What can a civilisation which ceased to exist thousands of years ago have any pertinence on an era of artificial intelligence and space exploration? Classical studies- by which I am referring to the civilisations of ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece (the Greco-Roman era in particular)- far from being a field which concerns itself with the bygone era, continue to offer humanity valuable insights into our heritage, culture, and progress. Thus, to dismiss these areas of studies as obsolete will be equivalent to ignoring the intellectual scaffolding they provided with our modern world.
Bedrock of Western schools of thoughts:
The intellectual thoughts of the West owe an incalculable debt to the philosophical inquiries of the anicent. The political ideals of Plato, the Socratic dialogue of the Socrates, and the Ethics of Aristotle hold up to this day. Aristotle’s ethics posits eudaimonia, or flourishing, as humanity’s ultimate goal or ‘telos’. This echoes in the current human rights discourse, where artificial intelligence, for instance, poses a threat to many of the political ambitions where the individual versus the many is still an issue.
Ancient Roman Law continues to be an important facet of the legal systems in present civilizations. The Corpus Juris Civilis is an embodiment of laws, judgements and practices such as equity, proportionality, and the franchise of peace. Even the preamble of law in ancient Roman times is still in practice today: habeas corpus, prima facie, ad hominem- attesting the unbroken lineage from antiquity to the present.
Cultural resonances across time:
The grandeur of cultural works in the past are not simply aesthetic contemplations, but the works serve as profound meditations of the human experience. Homer's Odyssey is not simply a tale of a seafaring man, but the story of a man who struggled through the complexities of a world torn apart by warfare, a man who had conflicting identities, a man whose journey in the Mediterranean became symbolic for his quest to explore his identity, preserverane, and longing for home. Likewise Vergil's Aeneid grapples with themes of duty and sacrifice, and constantly portrays its hero, Aeneas, as a man challenged in the most extreme of situations. These epic poems of the Roman era continue to serve powerful reminders to us in the 21st century, resonating deeply in an age very much still grappling with the themes the poets endeavoured to address in their works.
Yet it was not just literature which survived the passage of time. It is also the architectural feats of the anicient societies that continue to speak to us to this day. From the US Capitol to the British Museum, these modern buildings utter our utmost and enduring fascination with symmetry and proportion that characterised Greek and Roman aesthetics.
Framework for critical Inquiry and a combination of interdisciplinary studies:
One could not conduct classical studies per se. The study the classical world involve the perusing of a myriad of ancient texts, and demands a synetheis of many areas of studies- linguistics (decoding the language), history, philosophy (the ancient schools of thoughts) and archealogy. The study of antuiquity offers us a combination of skills, allowing us to navigate the complexities of modernity with a depth of understanding rarely afforded by more narrowly focused fields. Moreover, studying these texts offer us cautionary tales- the collapse of teh Roman republic due to internecine wars caused by human ambition; the starting of the Trojan War caused by the lechery of one; the moral decary and political degredation of Athens preceding its fall reminds us of the fragility of democracy in the face of unchecked unpopulism. Engaging with classics reminds us of the mistakes humanity made and warns us to not make the same mistakes again. It allows us to arm ourselves when we embrace the uncertainity of the future, knowing that we have the wisdom of our ancestors behind our backs.
Conclusion:
Far from something which no longer serves pertinence, classics are dynamic, evolving disciplines which allow us to understand our own heritage. The Greco-Roman world shares many resemblances with a mirror- mirroring our past achievements and also vulnerabilities. In the ever-capricious world of the 21st century, classics offers us a way of uniting fragmented peoples, and to study it is not simply an act of mere remembrance, but a way to engage in our own heritage and a way to remind ourselves of the timelessness of human qualities. As we hurtle towards the uncertain future, we must not forget the indispensability of ancient knowledge.