Classics: A Very Short Introduction

This Very Short Introduction on Classics from Oxford University Press does what it set out to do. It introduces the reader to Roman and Greek antiquity. After reading the book I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see if the book has helped me in understanding Classics better. I would say it has. I found myself looking at certain items and sculptures and asking questions that I haven't before. I wondered about the item's purpose and how succeeding generations have viewed it. I realized I could spend a whole day (or more) pondering all the aspects of an item. One fault I find with the book is that I find it spends too much time on how later generations have viewed Classics and how it has shaped their would and ours. I understand that this a big part of understanding Classics, but I find myself more interested in the time periods of Roman and Greek antiquity. After a while I found myself glossing over the later chapters which dealt with later generations appreciation of Classics. All in all, if you ever go to a museum or visited an ancient site and wondered how you could better appreciate what you are seeing, I would recommend this book to you.

The term "Classics" refers to the study of Greek and Latin Antiquity, but the authors seem to be vaguely embarrassed and apologetic in a "P.C." kind of way for their interest in this field. If they had deleted Chapter 3, which is a disclaimer of any belief in the "superiority" of the Classical tradition, and if they had avoided sticking the word "classics" in italics at odd places throughout the text, as though we might have forgotten what the book was about, I would have enjoyed it more. Having said that, they cover an awful lot of ground in surprising depth and in an interesting way in a short few pages. The discussion is organized around the Temple of Bassae, about which they tell us a great deal, using the temple and its history to explain the very complicated relationship between the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome and our own. I have a good though unsystematic familiarity with the Classical world, and I found much that was new and interesting in this book. The list of further reading is very good, in spite of being a bit "P.C." It is perhaps geared more to the intermediate student than to the complete beginner. The further one delves into the Classical world, the more one realizes just how vast an ocean one has entered, so even this list just scratches the surface. It's a good read, but I took one star off for unwarranted political correctness. As an introduction to the Classical world for beginners Edith Hamilton's "The Greek Way" and "The Roman Way" are hard to beat. They were written in pre-"P.C." days, when one didn't have to be coy about extolling the virtues of Western culture and the Classical tradition. Moses I. Finley's "The Ancient Greeks", though less lyrical than Hamilton's books, is also quite good.

It's an interesting book, to be sure: especially to most American readers, who consider "the classics" as a field of study to be concerned mostly with the narrow teaching and learning of Latin, Greek, and maybe a little Hebrew or hieroglyphics. Actually, Classics concerns not only these languages, but the culture involved: art, archeological studies, anthropology of the the Mediterranian region (and beyond), linguistics, the history of logic and law, and so forth. This is illustrated by the changing role of the temple of Apollo at Bassae, from sacred site to shrouded detour for vacationers: we're given a thorough grounding on how even the study of this relatively insignificant spot can involve many disciplines, and many aspects of Classical civilization. Further chapters use related hooks: slavery, entertainment, and the phrase "et in Arcadia ego" (da Vinci Code fans take note), before returning to the original conceit, and a concluding note on the centrality of Classical studies to an appreciation of the Western heritage. Unfortunately, one is left hanging by the section labeled "Further Reading". I would have expected, and appreciated, some suggestions geared towards the beginner: certainly there is no end of books on the subject, but I'd like to have heard the joint authors' ideas on which one-volume history of Greece or Rome is the clearest and best, how to embark on learning some of the languages involved outside of school, and so on. Instead, I get a straightforward scholarly bibliography of the works quoted, but no idea of how to proceed towards the understanding that would make these works meaningful. It's as if one were to write a book "A Very Short Introduction to Mountaineering", in which one was given a fulsome account of how wonderful it felt to climb Everest, a warm salutation to the reader, an expressed wish that all might attain the peak, and then, just when one is truly excited and primed to add Tibet to their life list of Places to Go, the How to Get Started page carries only a few snaps of Base Camp. Gradus ad Parnassum indeed. And for this I remove one star. Otherwise, a pretty good book, and a good start to a study of the Classics, or of the VSI series as a whole.

Beard and Henderson use as their primary focus - the temple at Bassae - to introduce the wide world of Classics and classical inquiry to the reader. It's a fascinating and enjoyable read. The use of Bassae as the focus of the introduction lends the text a cohesiveness that is so often lacking in introductory Classical works. They show how the discovery of the temple leads one to questions about history, Greek societal structure, morality, Greek cultural norms, the relation of Romans to Greeks (and Egyptians to Greeks), etc. Very very good book. Highly recommended.