Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

Classics in the modern era

The study of Latin and Greek classics has, since the Renaissance, been a staple of a Merchant Taylors’ education. A major part of the appeal is the unchanging, sometimes uncompromising, relevance of major texts, which affected the ancients so deeply that they ensured their preservation. These texts can delight but also challenge the modern reader, which is precisely what makes them worth reading, as much in 1561 as 2021. MTS Classicists Edmund Gazeley and Maria Bergquist explore how classical texts are taught in the modern Taylors’ classroom.

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Euripides’ tragedy Medea , concerning the vicious revenge of a wronged woman on her husband and the people he loves, perfectly encapsulates the challenging nature of the classics, which resists simplification, and is only rationalised through re-reading and discussion. This was the case even for the original audience; Euripides’ play, which had its debut at the City Dionysia competition in 431 BC, was placed last by the judges, possibly on the grounds of its outrageous theme of filicide, and yet nevertheless it has persisted. As an A Level set text, we read the play as a whole in English, switching to the rhythmic and sonorous Greek for scenes of conflict between Medea and the three men who stand poised to help or hinder her plans. In some ways, the way the play is taught at Taylors’ will not have changed in centuries, though modern technology has finessed the process; we focus initially on reading aloud, learning to ‘scan’ the poetry, which is easily done by collaboratively marking the text on the interactive whiteboard. The boys are expected to prepare to translate the Greek beforehand, and the disincentive of translating Euripides off-the-cuff motivates this process, but they are also assisted by online editions and dictionaries, for those who cannot fit the 2100 page, two volume Liddell & Scott in their backpack. Detailed exposition can be expected from the students on certain points of grammar, much in the style of a sixteenth- century Doctors’ Day – here no gadget can save them if they have not done due preparation! Once the Greek has been digested, we spend a long time discussing it from all angles. Single

words, phrases, and entire scenes can all vary in significance according to lexicon, as well as the mythological background, religion, gender, nationality, class of the protagonist and antagonists, not to mention those of the audience members, and the political and military context of the day. As such, to read the play and understand its full significance, an A Level Greek student must be philologist, historian, sociologist, geographer and poet. Such roles do not come easily to every, or any, student, and as such we discuss and debate each utterance in detail, firstly interrogating the Greek, then one another, trialling different angles, including taking up and defending positions that may be personally reprehensible. The many moral challenges of Medea have stoked much debate, with successive audiences reacting strongly in fifth-century Athens as in twentieth-century South Africa. Some of these readings are enduringly challenging, most obviously Medea’s chilling resolution to murder the children she loves to harm the man who loves them also. But in the classroom today we are also bound to evaluate Medea’s heinous actions through the prism of contemporary issues: in the context of debate on anti-colonialism and white saviours, how should we react to Jason’s claim that he has improved Medea’s life by taking her from barbarity to civilisation? After fourth-wave feminism, how much blame does Medea deserve for choosing to act against her abusers? As individuals are uprooted by deeds and events beyond their control, what right does Medea have to demand a safe haven of the unsuspecting King of Athens? EHG