Classics

For generations, the study of Greek and Latin was used to train the elites of the western world. Knowledge of classical culture, it was believed, produced more cultivated, creative individuals; Greece and Rome were seen as pinnacles of civilization, and the origins of western superiority over the rest of the world.

Few today are willing to defend this elitist, sometimes racist, vision of the importance of classics, and it is no longer considered essential education for politicians and professionals. Shouldn’t classics then be obsolete?

Far from it. As Neville Morley shows, the ancients are as influential today as they ever have been, and we ignore them at our peril. Not only do they have much to teach us about the past, but they can offer important lessons for the complex cultural, social and political worlds of the present.

Introducing Polity’s Why It Matters series: In these short and lively books, world-leading thinkers make the case for the importance of their subjects and aim to inspire a new generation of students.

1. What’s Wrong with Classics 1

2. Charting the Past 41

3. Understanding the Present 78

4. Anticipating the Future? 100

Afterword 125

Notes 132

References and Further Reading 137

Index 141

"Professor Morley not only justifies his long-standing commitment to classics but also provokes his readers to reflect upon its nature and significance. A brilliant success!"
—Paul Cartledge, Clare College, Cambridge

"Morley shows how the ideas, arts and interpretations of Graeco-Roman culture have shaped the present, for both good and ill, and demonstrates how a new generation of scholars are revitalizing the study of classics."
—Sarah Bond, University of Iowa

Neville Morley is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter. He is the author of nine scholarly and student books.