[Encounter] Enjoying Greek and Roman Humanities Throughout the Week

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Greek and Roman mythology unfolds many stories of gods and heroes. There are three people who went to the underworld alive and returned to the living world: Heracles, Theseus, and Orpheus.

Heracles descends to the underworld to capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the underworld. Theseus follows his friend Pirithous, who intends to marry Persephone (the wife of Hades, the god of the underworld), and goes to the underworld. Orpheus goes to the underworld to plead with Hades to bring his beloved wife Eurydice back to life after she dies.

This is the approach taken in Greek and Roman Humanities Walk, which unravels the stories of heroes in mythology. It groups categorizable figures together and briefly explains them. Leda, Europa, Danae, Semele, Maia, and others are introduced as figures with whom Zeus had extramarital affairs.

Greek and Roman Humanities Walk is a book that introduces the diverse humanistic heritage of Greece and Rome, which became the vast source of Western classics known today.

It covers not only mythology but also history, literature, philosophy, language, architecture, art, and sports. Chapter 1 starts with mythology, history is divided into Greece and Rome and explained in chapters 2 and 3 respectively. Chapter 4 deals with literature, chapter 5 with philosophy, and architecture, art, and sports are grouped in chapter 6. The final chapter 7 discusses language.

The content, which could be compiled into dozens of volumes if written in detail, is contained in a single book. Therefore, the scope is broad but not detailed. It summarizes and introduces only content helpful as general knowledge and culture.

The book briefly explains many figures we learned about in school textbooks and who are still frequently mentioned in society, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Constantine, Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Hippocrates, and others.

Around this time last year, books briefly covering culture and general knowledge, such as Wide and Shallow Knowledge for Intellectual Conversation and One Page a Day, The Shortest Liberal Arts Lesson in the World 365, gained popularity. Although the editing format is different, Greek and Roman Humanities Walk gives a similar impression. Since it does not deal with complicated content, the book is easy to read. As the subtitle suggests, it seems possible to grasp the outline of Western classics in seven days.

The author wrote the book because Western classics still influence us in the 21st century. In fact, Greek and Roman humanities are true classics that serve as the source of cultural imagination and creativity today.

The University of Chicago in the United States has produced the most Nobel laureates in the world. The source of that power lies in the classics. The person who placed the University of Chicago among the world’s prestigious universities was Robert Hutchins (1899?1977), president from 1929 to 1945. He became president at age 30 and emphasized classical education. Students had to read 100 classical works to graduate. Since then, the University of Chicago has produced dozens of Nobel laureates and its status has risen.

Many Western universities still operate classical reading courses. Works introduced in Greek and Roman Humanities Walk such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Aristotle’s Poetics, and Plato’s Republic are always mentioned as classics.

We live in an era where society changes rapidly and new things to learn pour in. Complaints arise that there is no time to read classics. However, on the other hand, advice is heard that all the more reason to read classics. To avoid being swayed in a rapidly changing world and to maintain one’s center, nothing is more empowering than classics that deeply explore humanity.

(Greek and Roman Humanities Walk / Caroline Takhat, translated by Seo Jeong-won / Proje)