ESSAYS IN ANTIQUITY
SIR,—In his Essays in Antiquity, Peter Green seenn to have Made a vigorous attack on what might V Called the Classical Establishment; and Geolirel Kirk's review bears every mark of Establishment utterance. He is tolerant, even patronising, when Ill meets mild dissent from received opinion (00 literature or history), but immovably smug when ii comes to discussing the present state of classic studies in this country. 'Do scholars and teachers. ltc, asks, 'really speak of "the triumph of science :me barbarism"?' They do indeed, and with a Of righteousness which--at least in some schools and universities—can render them both irksome and ludicrous to their non-classical • colleagues. The professional of this kind deliberately isolates OD' self from modern culture and modern confusions. and the degree of his unawareness may be judgci from the average run of contributions recorded it the Classical Association's annual Proceedings, which, of course represent a somewhat higher level ts thinking than the real average among classical teachers. What classical scholars say, or write, tend", to be either an elaborately technical examination oi questions within the traditional field, or else a serie5 of platitudes about our heritage. 'Arc offers of heir from .collateral, subjects really stiffly rejected?' Pr the most part they are not noticed.
We have too few scholars who are also at honte
in the world of contemporary literature and social studies,.who do not blindly.label science the Enenn. and who can exercise real critical intelligence upon the subjects they study. If the ground is not co' tinually worked afresh by men of this calibre, tile, subject petrifies. And beside this continual renew:I' of understanding, we need the work of men who can speak to the non-classical public, as popw lariscrs in a good sense. We have the Penguin Classics, and very good they arc; what else? While this situation remains one cannot feel very satisfied, with the Classical Establishment and its doings; ano the battles over compulsory '0' Level are making ttN look Pretty silly.---Yours faithfully, 3 High Grove, Wehryn Garden City, Neils
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