On the Importance of Classics
In January, Eidolon announced an essay contest for high school students, with a full scholarship to the Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in Rome program as the prize. We’re thrilled to publish here the winning essay.
It’s easy to dismiss the Classics. Its realm is full of dusty novels and old, rich men, and in this age where pragmatism reigns over lesser philosophies, what can they do for society? Books aren’t bricks, you can’t build cities out of them. Senators aren’t surgeons, they can’t cure diseases.
The ideology that economic and practical value are the only worthwhile values runs rampant in society today. In a desperate attempt to fit in, some people claim Latin should be studied to learn etymology or to make learning other languages easier. The truth is, Classics can’t compete in a world of pragmatism. The pandering excuses don’t hold up. If I wanted better test scores, I wouldn’t spend years learning a history that will never be on an exam. If I wanted to be a doctor, it would make more sense to study medicine than philosophers. If I wanted a new language, I would have chosen one with more living speakers than just the Pope. The Classics can’t be used as screwdrivers. Instead, they are the tools of a sculptor, with the ability to chisel out of stone a man.
In a society that dismisses the Classics and idolizes immediate utility, it is easy to learn how to be a tool, rather than a human. A complex and powerful engine, which serves with dispassionate cranking, is slowly becoming an acceptable replacement for students and teachers alike. The value of Classics lies in changing this. Its power to teach from powerful examples, its universal reach, and its ability to strengthen the small parts of every day will make it forever important.
Thousands of years ago, an artist crafted fables of swift Achilles’ rage, a thinker pushed his way through Athenian crowds with a lantern, hoping to find an honest man, and a small-time lawyer stood against corrupt men to save an innocent farm-boy. Though we often categorize these men with neanderthals and hunter-gatherers as “primitive man”, their grasp on human qualities has not loosened over the millennia. Homer and Diogenes and Cicero are monuments to human sensation and vulnerability. To ignore these men is to give up defining so much of the emotional world we neglect. To ignore these is to give up being human.
Finding out how to be human through the Classics has several tangible benefits. By seeing how many of the problems faced today have cycled throughout history, we receive a lasting comfort. Many of the ancients proscribed a fundamental moral code, which can help us to find correct answers in difficult questions. Can you lie to save a life? To save a job? Questions like these can paralyze us if we are not careful, and the ancients felt the same way. They debated the value of life and the reason for existence in a way that will forever remain pertinent. Not only this, but the connection to humanity which Athens and Rome embodies gives us a stronger reason to live when our life is troubling, and a clearer way to see the beauty in this world.
Although I wish I could claim humanity exclusively for the Classics, that is simply not true. Scientists and lawyers have found lasting value in their jobs. Mothers and fathers will experience the world in wonderful ways regardless of the number of conjugations they memorize. The Classics will never be the only path to happiness. However, they will forever remain the most efficient tool in conveying these experiences across humanity.
The respect, and ultimately the vengeance, Aeneas shows for fathers and sons at the end of The Aeneid stand as a testament of parenthood. Normally, this filial piety is difficult to convey, but Vergil’s words contain a sorrow and rage for losing a son that feels universal. All too often, we find ourselves trying to explain something personal but can’t find the words. Sometimes, we can’t even find the words for ourselves. We can, however, look at what the Classics have mapped of our inner selves, and use that to explain who we are to ourselves and others.
Not only do the Classics convey seemingly untranslatable emotions, they empower the simple ones felt every day. The same force that compelled Nisus to save Euryalus is the same one that drives today’s friendships. The same insecurities Cicero faced are the same that keep the modern man up at night. The same ennui Alexander sees after his conquests is the same that creeps into our free time. Through understanding such examples, we savor and taste every emotions, no matter how common and overlooked it could be. Among the many gifts the Classics gives, the ability to digest and finding meaning in all feelings is one of the most core parts of a truly satisfying life.
Though society has evolved, focusing more and more on sterile pragmatism, the soul has not. It is because of this that the Classics will always remain important. They will always have powerful examples from which we can learn. It will always be able to convey seemingly incomprehensible emotions, and its ability to strengthen the small parts of every day will always contain value. Through the Classics we can learn to make better choices and to control ourselves better. Human nature will never change, and we must learn to embrace it to become truly happy.
Carl Anderson is a senior at Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy in Lindon, Utah. He is the winner of the Eidolon High School Essay Contest.
