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WHY LATIN & GREEK MUST BE STUDIED
by William C. Michael
St. Patrick's Day, 2009
Note: Much of this article is
adapted from the early 20th century Jesuit scholar Robert Swickerath's
extraordinary book, Jesuit Education: Its History and
Principles, published in 1903. Unfortunately, the book is no
longer in print.
The Classical Liberal Arts Academy maintains
the rigorous classical language studies of the Catholic schools of the
past and when we use the word "past" we are not thinking 1950s
past, but
1600s, 1200s and 500s past. We require that every student complete courses in
classical Latin and Greek and believe that education is not sound
without them.
This position obviously raises questions
among families, especially due to the fact that very few adults have
ever seen true classical liberal arts education in action and all are
unfamiliar with its results. In this article we will address the
reasons why Latin and Greek must be studied by Catholic students.
I. BECAUSE LOGIC IS DEVELOPED THROUGH
CLASSICAL LANGUAGE STUDY
The fundamental difference between classical
and modern education is found in the method or instrument of learning.
In modern education, it is believed that scientific observation is the
ultimate method of learning. In classical education, it is
believed that logical inquiry is the ultimate method of learning.
If you do not share this conviction, then you should not be interested
in a classical education, especially that offered at the CLAA.
Since the instrument of learning is Logic,
all studies are oriented toward the cultivation of this art. The
essence of Logical reasoning is found in the syllogism which applies a
known general proposition (rule, principle, fact, etc.) to a specific
problem at hand to produce a new proposition (conclusion). This
art is learned systematically in Logic, but is also learned in the other
classical subjects when they are taught rightly.
In studying modern languages, students are
not led to cultivate this art. In fact, in some Latin programs, the
necessary methods are abandoned and replaced by modern methods
(induction). For example, the Lingua Latina program teaches
students to read Latin as they learned their native language, which is
great for learning to read the language, but fails to achieve the higher
goals of classical language study. We do not study Latin for the
language alone. We also employ the study of the classical
languages as a part of our overall progress in the art of Logic.
Consider the point as explained in Swickerath's Jesuit Education
(1903):
"They are not the language of common
life. They are not picked up by instinct and without reflection.
Everything has to be learned by system, rule, and formula. The
relations of grammar and logic must be attended to with
deliberation. Thought and judgment are constantly exercised in
assigning the exact equivalents of the mother tongue for every
phrase of the original...Only the law of thought and logic guides
him, with the assistance of a teacher to lead the way, and reassure
his struggling conception.''
Thus, the classical languages when taught in
the classical manner, promote the greater goal of logical training.
Programs that fail to use deductive methods fail to achieve this
important goal.
II. BECAUSE HISTORY SPEAKS
TO US IN GREEK AND LATIN
One of the greatest intellectual
shortcomings of modern students is their ignorance of thoughts and
perspectives outside of their own experience--especially those of the
wisest and holiest men of the past. We must avoid the tendency to
imagine the influence of the English language to be more than what it
is. The use of English as an international means of communication
started only
100 years ago, whereas Latin was the official language of the Roman
Empire and the Catholic Church for over 1900 years.
It would make sense why liberals might wish
to erase the history and culture of the Romans, or why Protestants and
atheists might wish to ignore the middle ages, but there is no
justification for Catholic students to be denied their religious
heritage and source of the finest Christian culture.
Moreover, by failing to walk the path of the
liberal arts, we cut ourselves off from the tens of thousands of
Christian students that did so throughout history. Those Christian
students of the past grew up to become the politicians, priests, poets,
philosophers and theologians whose works now sit on our library shelves.
We could have had a much deeper fellowship with them and we could have
read them with a shared educational experience, as they were able to
read the men who lived before them.
Quoting Matthew Arnold, Jesuit scholar Robert Swickerath warns us:
"Expel Greek and Latin from your schools, and you confine the views
of the existing generation to themselves and their immediate
predecessors, you will cut off so many centuries of the world's
experience, and place us in the same state as if the human race had
first come into existence in the year 1500."
Again, Latin
teachers miss the point and develop modern means of teaching the
language. Some write their own readings, others use "cool" Latin
resources like the "Cat in the Hat" in Latin. This trouble is not
caused by the children (who rarely ever object to classical history) but the teachers who
are off course and not only fail to enter into the study of wisdom
themselves but also keep those out who would enter.
III.
Because Classical Literature is the Source of Culture and Taste
To pretend to admire
the finest culture and taste while denying the value of the educational
system that produced them is a puzzling reality in our generation.
Without the classical liberal arts curriculum and the culture it
produced there would be no Bach, no Mozart, no Shakespeare, no Dante, no
Michelangelo, no Rembrandt--nor the rest--to admire. History would
have been filled with the earthly, aimless, self-centered art and
culture that surrounds us today.
By supplying our
children with this education in classical aesthetics we free them from the
darkness of modern literature, art and music and reconnect them with the
world's most sublime culture, that of classical Catholic Christianity.
IV. Because
the Classics, in translation, are not the Classics
When we look at the
dozen or so English Bible translations on the shelves of the local book
shop, we find all the proof needed to know that reading literature in
translation is not a desirable option. The notion that one's
native language is sufficient for the transmission of any ideas is one
that flowed from the anti-Catholic spirit of the Renaissance and
Reformation. It gave schismatics and heretics a means of drawing
common people way from the Church, which always maintained that the
loftier subjects must be handled in their original languages. This
was not a means of keeping the masses in ignorance, but keeping the
ignorant from teaching subjects they had never studied!
Even Protestants,
who promoted the mass production of Bibles (and their own commentaries)
in modern languages, acknowledge that the inspiration and infallibility
of Scripture is rightly applied to the original language texts only.
Why then the commitment to English translation rather than classical
education? If the energy, time and resources spent to
produce these English translations were invested in classical education,
we would have children in no need of the English translations!
The same is true of
non-biblical literature. The value of many of the classical
writers is in their use of their own language. There is no rival
among us to Virgil or Homer for poetic mastery, therefore who is to turn
their language into another without doing harm to its quality? It
would take one equal or greater to the classical masters to move their
thoughts and words into another language. No such master exists.
St. Jerome, who knew something about the effects of translation being
the official translator of the Latin Bible, said in a letter on "The
Best Method of Translating":
"If any one
imagines that translation does not impair the charm of
style, let him render Homer word for word
into Latin...and the result will be that the order of
the words will seem ridiculous and the most
eloquent of poets scarcely articulate."
Rather than pushing students into
literary studies before they are prepared to appreciate them rightly, we
would do better to teach them to read and use the original languages
in their youth and give them the real thing when they are ready for
it. This, however, is unacceptable to modern men and women who
prefer to seem rather than to truly be well educated.
V. Because Classical
Literature is Morally Superior to Mathematics
The argument may be made that mathematics
may be just as effective as classical languages in developing logical
thinking, but logical thinking is not the only benefit of classical
language study.
When classical languages are employed as the
primary means of cultivating logical thinking, the material through
which the languages are studied is full of excellent moral instruction.
Students study the Sacred Scriptures, the prayers and songs of the
Church, the moral instruction of the philosophers, the virtues of the
heroes of classical literature, etc.. The minds of students are
filled with noble examples, inspiring stories and sublime language.
What comparable benefits can be found in a
mathematics-based education?
VI. Because the Classical
Languages Enable Mastery of Modern Languages
As if the advantages above were not enough,
it must be admitted that those who have demonstrated the greatest skill
in modern languages (especially English) were those who first studied
the classical languages. We may recommend to our children
Shakespeare, Milton, Tolkien and the rest, but they would recommend
Homer, Cicero, Virgil and Horace to us.
The exercise in translating the expressions
of history's greatest speakers and writers into our own language is the
most effective means of developing mastery in the native tongue.
Consider the eloquent explanation of a 19th century superintendent of
schools:
"The blacksmith's arm becomes mighty through his ponderous strokes
of the hammer on the anvil. The very facility of the acquisition of
the modern languages precludes the possibility of discipline. Put
Latin into our schools, and the puzzling problem of English Grammar
will be nearing its solution, for the why that meets the
pupil at every step, the very laboriousness and difficulty of the
task, will open the intellect, develop the powers of discrimination
and adaptation, enlarge the vocabulary, enable the student to write
a better English essay, use a more terse and trenchant style of
speech, and grasp with more avidity and keenness any promulgated
form of thought, than if he should spend quintuple the time on the
study of the English Grammar alone."
Furthermore, the English classics contain
such constant allusion to classical literature that the ignorance of
such makes the understanding of the English classics next to impossible.
Consider Milton's description of Satan in Paradise Lost:
"As whom the Fables name of monstrous
size,
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on
Jove,
Briareos or Typhon, whom the Den
By ancient Tarsus held, or that
Sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim
th' Ocean stream."
Do you know English? Go ahead and
explain what Milton's talking about. You won't be able to unless
you're familiar with classical literature. While this is indeed
English, no student ignorant of the classics would be able to make sense
out of a single line of it. An education in modern English leaves
you unable to...read English literature.
CONCLUSION
To be frank, an education that is limited to
one's own language is no education at all. Sure, a student can
learn some modern science, mathematics and history from textbooks, but
the moral, aesthetic, linguistic and philosophical benefits of education
will be lacking.
We have discussed five important benefits of
classical language study: (1) logical development, (2) historical
continuity, (3) culture and taste, (4) inferiority of translations, (5)
moral superiority to mathematics, (6) mastery of modern languages.
Moreover, it is not merely the subject
studied, but the method by which it is studied. To achieve the
benefits listed above, the classical languages must be studied
deductively. Students must learn rules and principles that
belong to a complete system of Grammar that is then applied, logically,
to translate the languages precisely. Programs that fail to
maintain sound methods compromise the overall quality of the subject.
While this may be overwhelming, we can
assure you that all of the benefits gained through history by the proper
study of the classical languages are available through the Classical
Liberal Arts Academy.
***
Please forward any questions or comments to:
mail@classicalliberalarts.com. |
