An opinion piece in today’s Guardian makes the case for the teaching of Latin and Greek in schools. Traditionally elitist subjects in the UK and US, Charlotte Higgins argues for the classics as a means of widening horizons:
The value of classics today is incalculable, but it is nothing to do with turning out nice Oxbridge chaps to run the civil service. Classics no longer unlocks a world of privilege, but it does give us the keys to an intellectual playground of breathtaking beauty, wonder, and rigour; it gives us the tools to help us understand who we are. It is wrong that so many schoolchildren are denied that opportunity.
I completely agree with what she says. Learning about a world based on completely different assumptions was what really drew me to classics when I was young (I studied it at university). From a political point of view, I’d add to her list the benefits of studying the Athenian democracy.
For 200 years, Athens maintained a directly democratic system in a world that only knew tribalism and monarchy. Though there are reasons why it couldn’t work now, and shouldn’t have worked then, and wasn’t very democratic really, my dear old Athenians have still had one big effect on my outlook on life. They provide a worked, practical example of my belief that the big mass of people, with information, with real power, and with a sense of common purpose, can be trusted – much more than politicians and officials today think they can.
Filed under: Direct democracy
