Do you ever wonder how the ice cream you have in your hands came to be? Do you ever wonder how English vocabulary was established? Do you ever wonder where the foundation for a great portion of philosophy, legislature, even science came from? Did you ever consider it was the Classics?
For years, society refers to Latin as a "dead language". I ask you today, how dead is it really if a good chunk of languages such as English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian have a basis in the language?
For years, society refers to Ancient Greek as a "dead language". I ask you today, how dead is it really if a good chunk of Modern Greek comes directly from the language?
Recently, society rejects Classics in favor of "more practical" disciplines such as mathematics and biology, but the Classics influence these disciplines. The Classics and humanities are seen as secondary to these "more needed" disciplines. I ask you today, what is the practical reason behind this?
If "those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it", why do we not study part of our own history by studying the Classics?
The first colleges and universities in the United States of America offered two degrees usually, one in Classics and one in Religious Studies, but now you are hard pressed to find an abundance of colleges and universities that offer Classics. It all stems back to the perspectives that exist in high school.
The careers that are seen as viable or worth going into involve STEM, law, or business through the eyes of the averagely educated public. One needs to take a step back and consider that Classics is present (and could be useful) in all those areas of studies.
If that is not reason enough, consider this. Study of Latin and Ancient Greek could actually help you on your SATs, improve your vocabulary, educate you on different moral and philosophical beliefs, strength your critical reading skills, help you develop strong writing habits, and also teach you the power of discussion and dialogue.
Learning Latin and Greek is no cake walk, but why should we ignore a large part of what Western society is based on?
As someone majoring in Classics, I could not tell you the amount of times someone has asked me in a disbelieving tone "Can you actually do anything with that". Meanwhile, I think about the influence that the Classics has had on virtually every part of our society, from the way we run our country to our language even to the fact that we eat ice cream (which Nero helped make). I think about why higher education was created and how, in large part, it was created for the study of the Classics. But mostly, I just think about how we all need to make the Classics a bigger part of our lives.
I urge you to do one thing- read a Classical work in English (I recommend the Aeneid, Catullus poetry, or Menaechmi). Read this one work and tell me if you find any value in it, even if you don't like reading it. Then, I urge you to read another and encourage everyone around you to read one work of Classical literature.
I believe firmly that one day, society will see the importance of the Classics again and reinstate mandatory reading of the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, study of Latin and Greek, and examination of their culture. It may take a while, but who knows, maybe all it will take is reading one work of literature.
