For a student from any background the study of classics, of Latin and Greek languages and literatures, is the study of the unfamiliar. The struggle to bring the light of understanding to an ever fading and increasingly unfamiliar antiquity encourages reflection on the diversity of human experience as it is expressed in various cultures, time periods, and languages. Because the study of classics demands not merely the study of another language, but of language itself, it demands that students ask fundamental questions about the universal elements that bind all persons together and the particulars in which each person is unique.
In learning ancient languages, students first learn precisely how meaning is made and how to analyze the written word. Every student learns fundamentals of grammar that not only strengthen English skills, but also permit the rapid acquisition of other languages. Grammar, as a science, is the first step in every Latin and Greek class. However, grammar is only the beginning.
In learning to understand how languages work and how meanings are made across cultures, students come to appreciate the difficulty of seeing the world from the point of view of others and of communicating in a diverse and rapidly changing world. They must practice careful analysis in order to comprehend an ancient landscape that seems at first quite unlike their own. Yet, if they are successful, students uncover wisdom in the ideas of antiquity that help them to understand their kinship with all peoples at all times. They develop invaluable habits of open mindedness and logical thinking that equip them to meet with confidence the novel challenges that confront every generation. Students of the ancient past lay a solid cornerstone on which to build their future intellectual and social achievements. Whether their paths beyond high school lead them to explore questions about the vastness of the cosmos or the minute miracle of a living cell, students of the classics will always find themselves well prepared to confront, and enjoy, a journey into the unknown.
At Milton Academy, the study of classics comprises such varied fields of inquiry as linguistics, archeology, art, architecture, statecraft, rhetoric, law, and geography, to name only a few of the most salient subject areas. Our focus is at once on the past and on the future. Current events in politics and archeology are constantly shaping modern debates about how peoples are to view their own and others’ pasts and in what ways we should guide our shared future. We embrace these debates in the confidence that appreciation of the complexity of these questions and diversity of perspectives on them is the fundamental goal of every thinker.
