Classics  

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-{{Template}}+[[Image:Western face of the Greek Parthenon.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Parthenon]]]]
-:''[[classic]]''+{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
-'''Classics''' or '''Classical Studies''' is the branch of the [[Humanities]] dealing with the [[language]]s, [[literature]], [[history]], [[art]], and other aspects of the ancient [[Mediterranean]] world; especially [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] during the time known as [[classical antiquity]], roughly spanning from the Ancient Greek [[Bronze Age]] in 1000 [[Before Christ|BC]] to the [[Dark Ages]] circa [[AD]] 500. The study of the Classics was the initial field of study in the humanities. The word "Classics" also refers to the literature of that period.+| style="text-align: left;" | "[[What is Classical is healthy; what is Romantic is sick]]." --Goethe
 +<hr>
 +"[[Why Read the Classics?]]"
 +<hr>
 +"The contention would scarcely pass as rational that the "[[classics]]" will be read or seen solely by an intellectual or artistic [[elite]]; for, even ignoring the snobbish, undemocratic, nature of this contention, there is no evidence that the elite has a moral fortitude (an immunity from moral corruption) superior to that of the "masses."--[[Jerome Frank]] in [[Roth v. United States]]
 +<hr>
-Traditionally, the focus of classics was tightly centered on ancient Greece and Rome. [[Ancient Egypt]] was thought to be beyond the discipline. Today, classicists study a subject more broadly defined as that pertaining to the Ancient Mediterranean World. Those scholars focusing upon the landward side of the eastern Mediterranean—the ancient [[Persian Empire]] and the [[kingdoms of ancient India]]—are termed [[Oriental studies|Orientalists]].+"With [[Rubens]] the [[antique]] is a great [[butcher]]-shop. Upon the subjects which he portrayed a book has been written, in which it is proved that in his two hundred and eighty [[mythological pictures]] nearly all the scenes are treated which occur in the works of [[Homer]], [[Virgil]], [[Ovid]], [[Plutarch]] and [[Livy]]."--''[[The History of Painting: From the Fourth to the Early Nineteenth Century]]'' (1893/94) by Richard Muther
 +|}
 +[[Image:The Artist Moved by the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins.jpg|thumb|right|200px|
 +''[[The Artist's Despair Before the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins]]'' (1778-80) by Henry Fuseli]]
 +[[Image:Apollo and Daphne.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Apollo and Daphne]]'']]
-==History of the Western Classics==+{{Template}}
-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 ''[[wikt:canon|canon]]'' (“carpenter’s rule”). Moreover, early [[Christianity|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''' (lit.: "strike the divine coin anew")—the law of ''strict continuity'' in preserving words and ideas.<ref>[[Werner Jaeger]], ''Paideia'', Eng. trans. 1939–44, vol. 2, p.xii.</ref> Although the definitions of words and ideas might broaden, ''continuity'' (preservation) requires retention of their ''original'' [[arete (excellence)|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”,<ref>Edward Copleston, ''The Victorians and Ancient Greece,'' Richard Jenkyns, 60.</ref> 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”.+'''Classics''' or '''classical studies''' is the study of [[classical antiquity]]. In the [[Western world]], ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of [[Ancient Greek literature|Classical Greek]] and [[Roman literature]] and their related original languages, [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Latin]]. Classics also includes [[Greco-Roman]] [[Ancient philosophy|philosophy]], [[Ancient history|history]], [[archaeology]], [[anthropology]], [[Ancient art|art]], [[Classical mythology|mythology]] and society as secondary subjects.
-==Legacy of the Classical World==+In [[Western civilization]], the study of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] classics was traditionally considered to be the foundation of the [[humanities]] and has traditionally been the cornerstone of a typical elite European education.
-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 [[Romance languages|the Romance languages]] and Ancient Greek into [[Modern Greek]] and its [[Modern Greek dialects|dialects]]. Moreover, it is in the specialised science and technology vocabularies that the [[Latin influence in English]] and the [[English words of Greek origin|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.+==Etymology==
 +The word ''classics'' is derived from the [[Latin]] [[adjective]] ''[[classicus]]'', meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens." The word was originally used to describe the members of the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patricians]], the highest class in [[ancient Rome]]. For example, [[Aulus Gellius]], in his ''Attic Nights'', contrasts "classicus" and "[[proletarius]]" writers.By the 2nd century AD the word was used in literary criticism to describe writers of the highest quality. By the 6th century AD, the word had acquired a second meaning, referring to pupils at a school. Thus, the two modern meanings of the word, referring both to literature considered to be of the highest quality and the standard texts used as part of a curriculum, were both derived from Roman use.
 +==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 grew from a highly developed cultural product of the Golden and Silver eras of Latin literature to become the ''international lingua franca'' in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic and religious, until the 17th century. Long before this, Latin had evolved into the [[Romance languages]] and Ancient Greek into [[Modern Greek]] and its [[Modern Greek dialects|dialects]]. In the specialised science and technology vocabularies, the influence of [[Latin influence in English|Latin]] and [[English words of Greek origin|Greek]] is notable. [[Ecclesiastical Latin]], the Roman Catholic Church's official language, remains a living legacy of the classical world in the contemporary world.
-==Sub-disciplines within the classics==+Latin had an impact far beyond the classical world. It continued to be the pre-eminent language for serious writings in Europe long after the fall of the Roman empire. The modern Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Catalan) all derive from Latin. Latin is still seen as a foundational aspect of European culture.
-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 [[ancient Greek|Greek]] or [[classical Latin|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."<ref>J. and K. Kramer, ''La filologia classica'', 1979 as quoted by [Christopher S. Mackay|http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/Philology.html]</ref> Of course, classicists also concern themselves with other languages than Classical Greek and Latin including [[Linear A]], [[Linear B]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Oscan]], [[Etruscan civilization|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 criticism|textual critics]], seek to synthesize these defective texts to find the most accurate version.+
- +
-===Archaeology===+
-:''[[Classical 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]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], Greece, and Rome.+
- +
-===Art history===+
-Some [[Art history|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]]. [[Parthenon|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===+
-:''[[Ancient 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==+
-<!---+
-===Greek history===+
-{{main|Timeline of ancient Greece}}+
-===Greek language and literature===+
-{{main|Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek literature}}+
-===Greek religion and mythology===+
-{{main|Religion in Ancient Greece}}+
-===Greek philosophy===+
-{{main|Greek philosophy}}+
-===Greek science===+
-{{main|Ancient Greek technology}}+
--->+
-{| class="wikitable"+
-|-+
-! Greek Philosophy+
-! Greek Mythology and religion+
-! Greek Science+
-! Greek History+
-! Greek Literature+
-! Greek Language+
-|- style="vertical-align:top;"+
-| +
-*[[Pre-Socratic philosophy|The Presocratics]] pre-date Socrates.+
-**The 6th C. BC Milesians (Miletus, Ionia), are the earliest.+
-**[[Thales]]+
-**[[Anaximander]]+
-**[[Anaximenes]]+
-*[[Heraclitus]]+
-*[[Pythagoras]]+
-*[[Xenophanes]]+
-**The Eleatics worked in [[Elea]], [[Magna Graecia]].+
-**[[Parmenides]]+
-**[[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]]+
-*[[Atomism|The Atomists]]+
-**[[Leucippus]]+
-**[[Democritus]]+
-*[[Sophism|The Sophists]]+
-**[[Gorgias]]+
-**[[Protagoras]]+
-**[[Antiphon (person)|Antiphon]]+
-*[[Socrates]]+
-*[[Plato]]+
-*[[Aristotle]]+
-*[[Diogenes of Sinope]]+
-*[[Epicureanism]]+
-*[[Stoicism]]+
-*[[Zeno of Citium]]+
-*[[Cleanthes]]+
-*[[Chrysippus]]+
-*[[Panaetius]]+
-*[[Posidonius]]+
-*[[Epictetus]]+
-*[[Philosophical skepticism#Ancient Western Skepticism|Scepticism]]+
-*[[Neoplatonism]]+
-|+
-*[[Greek mythology]]+
-*[[Greek religion]]+
-| +
-*[[History of astronomy#Ancient Greece|Greek astronomy]] and [[History of geography#The Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs|geography]]+
-*[[Ptolemy]]+
-*[[Greek mathematics]]+
-**[[Euclid]]+
-*Greek medicine+
-**[[Hippocrates]]+
-**[[Galen]]+
-|+
-*[[Aegean civilization|The Minoan civilization]]+
-*[[Mycenaean Greece|The Mycenaean civilization]]+
-*[[Greek Dark Ages|The Dark Ages]]+
-*[[Classical Greece]]+
-*[[Alexander the Great]]+
-*[[Hellenistic Greece|The Hellenistic period]]+
-*[[Roman Greece|Roman conquest of Greece]]+
-*[[Byzantine Empire|The Byzantine (Roman) Empire]]+
-| +
-*[[Greek literature]]+
-*Poets+
-**Bucolic poetry+
-***[[Theocritus]]+
-**Didactic poetry+
-***[[Hesiod]]+
-**Epic poetry+
-***[[Homer]]+
-**Lyric poetry+
-***[[Alcaeus of Mytilene]]+
-***[[Alcman]]+
-***[[Archilochus]]+
-***[[Bacchylides]]+
-***[[Mimnermus]]+
-***[[Pindar]]+
-***[[Sappho]]+
-***[[Semonides]]+
-***[[Simonides of Ceos]]+
-***[[Tyrtaeus]]+
-*Playwrights+
-*[[Tragedy#Greek tragedy|Tragedians]]+
-**[[Aeschylus]]+
-**[[Euripides]]+
-**[[Sophocles]]+
-*[[Comedy|Comic playwrights]]+
-**[[Aristophanes]]+
-**[[Menander]]+
-*Prose writers+
-**Historiography+
-***[[Herodotus]]+
-***[[Plutarch]]+
-***[[Polybius]]+
-***[[Thucydides]]+
-***[[Xenophon]]+
-**Oratory+
-***[[Aeschines]]+
-***[[Demosthenes]]+
-***[[Isocrates]]+
-***[[Lysias]]+
-**Other+
-***[[Lucian]]+
-***[[Plato]]+
-|+
-*[[Aeolic dialect]]+
-*[[Ancient Greek]]+
-*[[Attic dialect]]+
-*[[Doric Greek|Doric dialect]]+
-*[[Greek alphabet]]+
-*[[Homeric Greek]]+
-*[[Ionic dialect]]+
-*[[Koine]]+
-|}+
- +
-==Classical Rome==+
-{{Main|Ancient Rome|Culture of Ancient Rome}}+
-<!--+
-===Roman history===+
-{{main|Timeline of ancient Rome}}+
-===Roman language and literature===+
-{{main|Latin|Latin literature}}+
-===Roman religion and mythology===+
-{{main|Religion in Ancient Rome}}+
-===Roman philosophy===+
-{{main|History of Western philosophy}}+
-===Roman science and technology===+
-{{main|Roman technology}}+
--->+
- +
-{| class="wikitable"+
-|-+
-! Roman Philosophy+
-! Roman mythology and religion+
-! Roman Science+
-! Roman History+
-! Roman Literature+
-! Latin Language+
-|- style="vertical-align:top;"+
-| +
-*[[Seneca the Younger]]+
-*[[Cicero]]+
-*[[Lucretius]]+
-*[[Marcus Aurelius]]+
-|+
-*[[Roman mythology]]+
-*[[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]]+
-| +
-*Agriculture+
-**[[Cato the Elder]]+
-**[[Columella]]+
-**[[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]+
-Astrology/Astronomy+
-**[[Manilius]]+
-*Architecture/Engineering+
-**[[Frontinus]]+
-**[[Vitruvius]]+
-|+
-*Periods+
-*[[Founding of Rome|The founding of Rome]]+
-*[[Roman Kingdom]]+
-*[[Roman Republic]]+
-*[[Roman Empire]]+
-*[[Decline of the Roman Empire|The fall of Rome]]+
-*Topics+
-**The [[Samnite Wars]]+
-**The [[Pyrrhic War]]+
-**The [[Punic Wars]]+
-***The [[First Punic War]]+
-***The [[Second Punic War]]+
-***The [[Third Punic War]]+
-**The [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]]+
-**The [[Gallic Wars]]+
-**The [[Civil war between Antony and Octavian]]+
-**The [[Germanic Wars]]+
-| +
-*Poets+
-***Didactic poetry+
-***[[Ovid]]+
-***[[Virgil]]+
-**Drama+
-***[[Plautus]]+
-***[[Seneca the Younger]]+
-***[[Terence]]+
-**Elegiac poetry+
-***[[Catullus]]+
-***[[Ovid]]+
-***[[Propertius]]+
-***[[Tibullus]]+
-**Epic poetry+
-***[[Ennius]]+
-***[[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]]+
-***[[Ovid]]+
-***[[Virgil]]+
-***[[Statius]]+
-**Epigram+
-***[[Martial]]+
-**Lyric poetry+
-***[[Catullus]]+
-***[[Horace]]+
-***Satire+
-***[[Horace]]+
-***[[Juvenal]]+
-***[[Persius]]+
-*Prose writers+
-**Epistolary writers+
-***[[Cicero]]+
-***[[Pliny the younger]]+
-***[[Lucius Annaeus Seneca|Seneca]]+
-**Encyclopedia+
-***[[Pliny the Elder]]+
-***[[Apuleius]]+
-***[[Petronius]]+
-**History+
-***[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]+
-***[[Livy]]+
-***[[Sallust]]+
-***[[Suetonius]]+
-***[[Tacitus]]+
-**Oratory+
-**Rhetoric+
-***[[Quintilian]]+
-**Satire+
-***[[Petronius]]+
-***[[Seneca the Younger]]+
-|+
-*[[Latin]]+
-*[[Classical Latin]]+
-*[[Vulgar Latin]]+
-|}+
-==Famous Classicists==+The legacy of the classical world is not confined to the influence of classical languages. The Roman empire was taken as a model by later European empires, such as the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[British Empire|British]] empires. Classical art has been taken as a model in later periods – medieval Romanesque architecture and Enlightenment-era neoclassical literature were both influenced by classical models, to take but two examples, while [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' is one of the most influential works of twentieth-century literature.
-Throughout the history of the Western world, many classicists have gone on to gain acknowledgment outside the field.+
-*[[George Berkeley]], philosopher, read Classics at [[Trinity College, Dublin]], where he was also Junior Lecturer in Greek+
-*[[John Buchan]], writer and politician, who served as [[Governor General of Canada]].+
-*[[Sir James George Frazer]], poet and anthropologist+
-*[[William Ewart Gladstone]], 19th century [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]], studied classics at [[Oxford University]]+
-*[[A.E. Housman]], best known to the public as a poet and the author of [[A Shropshire Lad]], was the most accomplished (and feared) textual critic of his generation and held the [[Kennedy Professorship of Latin]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] from 1911 until his death in 1936.+
-*[[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.+
-*[[John Milton]], author of ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' and [[English Civil War]] figure; studied, like many educated people of the time, Latin and Greek texts, which influenced ''Paradise Lost''+
-*[[Theodor Mommsen]], author of ''[[History of Rome (Mommsen)|History of Rome]]'' and works on [[Roman law]]; German politician, delegate in the [[Reichstag (institution)|Reichstag]] during the [[German Empire]] period +
-*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], philosopher; earned [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] and became Professor of Classics at the [[University of Basel]] in [[Switzerland]]+
-*[[Enoch Powell]], British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] and later [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] politician; wrote and edited texts on [[Herodotus]]+
-*[[P.G. Wodehouse]], writer, playwright, lyricist and creator of [[Jeeves]]; studied classics at [[Dulwich College]]+
-*[[Oscar Wilde]], 19th-century playwright and poet; studied classics at [[Trinity College, Dublin]] and [[Magdalen College, Oxford]].+
-Most other pre-20th century [[Oxbridge]] 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."<br />—[[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."<br />—[[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]], ''Roving Commission: My Early Life'' 
-*"He studied Latin like the violin, because he liked it."<br />—[[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."<br />—[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen]] 
-*"I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried out without corporal punishment." <br />—[[George Orwell]] 
-*"It's economically illiterate. A degree in Classics or [[Philosophy]] can be as valuable as anything else."<br />—[[Boris Johnson]] 
==See also== ==See also==
-*[[Digital Classicist]]+* [[Class]]
-*[[Humanism]]+* [[Classic]]
-*[[Literae Humaniores]]+* [[Classic book]]
-*[[Loeb Classical Library]]+* [[Classical antiquity]]
-*[[Philology]]+* [[Classic]]
-*[[Western culture]]+* [[Classical]]
-*[[Western World]]+* [[Classical music]]
-*[[Latin Language]]+* [[Classical mythology]]
-*[[Greek Language]]+* [[Classical mythology in culture]]
 +* [[Classicism]]
 +* [[Classification]]
 +* [[Classy]]
 +* [[Cult classic]]
 +* [[Great Books of the Western World]]
 +* [[Humanism]]
 +* [[Literae Humaniores]]
 +* [[Loeb Classical Library]]
 +* [[Neoclassicism]]
 +* [[Philology]]
 +* [[Western culture]]
 +* [[Western world]]
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Current revision

"What is Classical is healthy; what is Romantic is sick." --Goethe

"Why Read the Classics?"

"The contention would scarcely pass as rational that the "classics" will be read or seen solely by an intellectual or artistic elite; for, even ignoring the snobbish, undemocratic, nature of this contention, there is no evidence that the elite has a moral fortitude (an immunity from moral corruption) superior to that of the "masses."--Jerome Frank in Roth v. United States

"With Rubens the antique is a great butcher-shop. Upon the subjects which he portrayed a book has been written, in which it is proved that in his two hundred and eighty mythological pictures nearly all the scenes are treated which occur in the works of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Plutarch and Livy."--The History of Painting: From the Fourth to the Early Nineteenth Century (1893/94) by Richard Muther

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Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics also includes Greco-Roman philosophy, history, archaeology, anthropology, art, mythology and society as secondary subjects.

In Western civilization, the study of the Greek and Roman classics was traditionally considered to be the foundation of the humanities and has traditionally been the cornerstone of a typical elite European education.

[edit]

Etymology

The word classics is derived from the Latin adjective classicus, meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens." The word was originally used to describe the members of the Patricians, the highest class in ancient Rome. For example, Aulus Gellius, in his Attic Nights, contrasts "classicus" and "proletarius" writers.By the 2nd century AD the word was used in literary criticism to describe writers of the highest quality. By the 6th century AD, the word had acquired a second meaning, referring to pupils at a school. Thus, the two modern meanings of the word, referring both to literature considered to be of the highest quality and the standard texts used as part of a curriculum, were both derived from Roman use.

[edit]

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 grew from a highly developed cultural product of the Golden and Silver eras of Latin literature to become the international lingua franca in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic and religious, until the 17th century. Long before this, Latin had evolved into the Romance languages and Ancient Greek into Modern Greek and its dialects. In the specialised science and technology vocabularies, the influence of Latin and Greek is notable. Ecclesiastical Latin, the Roman Catholic Church's official language, remains a living legacy of the classical world in the contemporary world.

Latin had an impact far beyond the classical world. It continued to be the pre-eminent language for serious writings in Europe long after the fall of the Roman empire. The modern Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Catalan) all derive from Latin. Latin is still seen as a foundational aspect of European culture.

The legacy of the classical world is not confined to the influence of classical languages. The Roman empire was taken as a model by later European empires, such as the Spanish and British empires. Classical art has been taken as a model in later periods – medieval Romanesque architecture and Enlightenment-era neoclassical literature were both influenced by classical models, to take but two examples, while James Joyce's Ulysses is one of the most influential works of twentieth-century literature.

[edit]

See also


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