Why You Should Learn Classics

In November of 2014, a current presidential candidate took to the Senate floor to deliver another one of his tirades against President Obama. This one, however, was different from the rest. While Ted Cruz has been known to make references to the works of others during his Senate speeches (famously reading Doctor Seuss as part of his opposition to Obamacare), this time he chose a slightly older author to borrow from: the famed Roman orator and statesman Cicero. In a four-minute speech, he adapted part of Cicero’s In Catilinam to inveigh against President Obama. While opinions can differ as to Cruz’s politics, it is undeniable that his oration was persuasive. Cruz cast himself in the role of Cicero, defender of the Republic, while he compared the President to Catiline, a man who sought to overthrow the Republic for his own gain.

The news coverage of Cruz’s speech treated it as a kind of oddity: an obscure reference, something strange and out of place. But even though students don’t study Latin quite as much as they once did, the language’s influence can still be felt throughout the modern world. Just look at the English language itself: over sixty percent of English words are derived from Latin. As premeds certainly are aware, the classics have an even greater influence in technical areas. Over ninety percent of science and technology terms come from Latin. Understanding Latin and Greek makes navigating these tricky subject matters much easier.

But the influence of the classics goes deeper than just language. Most arguments for why one should learn Latin involve selfimprovement. It will improve your grammar, increase your vocabulary, help you score higher on the SATs. These arguments are certainly valid, but they aren’t particularly persuasive to many people. There are easier ways to do all of those things than learning what many think of as a dead language. Why, then, should one learn Latin or Greek? The answer is actually quite simple: they’re fun. Contrary to the impression most have of Latin and Greek as being stodgy, old, boring languages, they are in fact vibrant and alive. People do actually still speak these languages, new words are added to update them, and there are even Latin ATMs in the Vatican. But more seriously, anyone who doesn’t believe quite yet should actually read something written in one of these languages. Stories like the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid are the basis for epics, dramas, and love stories through the present day. Many people read translations of these works in high school, but something is lost in translation. In fact, many translators would tell you that the hardest part of their job is making choices between the literal words of the language and the tone and meaning of those words. Especially in a language so old, these classics are best appreciated in their original language in order to fully preserve the nuances that make them great.

If this doesn’t persuade you yet, there are some examples that you probably think about every single day. Only within the last century has the study of Latin taken a backseat, but before that, the classics were an integral part of higher education. A truly educated person knew Cicero, Plato, and Homer like the back of their hand, and nobody let the classics influence their life more than our very own Founding Fathers. Prominent figures like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Jay all wrote letters and pamphlets throughout the Revolution and Constitution-draft process signed in the names of classical figures like Cicero, Marc Antony, and Caesar. It was no coincidence. They attempted to model their creation of a new republic in terms of the historical Roman Republic. Even the style of our American government is influenced by an understanding of Roman government. This is something you may think about every day, but never realize. The debates that play out in the Capitol Building every year are often shadows of the political clashes in ancient Rome. The Founding Fathers were well aware of this due to their extensive knowledge of the classics, and sought to use that history to their advantage.

There are many great benefits to studying the classics, not the least of which is that they apply in today’s world more than ever. And what’s more, those “dead” languages allow you to become a part of a human tradition thousands of years old and to read the very same words that impressed a Roman emperor or Greek statesman.