Part 44 (1/2)

[60] Reprinted in revised fore Fathers_, Harper and Brothers

XX

THE TEACHING OF THE CLassICS

=Significance of recent criticis of the classics=

Methods of teaching are detere extent by appreciation of the objects to be attained If teachers make clear to themselves just what they wish to accomplish, they will more easily develop the ainst the study of the Classics indicates clearly that there is a general dissatisfaction with the result of this study There is a striking unani persons of widely different talent and experience, of who back upon their training in school and college after years of nificant because often expressed with obvious regret Some, who have had unusual opportunities for observation, state their opinion in no uncertain language For example, Mr Abrahae 18 says: ”Neither Latin nor Greek would be contained in the curriculum of the Modern School--not, of course, because their literatures are less wonderful than they are reputed to be, but because their present position in the curriculum rests upon tradition and assumption A positive case can be made out for neither” The president of Colue 15, speaking of the ”teachers of the ancient classics,” says: ”They have heretofore been all too successful in concealing fronificance and importance of Greek and Latin studies” Such criticisms, however, do not prove that the study of the Classics cannot accomplish all that its advocates clai satisfactory results

Undoubtedly there are various causes for a depreciation of classical studies at the present ti froement In recent years interest has centered ned to develop powers of observation, give knowledge of certain facts, or provide equiplect of those which discipline the eneral culture It is certainly important, therefore, to consider the relative values of these various studies

To do so it is desirable to exa and the methods by which these aims may be realized; for it is at least possible that the widespread dissatisfaction with this teaching is due not so much to the subject itself as to defects and insufficiency in the methods e=

Not all teachers of the Classics agree in all respects as to the ai Certain aims, however, are coes These are:

1 To train students, through the acquisition and use of the ancient languages, in ic, clearness and fluency of expression, and style

2 To enable certain students to read with profit and enjoyment the masterpieces of Greek and Latin literature

3 To ie, as complete as possible, of the classical civilization as a whole To a cos all that the ancients possessed or did, all that they thought or wrote, whether or not any particular part of it had an influence upon later ti or valuable now All parts alike are phenomena of the life of these ancient peoples and so of the life of the hu of the thoughts and ideas, the forms of expression, the institutions, and the experiences of the ancients, in so far as these are either actually valuable in themselves to the modern world or have influenced the development of modern civilization

Besides these aienerally pursued by classical teachers in this country A these are:

5 To lish,”

ie with the etye which had their origin in or through Greek or Latin[61]

6 To trace the influences of the classic literature upon ht[62]

7 To train those who expect to teach the Classics in pedagogical ical appliances[63]

8 To teach the language of the New Testament and of the Church Fathers[64]

The classical departive courses in Modern Greek[65]: such courses, however, belong properly to the field of Modern Languages

Now it is by no means certain that all of these aims properly concern all classes of students On the contrary, every one would doubtless agree that those described under Nos 7 and 8 do not concern the average student of the Classics It is also a debatable question whether it should be the aiive all classical students soe of the classic civilization as a whole; whether, for example, Aristophanes and Plautus, however i of the ancient life and literature, are worth while for all classical students alike It is far more important, however, to determine whether, in that which seems to many persons the chief business of a classical department, all who study the ht to study theinals only=

No one doubts that classical departments should provide courses on the ancient literature in the original, or that the aesthetic qualities of a literature can be _fully_ appreciated only in the original language

Some people, however, maintain that every literary production is primarily a work of art, and consequently that its aesthetic qualities are its most essential qualities: that to teach the classical literature through theat an imperfect appreciation of its most essential qualities, and would also divert students froes courses on painting and sculpture are given through the raphs, casts and copies, and no one questions the value and effectiveness of such courses, or doubts that they tend to increase the desire of the students to know the originals themselves

Siiven at es, for example at Bucknell, California, Colorado, Harvard,[66] Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Lafayette, Leland Stanford, Michigan, Missouri, New York University, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Syracuse, Tennessee, Verton University, Wesleyan, and Wisconsin: courses in Latin literature in translations at California, Colorado, Kansas, Leland Stanford, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washi+ngton University Besides these there are courses at soht,[67] or Life and Letters,[68] or Civilization,[69] es on the part of the students For exae of the ancient languages are given in both Greek and Roman ”Civilization as Illustrated by the Literature, History and Monuments of Art”[70] Harvard also offers courses entitled ”A Survey of Greek Civilization” and ”A Survey of Roman Civilization, Illustrated froe of the ancient languages is not required

In deciding the question here at issue it is essential to distinguish between the different kinds of literature The value of certain literary productions undoubtedly consists chiefly in the aesthetic qualities of their form; that is, the excellence and influence of these productions depends upon the particular language actually used by the author Such works of literature lose very much in translation, and it may be asserted with some reason that they lose their most essential qualities It reat pleasure or benefit from the study of the poems of Sappho or the odes of Horace, for exainal The value of other literary productions, on the other hand, lies partly in their form and partly in their content, or in their content alone It is quite a different question, therefore, whether one may derive a satisfactory pleasure and benefit froamemnon_ of aeschylus or Thucydides' _History of the Peloponnesian War_, of Lucretius or Tacitus, to say nothing of such books as Aristotle's _Constitution of Athens_

=Teaching only from classical texts=

There is another and still more important question connected with the theory of classical teaching, namely whether all classical courses should be based upon or begin with the study of some classical text