as "the science which concerns itself with everything that has been transmitted from antiquity in the
Greek or
Latin language. The object of this science is thus the Graeco-Roman, or Classical, world to the extent that it has left behind monuments in a linguistic form." Of course, classicists also concern themselves with other languages than Classical Greek and Latin including
Linear A,
Linear B,
Sanskrit,
Hebrew,
Oscan,
Etruscan, and many more. Before the invention of the
printing press, texts were reproduced by hand and distributed haphazardly. As a result, extant versions of the same text often differ from one another. Some classical philologists, known as textual critics, seek to synthesize these defective texts to find the most accurate version.
Archaeology
Classical archæology is the investigation of the physical remains of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The archæologists’ field, laboratory, library, and documentation work make available the extant literary and linguistic cultural artefacts to the field’s sub-disciplines, such as Philology. Like-wise, archæologists rely upon the philology of ancient literatures in establishing historic contexts among the classic-era remains of
Mesopotamia,
Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
Art history
Some
art historians focus their study of the development of art on the classical world. Indeed, the art and architecture of Ancient Rome and Greece is very well regarded and remains at the heart of much of our art today. For example, Ancient Greek architecture gave us the Classical Orders:
Doric order,
Ionic order, and
Corinthian order.
The Parthenon is still the architectural symbol of the classical world.
Greek sculpture is well known and we know the names of several Ancient Greek artists: for example,
Phidias.
Civilization and history
With philology, archæology, and art history, scholars seek understanding of the history and culture of a civilisation, through critical study of the extant literary and physical artefacts, in order to compose and establish a
continual historic narrative of the Ancient World and its peoples. The task is difficult, given the dearth of physical evidence; for example,
Sparta was a leading Greek
city-state, yet little evidence of it survives to study, and what is available comes from
Athens, Sparta’s principal rival; like-wise, the
Roman Empire destroyed most evidence (cultural artefacts) of earlier, conquered civilizations, such as that of the
Etruscans.
Philosophy
Pythagoras coined the word
philosophy (“love of wisdom”), the work of the “Philosopher” who seeks understanding of the world as it is, thus, most classics scholars know that the roots of
Western philosophy originate in
Greek philosophy, the works of
Socrates,
Plato,
Aristotle, and the
Stoics.
Classical Greece
Classical Rome
Famous Classicists
Throughout the history of the Western world, many classicists have gone on to gain acknowledgment outside the field.
- Martha Kearney, journalist and broadcaster; self-confessed "lapsed Classicist"
- Karl Marx, philosopher and political thinker, studied Latin and Greek and received a Ph.D. for a dissertation on ancient Greek philosophy, entitled "The Difference between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature." His classical background is reflected in his philosophies—indeed the term "proletariat" which he coined came from that Latin word referring to the lowest class of citizen.
- J.R.R. Tolkien, writer and scholar; originally studied classics but changed to English
Most other pre-20th century
Oxford playwrights, poets and English scholars studied Classics before
English studies became a course in its own right.
Modern Quotations About
- "Nor can I do better, in conclusion, than impress upon you the study of Greek literature, which not only elevates above the vulgar herd but leads not infrequently to positions of considerable emolument."
—Thomas Gaisford, Christmas sermon, Christ Church, Oxford.
- "I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat."
—Sir Winston Churchill, Roving Commission: My Early Life
- "He studied Latin like the violin, because he liked it."
—Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man
- "I enquire now as to the genesis of a philologist and assert the following: 1. A young man cannot possibly know what the Greeks and Romans are. 2. He does not know whether he is suited for finding out about them."
—Friedrich Nietzsche, Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen
- "I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried out without corporal punishment."
—George Orwell
- "It's economically illiterate. A degree in Classics or Philosophy can be as valuable as anything else."
—Boris Johnson
See also
