Complaints of a Classicist

This post may better be titled 'trepidations of a technophobe' as it is essentially a rewrite of my first post which I managed to accidentally delete. Well done me. Though I could not possibly hope to capture the natural tone and verve of the original piece, this does have the benefit of an edit, so will hopefully read less like the ramblings of a Sybil or Pythia. But, then again, I make no promises.

It was over four years ago that I made the decision to apply to study Classics. Having never touched Latin or Ancient Greek in my life, more through fear than a lack of accessibility, the stars had aligned so that I found myself facing the prospect of an English degree (ewww) or taking a year out. For some reason I had always had an aversion to the 'Gap Yah', perhaps for that very phrase and the connotations of 'finding oneself' spiritually that it connoted. Nevertheless, I had little choice in the matter, and once that decision was set in stone, it only made sense to embrace my new found 'basic'* status and welcome a gap yah with open arms. *I believe 'basic' is, according the Urban Dictionary, one devoid of their own personality, a sheep who follows the crowd. I do my research you see. Classics hasn't rendered me entirely outdated.

Somehow I wound up here, and have stumbled my way through to fourth and final year. Stumbled is perhaps too harsh, although Greek verb derivations hardly allow one to glide gracefully over them, and Virgil really can be a destabilising poet. Despite the title of this post, I in fact have very few complaints to level at my Classics degree. It may well be the source of ridicule and mockery not only among the scientists, but even among the arts students, the deceased nature of the languages we choose to study is often the root of the hilarity. And I am perfectly capable of defending myself with the argument that all Romance languages lead back to Latin and therefore I essentially know ALL the mediterranean tongues. I tend to avoid this line of argument, partly because I in fact do not know ALL of the languages, something I need to work on, and I choose rather to let the laughter wash over me. Why, I hear you ask, could I be so blasé about the whole affair? It is because I know their laughter is a mark of jealousy. All those students of dry, serious literature. Of pretentious, convoluted drivel. They see you reading Ovid, handling terracotta phalli (oioi), and engaging with some of the most sophisticated literature ever composed in Western literature - and it's all well over a thousand years old! There's just nothing in their repertoire cool enough to compete with that.

So Classics has taught me resilience in the face of adversity (per aspera ad astra), and that one should never privilege the serious over the silly, because there is often just as much value and information in our laughter, as there are in our tears. Classics will often make you smile, make you frown, make you question some long-held views, firm up in others, it will teach you to be steadfast, but also to be flexible, it will never leave you bored and will always leave you wanting more. That is why it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I will leave it behind. Although it is never truly goodbye. Classics miraculously finds its way into every orifice of live. Every Museum, every stately home, even in politics (although usually this is reserved for the likes of Boris Johnson and Jacob Rhys-Mogg, prevailing champions of the common man!). Companies have re-employed the name and reputation of great heroes, Hollywood has sunk its teeth many times into the body of Myths, and most recently Stephen Fry has had a shot at it - in fact his book is next on my shelf to be read.

Before this becomes too long a ramble - alas I fear it is already too late - I will sign off for now, with a small note. Classics may have its downsides; yes the languages are no longer in common usage, yes it privileges Western, especially Mediterranean civilisation over the rest of the world, and yes some of the views from the ancient world that we have to interact with can be mind-boggling and eye-gouging (see what I did there?). But Classics is a subject full of heart. The people who study it do so because of a love of it. It is not an Economics degree, or Engineering, or something focussed and guaranteed to earn you a meaty salary. But it is enriching in other ways; it fills the soul and expands your horizons, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to let Classics into my life, even for a little while.