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Exclusive interview with expert klassicists! [Episode 1]

Introduction

Although it may seem that we ourselves are the classic experts, we still have much to learn and what better way to do this than to interrogate those who have chosen this path and claim to know enough about it to teach others- namely Mr Horse and Mr Goose*. And so, we have decided to ask some of our most pressing questions about the fascinating world of classics.


Question time!


Why did you choose to study classics?

Goose:

His instant response was that he always “Loved the puzzle of translating Latin”, the mixture of using his "gut feeling" to figure out what was right and the intricate grammar structures, strengthening his "logical thinking" in his career path as a lawyer. He was also “fascinated by the classical world and all the literature we studied eg. Virgil, Catullus, Lucretius, etc”. He learnt the subject through the language, he believes this gave him a new perspective on the subject.


Horse: It was one of the hardest subjects and it had 'the most diverse array of channels to follow- Latin and Greek satisfy the desire for logic and puzzles while also providing the opportunity to study literature, philosophy, art, architecture, society, etc.' He also claims for someone who becomes bored very easily, classics 'provides entertainment for the flitting mind', if one aspect or period gets tedious, he can skip to another.


Summarise X in 1 minute or less.

Goose (the Bacchae): According to Goose, these are the main themes of the Bacchae: “reverence to the gods, living in moderation, not overreaching (seen through Pentheus), revenge and sanity of the mind'. It tells the story of the God, Bacchus, who has come from the east to spread his rites around Greece, and Thebes in particular. He and Pentheus, the king of Thebes, have a bit of a power struggle since Pentheus arrogantly believes that he is the highest authority, eventually ending in his downfall and the downfall of his family.


Horse (the Aeneid); 'Aeneas has been told that he has got to do something by the gods, and frankly he seems a bit pissed off that he has got to do it and the whole epic is about his conflict between his duty, and what he has been told to do, and actually living a functioning life of a human being, and trying to equate and balance the two. It also shows his struggle to accept and fulfil destiny, while also not losing all soul and personality. It shows the burden of knowledge because Aeneas knows what he has to do and as soon as you know something is going to happen, it becomes less exciting; joy in life tends to lie in the uncertainty and Aeneas has certainty and so, therefore, he must search for excitement. The tragedy of Dido and Aeneas is also that Aeneas is certain that he cannot stay and yet the excitement would lie in pursuing his uncertain relationship with Dido.


3 favourite quotes from ...

Horse: Despite disagreeing with the use of quotes in general, (saying that they always get used in manners that are incorrect or out of context such as the quote on the 9/11 memorial) he does praise Sappho's poem 107 and does appreciate the use of quotes correctly.

Μήτ᾽ ἔμοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα.

Neither honey nor bee for me.

and Seneca's quote 'no matter how many men you kill, you can never kill your successor'


What is an important context to study for Aristophanes' 'Frogs' and how important is it to understand 'Frogs'?

Important context to study for frogs - “a lot of technical terminology in terms of politics, but also individuals, lots of actual characters and people from Athenian democracy who had an effect on the society at the time, and without any context on those, it’s very difficult to understand what’s going on.

A bit of knowledge about the Peloponnesian war couldn’t hurt either”


What is the purpose of tragedy?

Goose: “you could be cynical and say it’s a form of social control” but also it is an “opportunity for the community to come together to vent certain emotions - Aristotle style - get a bit of katharsis in there’ (katharsis being the cleansing of emotions such as pity and fear). Tragedy is also “Voicing thoughts of the people in a forum which is safe”.


Horse: 'Gets people thinking'- 'It is simply a form of ecstasis, of standing outside oneself, being fully immersed into a form of entertainment and getting swept up in something in the way that we in the modern world do when we watch a film. If there are edifying morals or political messages, so be it, however, I don't think the purpose of tragedy is necessarily a political one, just like films or football which may cause questions to arise but these are not the focus. The entertainment takes you out of your body and places you somewhere else in order to ask these questions'.


If you have to pick one character from Greek tragedy which you most relate to, who would you pick?

Goose: I would have to pick Tiresias as I feel that I am both wise and misunderstood in my day. (We personally feel however that he would be Pentheus perhaps due to the fact that he always calls himself a "benevolent dictator" and he too thinks that he's the highest authority)













Horse: 'I did a quiz the other day and I got the messenger' (but really he relates to the shepherd).


Why do people study the Aeneid, and is it pointless to study in translation?

Horse: Starts off by saying he's going to do hysteron proteron- 'It is not pointless to study in translation at all, as long as the translation is a good translation because literature and themes are enduring, and the story is a good story. People read it for two reasons; firstly, Virgil is the first truly cinematic writer, the writer who draws you attention in a very controlled manner to aspects of storytelling, and he plays with the shift of the audience's view in a way that I don't think Homer necessarily does, and in a way that has influenced a lot of later authors. He makes you see things in different ways such as the bird's eye view of the procession (Book 11). Secondly, as all good writers do, the story has ambiguity; it is ambiguous about Aeneas, Rome, Augustus, Dido, women, foreigners, what makes a hero- everything is able to be questioned. Even when everything appears to be getting a bit sickly and the propaganda too much, he undercuts it'.


What advice would you give to aspiring classicists?

Goose: “Do as much as you can while you’re young, because, take it from me, it gets harder the older you get to retain it, but your interest never wanes, but perhaps the ability to absorb things maybe does”

“hoover up as much as you can, the wider your knowledge base is now, the easier it becomes to understand a wide variety of different things, like the context in which all this literature takes place” (make sure it’s the things that you’re interested in)


Hoskins: 'You can never do too much language work- ignore everything everyone says to you- if you like classics you will already be doing enough extra. You have to find things out by yourself; you can listen to people and take their advice, but classics also teaches you to have your own thoughts, question things, figure things out and think whether what is being said is worthwhile, moral, good and truthful'. Classics genuinely allows you to think.


Thank you to our interviewees and we hope you learned something!

Until next time,

Zoe and Viola



*Names changed for confidentiality

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