In a rapidly changing technological world, it can be hard for students and adults alike to justify an interest in Classics. After all, what relevance does the ancient world have for the modern one? How could the problems of the people of Ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago have any similarity or be anything like the problems we face today? Are the heroes and gods we read about in the stories even truly anything like the people we’ve become in a world of technology and unprecedented levels of connectedness and communication?
The answer is that the Classics have more relevance to our modern lives than you would at first assume…
Myth is a Mirror for Humanity
Myths are not just stories – they are symbolic maps of humanity and the human experience. They explore profoundly universal themes that transcend cultural boundaries: love and loss, ambition and betrayal, justice and honour, and transformation — themes that remain just as relevant and important today as they did back in Ancient Greece or Rome. When you read the story of the displaced refugee survivors of Troy desperately fleeing their burning city and setting sail into the great unknown in the hope of finding a new homeland, the parallels with the modern world become undeniable and painfully striking.
The Classics are not static or unchanging. They are vibrant and ever-changing. Each new generation views them through a different lens, driven by the demands and pressures and social needs of their time, providing interpretations that the original authors would never have dreamed (or feared) possible: feminist, postcolonial, queer, and even ecological lenses to name just a few. Classical motifs can be traced in everything from our modern architecture to our laws and legal system, pop culture, political rhetoric, and even to fields like cryptography and coding.
In a world fragmented and distorted by rhetoric and political agenda, mythology offers a coherent foundation of critical thinking. It equips individuals with the cultural knowledge and symbolic language needed to understand themselves, their values, or their communities better. Whether through the metaphor of the labyrinth, the mirror, or the thread, mythology strips away the rhetoric and reveals the truth of who we are and what we’re seeking.
Why should you study Classics?
Classics is not just simply “nostalgia for the past” or “appreciation of the ancient world” – that’s an oversimplification that just doesn’t do it justice. Classics is an art, a timeless pursuit of wisdom and the search for meaning in the human experience, a process that expresses continuity and transformation. To study Classics is to add your voice to a chorus that spans millennia, or to add your own threads into the rich tapestry of humanity’s story so far.
But studying Classics isn’t just about understanding what it means to be human or figuring out where you want to fit into the human story. The ancient world directly shaped or dramatically influenced the modern world in countless varied ways. A solid foundation of knowledge and understanding of the ancient world is key to developing a good understanding of Western philosophy and belief; the West’s classical roots are deep, and all roads lead to Rome as the saying goes.
Studying mythology and ancient history is a fantastic way for readers to develop critical thinking skills. Here, they can recognise and appreciate the artistry and power of story in shaping culture and consciousness, they can appreciate the disturbing parallels in the stark rise of political figures and their coups, and they can begin to understand why our Western society has developed in the way it has and why it holds the values of truth, morality, and justice that it does.
The classical labyrinth can seem overwhelming at first to any new classicist, but rest assured: the labyrinth isn’t a trap — it’s a map to understanding who we are, what we want, and where we’re going.