Classics: A Very Short Introduction

A fellow Amazon reviewer recommended this book, which he has recently read, with the catalyst being his son’s graduation from college, with a now rather unusual degree, in The Classics. Prior to his recommendation, I was totally unaware of the “A Very Short Introduction” series, with, to me, the rather off-putting title, akin to the “Idiot’s Guide to…” The series’ title seems to imply a book without much meat, with information that a reasonably informed reader might already know. Far from it. Also, I assumed that I’d be receiving a brief overview of classic works, much of which I have not read, from Homer through Plato and Thucydides on to Pliny the Elder and Ovid. Wrong again. But what I did receive was of much value, and my informal “index” of a successful work – the number of passages underlined – was high.The authors, Mary Beard and John Henderson, teach the classics at Cambridge University (UK). They have written an engaging work, for someone like me, who (desperately!) needed some major lacunae in his education filled in. One of the central aspects of the work is how this “ancient history” still directly impacts us today, even though none of it was originally produced on electronic devices.A focal point of their work is the temple to Apollo at Bassae, in a remote and bleak region of Greece, called Arcadia. I, like many people, had heard of the Parthenon in Athens. But I was totally unfamiliar with the temple at Bassae, which the authors indicate is the second most significant structure from ancient Greece. They describe how it was rediscovered by those outside the immediate area, which was under Turkish rule, in the 19th Century. It was a dangerous place to visit, with malaria and bandits prevalent. It would be a young architect, Charles R. Cockerell, who would have a leading role in the excavation, and the removal of many of the friezes to the British museum, where they remain today. Like the more famous Elgin marbles, the removal is still controversial today, but the authors point out that it was also controversial when it occurred, and quote Lord Bryon as one of the most vociferous critics.Beard and Henderson emphasize that much of what we know about the Bassae temple would not be known save for the work of the Roman author Pausanias. The most famous painting of the temple was done by Edward Lear, which is one of the many illustrations in this work. The authors point out that the landscape surrounding the temple is actually the landscape of England, and not remote Arcadia. The authors also trace how this bleak and inhospitable region became a symbol in Western literature for an idyllic pastoral setting, almost a Garden of Eden. But to disabuse the reader of such romanticism, the authors emphasize that the work at the impressive temples of ancient Greece was performed by slave labor, and even include a drawing of slave collar. There is much, much else, from Karl Marx’s doctoral dissertation on Democritus and Epicurus, and the atomic theory of matter, to the outbreak of the plague during the Peloponnesian War to James Frazer’s work  The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions (Oxford World's Classics) , and the novels of Mary Renault.Seemingly in contradiction to the “very short” title, this is a very “meaty” introduction, which provides more “jumping off” points for further reading than likely time available. I also note more than a hundred other titles in this series, ranging from the Druids and Game Theory to the Meaning of Life. Overall, for this work, 5-stars.

It has been more than forty years since I took any courses in Greek or Latin or the history of Greece or Rome. With a son graduating next week with a B.A. in the Classics, I thought I should honor him and brush up on my own now very patchy, superficial understanding of the Classics. So I read this installment in Oxford's "Very Short Introduction" series. I thought it would be an introductory survey of the highpoints of Ancient Greek and Roman culture -- such as Homer, Sophocles, Plato, and the Parthenon; and Virgil, Plutarch, Marcus Aurelius, and the Pantheon. It is quite different, in a thoughtful and provocative -- although not altogether satisfying -- way.Authors Mary Beard and John Henderson are both professors of Classics at Cambridge, so they know their subject. CLASSICS, their book, is not donnish, however. It is a "big picture" book. It touches on a wide variety of disciplines and activities involved in expanding and refining knowledge of the classical world. As opposed to the landmarks of architecture, sculpture, poetry, and theater, the book is inclined towards matters of economics, sociology, and historiography. A sense of the wide-angle lens through which the authors view their subject is conveyed in these sentences from early in the book:"'Classics' is a subject that exists in [the] gap between us and the world of the Greeks and Romans. The questions raised by 'Classics' are the questions raised by our distance from 'their' world, and at the same time by our closeness to it, and by its familiarity to us. * * * The aim of 'Classics' is not only to 'discover' or 'uncover' the ancient world * * *. Its aim is also to define and debate 'our' relationship to that world. "CLASSICS does not operate exclusively on a macro-level, however. The authors often supply interesting examples of their larger points or themes. For instance, slavery. They write that "there can be no explanation for anything in the classical world, from mining to philosophy, from building to poetry, that does not take account of the presence of slaves." And in the next paragraph they refer to a legal rule that was of particular interest to me, as a retired trial lawyer: many societies have barred slaves or others who were not "full citizens" from giving evidence in court; in Rome, slaves could not give evidence unless they did so under torture; in other words, their testimony was admissible ONLY if it were elicited under torture.In many ways, CLASSICS will be beneath all who have even a modicum of knowledge about the subject. (Such as my son, although for him the book might offer some welcome reassurance as to the continued relevance of his major.) But for those who know very little about the Classics and tend to think of it as an arcane, intimidating subject, the book is worth reading.

The 'very short introduction' books can vary in quality quite drastically so it would be a sweeping statement to recommend or discount the series by just judging one or two books from its range. I have a number of books in the series and can say that this one is 'average'.The writers need no introduction but I feel that Classics is such a large subject area that it is impossible to even introduce it properly with such a brief word count they have in this book. I think that is the reason why the authors don't even try to attempt this and come at this problem from a different angle. They use a case study approach; they choose a temple frieze in the British Museum and examine how it relates to each field of study that comprises 'Classics'. The writing is accessible without compromising erudition and a good bibliography will help you find plenty of further reading. Where this falls short is it just feels too brief, like going to a wonderful restaurant and having to leave after the starter. There are also far too many illustrations which take up a lot of space and being in black and white to save on the cost price feels one sacrifice too many.Seems to be relying on the 'name' of the author to sell what is a sub standard book.Overall, not bad, not great.

This is an interesting and quite a clever little book. I initially wanted (and expected) a potted overview of the Classics texts: Homer, Plato, Virgil etc, how they fitted together, what their development was etc.What I actually got was a book about relationships: our relationship to the Classical Period, the relationship of the 19th Century to the same period and our relationship to the 19th Century etc. Through this, it shows the Classical Period has formed the backbone to Western civilisation and to understand our history, art and way of thinking requires a grounding in the Classical Period.The central device is the temple at Bassae, the remains of which you can see at the British Museum today. Through this questions about Empire, cultural appropriation, art and the ancient world are explored. Several times the authors surprise the reader and use this effect to show that the Classical Period challenges our pre-conceptions, can be used as a mirror to reflect on our own pre-occupations and that the interaction between us and the Classics is a vital part of what makes Classics.In keeping with this, our modern obsession with gender and sexuality are given their full allotment. I wonder if future generations will one day find this as quaint as we find the Victorians.In summary, I'm more motivated to explore the Classics having read this book than if the authors had given me my expectation, which ironically, is their point about Classics.Well worth reading.

I bought this book to inspire my 10-year old daughter. I read it first to see how appropriate it was for someone of her age. I found it empty of any inspiration at all and, perhaps worse, lacking in any content which could justify its title.

Quite a readable little book. I’ve read some of these little introductions before and some were a bit of a slog. This one certainly isn’t. Easy style, interesting introduction

An interesting connection between the arts, literature and culture of ancient Greece and the Roman empire with events, art, literature and attitudes through history up to our present time. An argument that we cannot ignore the Classics with some common threads relating to discoveries and events which relate at different points in time to evolving views on culture and attitudes.