View source for Classics

{{Short description|Study of classical antiquity}}
{{about|the academic discipline}}
{{redirect|Classical literature|literature from the ancient world in general|Ancient literature|exemplary or noteworthy books|Classic book}}
{{redirect|Classicist|the art movement|Classicism|the discrimination based on class|Classism}}
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| caption1 = [[Homer]], the legendary Greek author of the ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]''
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| caption2 = [[Cicero]], the Roman statesman considered the master of Latin prose
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| caption4 = [[Virgil]], usually considered to be the greatest Roman poet
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{{Literature}}
'''Classics''' or '''classical studies''' is the study of [[classical antiquity]]. In the [[Western world]], ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of [[Ancient Greek literature|Ancient Greek]] and [[Roman literature]] and their original languages, [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Latin]]. Classics may also include as secondary subjects [[Greco-Roman]] [[Ancient philosophy|philosophy]], [[Ancient history|history]], [[archaeology]], [[anthropology]], [[Ancient art|art]], [[Classical mythology|mythology]], and society.

In Western civilization, the study of the Ancient Greek and Roman classics was considered the foundation of the [[humanities]], and they traditionally have been the cornerstone of an elite higher education.

==Etymology==
The word ''classics'' is derived from the [[Latin adjective]] ''[[wikt:classicus|classicus]]'', meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens." The word was originally used to describe the members of the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patricians]], the highest class in [[ancient Rome]]. By the 2nd century AD the word was used in literary criticism to describe writers of the highest quality.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-17">{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=17}}</ref> For example, [[Aulus Gellius]], in his ''Attic Nights'', contrasts "classicus" and "[[wikt:proletarius|proletarius]]" writers.<ref>Aulus Gellius, ''Noctes Atticae'', 19.8.15.</ref> By the 6th century AD, the word had acquired a second meaning, referring to pupils at a school.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-17"/> Thus, the two modern meanings of the word, referring both to literature considered to be of the highest quality and the standard texts used as part of a curriculum, were both derived from Roman use.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-17"/>

==History==

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Catullus, Itally.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Photograph of a bronze bust of a man. It rests on a stone plinth, on which the words "Gaius Valerius Catullus 87 AC–54 AC" are written.|The Roman poet Catullus was virtually unknown during the medieval period, in contrast to his modern popularity.]]
In the [[Middle Ages]], classics and education were tightly intertwined; according to Jan Ziolkowski, there is no era in history in which the link was tighter.<ref>{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=19}}</ref> Medieval education taught students to imitate earlier classical models,<ref name="Ziolkowski07-21">{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=21}}</ref> and Latin continued to be the language of scholarship and culture, despite the increasing difference between literary Latin and the vernacular languages of Europe during the period.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-21"/>

While Latin was hugely influential, according to thirteenth-century English philosopher [[Roger Bacon]], "there are not four men in Latin Christendom who are acquainted with the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic grammars."<ref>{{harvnb|Sandys|1921|p=591}}</ref> Greek was rarely studied in the West, and [[Greek literature]] was known almost solely in Latin translation.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-22">{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=22}}</ref> The works of even major Greek authors such as [[Hesiod]], whose names continued to be known by educated Europeans, along with most of Plato, were unavailable in Christian Europe.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-22"/> Some were rediscovered through Arabic translations; a [[Toledo School of Translators|School of Translators]] was set up in the border city of [[Toledo, Spain]], to translate from Arabic into Latin.

Along with the unavailability of Greek authors, there were other differences between the classical canon known today and the works valued in the Middle Ages. [[Catullus]], for instance, was almost entirely unknown in the medieval period.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-22"/> The popularity of different authors also waxed and waned throughout the period: [[Lucretius]], popular during the [[Carolingian Renaissance]], was barely read in the twelfth century, while for [[Quintilian]] the reverse is true.<ref name="Ziolkowski07-22"/>

===Renaissance===
The [[Renaissance]] led to the increasing study of both ancient literature and ancient history,<ref name="Kristeller78-586"/> as well as a revival of classical styles of [[Renaissance Latin|Latin]].<ref name="Kristeller78-587"/> From the 14th century, first in Italy and then increasingly across Europe, [[Renaissance Humanism]], an intellectual movement that "advocated the study and imitation of classical antiquity",<ref name="Kristeller78-586">{{harvnb|Kristeller|1978|p=586}}</ref> developed. Humanism saw a reform in education in Europe, introducing a wider range of Latin authors as well as bringing back the study of Greek language and literature to Western Europe.<ref name="Kristeller78-587">{{harvnb|Kristeller|1978|p=587}}</ref> This reintroduction was initiated by [[Petrarch]] (1304–1374) and [[Boccaccio]] (1313–1375) who commissioned a Calabrian scholar to translate the [[Homeric poems]].<ref>Pade, M. (2007). The Reception of Plutarch's Lives in Fifteenth-Century Italy. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum</ref> This humanist [[Education reform|educational reform]] spread from Italy, in Catholic countries as it was adopted by the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]], and in countries that became [[Protestantism|Protestant]] such as England, Germany, and the Low Countries, in order to ensure that future clerics were able to study the [[New Testament]] in the original language.<ref name="Kristeller 1978 590">{{harvnb|Kristeller|1978|p=590}}</ref>

===Neoclassicism===
The late 17th and 18th centuries are the period in Western European literary history which is most associated with the classical tradition, as writers consciously adapted classical models.<ref name="Kaminski 2007 57">{{harvnb|Kaminski|2007|p=57}}</ref> Classical models were so highly prized that the plays of [[William Shakespeare]] were rewritten along neoclassical lines, and these "improved" versions were performed throughout the 18th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaminski|2007|p=65}}</ref> In the United States, the nation's Founders were strongly influenced by the classics, and they looked in particular to the Roman Republic for their form of government.<ref>Mortimer N.S. Sellers, ''Founding Fathers in America'' in ''The Classical Tradition'' pp. 367, 368 (Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, & Salvatore Settis, eds. 2010).</ref>

From the beginning of the 18th century, the study of Greek became increasingly important relative to that of Latin.<ref name="Kristeller 1978 591">{{harvnb|Kristeller|1978|p=591}}</ref>
In this period [[Johann Winckelmann]]'s claims for the superiority of the Greek visual arts influenced a shift in aesthetic judgements, while in the literary sphere, [[G. E. Lessing]] "returned Homer to the centre of artistic achievement".<ref>{{harvnb|Kaminski|2007|p=69}}</ref>
In the United Kingdom, the study of Greek in schools began in the late 18th century. The poet [[Walter Savage Landor]] claimed to have been one of the first English schoolboys to write in Greek during his time at [[Rugby School]].<ref>{{harvnb|Stray|1996|p=79}}</ref> In the United States, [[philhellenism]] began to emerge in the 1830s, with a turn "from a love of Rome and a focus on classical grammar to a new focus on Greece and the totality of its society, art, and culture."<ref>Caroline Winterer, ''The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Cultural Life, 1780–1910'', pp. 3–4 (2002)</ref>

===19th century===
The 19th century saw the influence of the classical world, and the value of a [[Classical education in the Western world|classical education]], decline,<ref>{{harvnb|Becker|2001|p=309}}</ref> especially in the United States, where the subject was often criticised for its elitism.<ref>{{harvnb|Becker|2001|p=313}}. Educator Benjamin Rush, for instance, deemed the classics to be "remnants of an aristocratic education unsuited to a republican nation and an industrial economy." Margaret Nash, ''Women's Education in the United States, 1780–1840'', p. 218, note 110 (2005).</ref> By the 19th century, little new literature was still being written in Latin – a practice which had continued as late as the 18th century – and a command of Latin declined in importance.<ref name="Kristeller 1978 590"/> Correspondingly, classical education from the 19th century onwards began to increasingly de-emphasise the importance of the ability to write and speak Latin.<ref name="Kristeller 1978 591"/> In the United Kingdom this process took longer than elsewhere. Composition continued to be the dominant classical skill in England until the 1870s, when new areas within the discipline began to increase in popularity.<ref name="Stray 1996 81">{{harvnb|Stray|1996|p=81}}</ref>
In the same decade came the first challenges to the requirement of Greek at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, though it would not be finally abolished for another 50 years.<ref name="Stray 1996 83">{{harvnb|Stray|1996|p=83}}</ref>

Though the influence of classics as the dominant mode of education in Europe and North America was in decline in the 19th century, the discipline was rapidly evolving in the same period. Classical scholarship was becoming more systematic and [[Science|scientific]], especially with the "new [[philology]]" created at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.<ref name="Rommel 2001 169">{{harvnb|Rommel|2001|p=169}}</ref> Its scope was also broadening: it was during the 19th century that [[ancient history]] and [[classical archaeology]] began to be seen as part of classics, rather than separate disciplines.<ref name="Stray 1996 81"/>

===20th century to present===
During the 20th century, the study of classics became less common. In England, for instance, [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] universities stopped requiring students to have qualifications in Greek in 1920,<ref name="Stray 1996 83"/> and in Latin at the end of the 1950s.<ref name="Stray 1996 85">{{harvnb|Stray|1996|p=85}}</ref> When the [[National Curriculum (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)|National Curriculum]] was introduced in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1988, it did not mention the classics.<ref name="Stray 1996 85"/> By 2003, only about 10% of state schools in Britain offered any classical subjects to their students at all.<ref>{{harvnb|Cook|2003}}</ref> In 2016, [[AQA]], the largest exam board for [[A-Levels]] and [[GCSE]]s in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, announced that it would be scrapping A-Level subjects in Classical Civilisation, Archaeology, and Art History.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/17/scrapping-archeology-classics-a-levels-barbaric-tony-robinson/| title=Scrapping of archaeology and classics A-levels criticized as 'barbaric act'| author=Sally Weale| newspaper=The Guardian| date=2016-10-17| access-date=2018-08-02}}</ref> This left just one out of five exam boards in England which still offered Classical Civilisation as a subject. The decision was immediately denounced by archaeologists and historians, with [[Natalie Haynes]] of the ''[[The Guardian]]'' stating that the loss of the A-Level would deprive state school students, 93% of all students, the opportunity to study classics while making it once again the exclusive purview of wealthy private-school students.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/19/aqa-classics-classical-civilisation-a-level-exam-archaeology| title=Ditching classics at A-level is little short of a tragedy| author=Natalie Haynes| newspaper=The Guardian| date=2016-10-19| access-date=2018-08-02}}</ref>

However, the study of classics has not declined as fast elsewhere in Europe. In 2009, a review of ''Meeting the Challenge'', a collection of conference papers about the teaching of Latin in Europe, noted that though there is opposition to the teaching of Latin in Italy, it is nonetheless still compulsory in most secondary schools.<ref>{{harvnb|Balbo|2009}}</ref> The same may also be said in the case of France or Greece. Indeed, [[Ancient Greek literature|Ancient Greek]] is one of the compulsory subjects in Greek secondary education, whereas in France, Latin is one of the optional subjects that can be chosen in a majority of middle schools and high schools. Ancient Greek is also still being taught, but not as much as [[Latin]].

==Subdisciplines==
One of the most notable characteristics of the modern study of classics is the diversity of the field. Although traditionally focused on ancient Greece and Rome, the study now encompasses the entire ancient Mediterranean world, thus expanding the studies to Northern [[Africa]] and parts of the [[Middle East]].<ref name="inside-higher-ed">{{cite web|title=The Study of Classics Is Changing|last1=Goldman|first1=Max L.|last2=Kennedy|first2=Rebecca Futo|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2021/06/15/why-and-how-study-classics-changing-opinion|website=Inside Higher Ed|date=2021-06-15|access-date=2021-10-02|quote=One possible solution to both of these issues (already enacted on a number of campuses) involves a move to ancient Mediterranean studies, where the Greek and Latin languages and literatures are only one track into and out of graduate schools, and where Greek and Roman cultures are contextualized alongside other cultures in ancient Africa, West/Central Asia and the Levant.}}</ref>

===Philology<!--'Classical philology' redirects here-->===
{{further|Philology}}
{{redirects|Classical philology|the journal|Classical Philology (journal)}}
[[File:Friedrich August Wolf - Imagines philologorum.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Black-and-white image of Friedrich August Wolf in profile|The eighteenth-century classicist [[Friedrich August Wolf]] was the author of ''Prolegomena to Homer'', one of the first great works of classical philology.]]
[[Philology]] is the [[Linguistics|study of language]] preserved in written sources; '''classical philology'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> is thus concerned with understanding any texts from the classical period written in the classical languages of Latin and Greek.<ref>{{harvnb|Mackay|1997}}</ref>
The roots of classical philology lie in [[the Renaissance]], as [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] intellectuals attempted to return to the Latin of the classical period, especially of [[Cicero]],<ref>{{harvnb|Shorey|1906|p=179}}</ref> and as scholars attempted to produce more accurate editions of ancient texts.<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=172}}</ref> Some of the principles of philology still used today were developed during this period; for instance, the observation that if a manuscript could be shown to be a copy of an earlier extant manuscript, then it provides no further evidence of the original text, was made as early as 1489 by [[Angelo Poliziano]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|pp=173–74}}</ref> Other philological tools took longer to be developed: the first statement, for instance, of the principle that a more difficult reading should be preferred over a simpler one, was in 1697 by [[Jean Leclerc (theologian)|Jean Le Clerc]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=174}}</ref>

The modern discipline of classical philology began in Germany at the turn of the nineteenth century.<ref name="Rommel 2001 169"/> It was during this period that scientific principles of philology began to be put together into a coherent whole,<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|pp=174–175}}</ref> in order to provide a set of rules by which scholars could determine which manuscripts were most accurate.<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=173}}</ref> This "new philology", as it was known, centered around the construction of a genealogy of manuscripts, with which a hypothetical common ancestor, closer to the original text than any existing manuscript, could be reconstructed.<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=175}}</ref>

===Archaeology===
{{Main|Classical archaeology}}
[[File:Lion Gate Mykene with Wilhelm Dörpfeld 1891.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Black and white photograph of the Lion Gate at Mycenae.|Schliemann and Dörpfeld's excavation at Mycenae was one of the earliest excavations in the field of classical archaeology.]]
Classical archaeology is the oldest branch of archaeology,<ref>{{harvnb|Dyson|1993|p=205}}</ref> with its roots going back to [[Johann Joachim Winckelmann|J. J. Winckelmann]]'s work on [[Herculaneum]] in the 1760s.<ref name="Renfrew80-288">{{harvnb|Renfrew|1980|p=288}}</ref> It was not until the last decades of the 19th century, however, that classical archaeology became part of the tradition of Western classical scholarship.<ref name="Renfrew80-288"/> It was included as part of Cambridge University's [[Classical Tripos]] for the first time after the reforms of the 1880s, though it did not become part of Oxford's [[Literae Humaniores|Greats]] until much later.<ref name="Stray 1996 83"/>

The second half of the 19th century saw [[Heinrich Schliemann|Schliemann]]'s excavations of [[Troy]] and [[Mycenae]]; the first excavations at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] and [[Delos]]; and [[Arthur Evans]]' work in Crete, particularly on [[Knossos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Renfrew|1980|p=287}}</ref> This period also saw the foundation of important archaeological associations (e.g. the [[Archaeological Institute of America]] in 1879),<ref>{{harvnb|Stray|2010|p=5}}</ref> including many foreign archaeological institutes in Athens and Rome (the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]] in 1881, [[British School at Athens]] in 1886, [[American Academy in Rome]] in 1895, and [[British School at Rome]] in 1900).<ref>{{harvnb|Stray|2010|pp=4–5}}</ref>

More recently, classical archaeology has taken little part in the theoretical changes in the rest of the discipline,<ref>{{harvnb|Dyson|1993|p=204}}</ref> largely ignoring the popularity of "[[New Archaeology]]", which emphasized the development of general laws derived from studying material culture, in the 1960s.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyson|1993|p=196}}</ref> New Archaeology is still criticized by traditional minded scholars of classical archaeology despite a wide acceptance of its basic techniques.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Darvil|first1=Timothy|title=New Archaeology|encyclopedia=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology |edition=2nd|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-2752|via=Oxford Reference|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=2016-07-16|isbn=9780199534043|date=January 2009}}</ref>

===Art history===
{{Main|Art history}}
Some art historians focus their study on the development of art in the classical world. Indeed, the art and architecture of ancient Rome and Greece is very well regarded and remains at the heart of much of our art today. For example, ancient Greek architecture gave us the classical orders: [[Doric order|Doric]], [[Ionic order|Ionic]], and [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]]. The [[Parthenon]] is still the architectural symbol of the classical world.

[[Ancient Greek sculpture|Greek sculpture]] is well known and we know the names of several ancient Greek artists: for example, [[Phidias]].

===Ancient history===
With philology, archaeology, and art history, scholars seek understanding of the history and culture of a civilization, through critical study of the extant literary and physical artefacts, in order to compose and establish a continual historic narrative of the Ancient World and its peoples. The task is difficult due to a dearth of physical evidence: for example, [[Sparta]] was a leading Greek [[city-state]], yet little evidence of it survives to study, and what is available comes from [[Athens]], Sparta's principal rival; likewise, the [[Roman Empire]] destroyed most evidence (cultural artefacts) of earlier, conquered civilizations, such as that of the [[Etruscans]].

===Philosophy===
{{Main|Ancient philosophy}}
The English word ''[[philosophy]]'' comes from the Greek word φιλοσοφία, meaning "love of wisdom", probably coined by Pythagoras. Along with the word itself, the discipline of philosophy as we know it today has its roots in [[Ancient Greek philosophy|ancient Greek thought]], and according to Martin West "philosophy as we understand it is a Greek creation".<ref>{{harvnb|West|2001|p=140}}</ref> Ancient philosophy was traditionally divided into three branches: logic, physics, and ethics.<ref name="Mann 1996 178">{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=178}}</ref> However, not all of the works of ancient philosophers fit neatly into one of these three branches. For instance, Aristotle's ''Rhetoric'' and ''Poetics'' have been traditionally classified in the West as "ethics", but in the Arabic world were grouped with logic; in reality, they do not fit neatly into either category.<ref name="Mann 1996 178"/>

From the last decade of the eighteenth century, scholars of ancient philosophy began to study the discipline historically.<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|p=180}}</ref> Previously, works on ancient philosophy had been unconcerned with chronological sequence and with reconstructing the reasoning of ancient thinkers; with what Wolfgang-Ranier Mann calls "New Philosophy", this changed.<ref>{{harvnb|Mann|1996|pp=180–81}}</ref>

===Reception studies===
{{main|Classical reception studies}}
Another discipline within the classics is "reception studies",<ref>{{harvnb|Bulwer|2005|p=13}}</ref> which developed in the 1960s at the [[University of Konstanz]].<ref name="Kallendorf07-02">{{harvnb|Kallendorf|2007|p=2}}</ref>
Reception studies is concerned with how students of classical texts have understood and interpreted them.<ref name="Kallendorf07-02"/>
As such, reception studies is interested in a two-way interaction between reader and text,<ref name="Martindale07-298"/> taking place within a historical context.<ref>{{harvnb|Martindale|2007|p=301}}</ref>

Though the idea of an "aesthetics of reception" was first put forward by [[Hans Robert Jauss]] in 1967, the principles of reception theory go back much earlier than this.<ref name="Martindale07-298">{{harvnb|Martindale|2007|p=298}}</ref>
As early as 1920, [[T. S. Eliot]] wrote that "the past [is] altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past";<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|1920|p=45}}</ref> Charles Martindale describes this as a "cardinal principle" for many versions of modern reception theory.<ref name="Martindale07-298"/>

==Classical Greece==
{{Main|Ancient Greece|Outline of ancient Greece|Timeline of ancient Greece}}

Ancient Greece was the civilization belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], beginning in the eighth century BC, to the [[Roman conquest of Greece]] after the [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|Battle of Corinth]] in 146 BC. The [[Classical Greece|Classical period]], during the fifth and fourth centuries BC, has traditionally been considered the height of Greek civilisation.<ref>{{harvnb|Shapiro|2007|p=3}}</ref> The Classical period of Greek history is generally considered to have begun with the [[First Persian invasion of Greece|first]] and [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|second Persian invasions of Greece]] at the start of the Greco-Persian wars,<ref>{{harvnb|Shapiro|2007|p=2}}</ref> and to have ended with the death of [[Alexander the Great]].

Classical Greek culture had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean region]] and Europe; thus Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization.

===Language===
[[File:AncientGreekDialects (Woodard) en.svg|right|thumb|alt=|Map showing the regional dialects of Greek during the Classical period]]
{{Main|Ancient Greek|Mycenaean Greek language|Koine Greek}}

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning the Archaic ({{Circa|8th}} to 6th centuries BC), Classical ({{Circa|5th|lk=no}} to 4th centuries BC), and Hellenistic ({{Circa|3rd|lk=no}} century BC to 6th century AD) periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek. Its Hellenistic phase is known as Koine ("common") or Biblical Greek, and its late period mutates imperceptibly into Medieval Greek. Koine is regarded as a separate historical stage of its own, although in its earlier form it closely resembles Classical Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classical and earlier periods included several regional dialects.

Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of classical Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to the vocabulary of English and many other European languages, and has been a standard subject of study in Western educational institutions since the Renaissance. Latinized forms of Ancient Greek roots are used in many of the scientific names of species and in other scientific terminology.

===Literature===
{{Main|Ancient Greek literature}}
The earliest surviving works of Greek literature are [[epic poetry]]. [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'' are the earliest to survive to us today, probably composed in the eighth century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|1985|p=47}}</ref> These early epics were oral compositions, created without the use of writing.<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|1985|p=43}}</ref>
Around the same time that the Homeric epics were composed, the [[Greek alphabet]] was introduced; the earliest surviving inscriptions date from around 750 BC.<ref name="Kirk-45">{{harvnb|Kirk|1985|p=45}}</ref>

<!-- Need to put something about archaic poetry here...
Some of the earliest Greek poetry to be composed in written form was that of [[Archilochus]], around a century after the introduction of the Greek alphabet.<ref name="Kirk-45"/> -->
European [[drama]] was invented in ancient Greece. Traditionally this was attributed to [[Thespis]], around the middle of the sixth century BC,<ref>{{harvnb|Winnington-Ingram|Gould|Easterling|Knox|1985|p=259}}</ref> though the earliest surviving work of Greek drama is [[Aeschylus]]' tragedy ''[[The Persians]]'', which dates to 472 BC.<ref name="WIGEK-258">{{harvnb|Winnington-Ingram|Gould|Easterling|Knox|1985|p=258}}</ref> Early Greek tragedy was performed by a chorus and two actors, but by the end of Aeschylus' life, a third actor had been introduced, either by him or by [[Sophocles]].<ref name="WIGEK-258"/> The last surviving Greek tragedies are the ''[[Bacchae]]'' of [[Euripides]] and Sophocles' [[Oedipus at Colonus]], both from the end of the fifth century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Winnington-Ingram|Gould|Easterling|Knox|1985|pp=339–40}}</ref>

Surviving Greek comedy begins later than tragedy; the earliest surviving work, [[Aristophanes]]' ''[[Acharnians]]'', comes from 425 BC.<ref name="Handley-355">{{harvnb|Handley|1985|p=355}}</ref> However, comedy dates back as early as 486 BC, when the [[Dionysia]] added a competition for comedy to the much earlier competition for tragedy.<ref name="Handley-355"/> The comedy of the fifth century is known as [[Old Comedy]], and it comes down to us solely in the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes, along with a few fragments.<ref name="Handley-355"/> Sixty years after the end of Aristophanes' career, the next author of comedies to have any substantial body of work survive is [[Menander]], whose style is known as [[New Comedy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Handley|1985|p=356}}</ref>

===Mythology and religion===
{{Main|Greek mythology|Religion in ancient Greece}}

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their [[Deity|gods]] and [[hero]]es, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece and its civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.

Greek religion encompassed the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared similarities. Also, the Greek religion extended out of Greece and out to neighbouring islands.

Many Greek people recognized the major gods and goddesses: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Athena, Hermes, Demeter, Hestia and Hera; though philosophies such as [[Stoicism]] and some forms of [[Platonism]] used language that seems to posit a transcendent single deity. Different cities often worshipped the same deities, sometimes with epithets that distinguished them and specified their local nature.

===Philosophy===
{{Main|Ancient Greek philosophy}}
[[File:Socrates Louvre.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A bust of Socrates|So influential was Socrates to classical philosophy that earlier philosophers are today known as [[pre-Socratics]].]]

The earliest surviving philosophy from ancient Greece dates back to the 6th century BC, when according to Aristotle [[Thales of Miletus]] was considered to have been the first Greek philosopher.<ref>Aristotle, Metaphysics Alpha, 983b18.</ref> Other influential pre-Socratic philosophers include [[Pythagoras]] and [[Heraclitus]]. The most famous and significant figures in classical Athenian philosophy, from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BC, are [[Socrates]], his student [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]], who studied at [[Plato's Academy]] before founding his own school, known as the [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]]. Later Greek schools of philosophy, including the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]], [[Stoics]], and [[Epicureans]], continued to be influential after the Roman annexation of Greece, and into the post-Classical world.

Greek philosophy dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including political philosophy, [[ethics]], [[metaphysics]], [[ontology]], and [[logic]], as well as disciplines which are not today thought of as part of philosophy, such as biology and rhetoric.

==Classical Rome==
{{Main|Ancient Rome|Culture of ancient Rome}}

===Language===
{{main|Latin}}
[[File:Praeneste fibula.JPG|right|thumb|alt=Photograph of a gold brooch|The [[Praeneste fibula]] is believed to bear the oldest known Latin inscription. The inscription means "Manius made me for Numerius".]]
The language of ancient Rome was Latin, a member of the [[Italic languages|Italic family of languages]]. The earliest surviving inscription in Latin comes from the 7th century BC, on a [[Praeneste fibula|brooch from Palestrina]]. Latin from between this point and the early 1st century BC is known as [[Old Latin]]. Most surviving Latin literature is [[Classical Latin]], from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. Latin then evolved into [[Late Latin]], in use during the [[Late antiquity|late antique period]]. Late Latin survived long after the end of classical antiquity, and was finally replaced by written Romance languages around the 9th century AD. Along with literary forms of Latin, there existed various vernacular dialects, generally known as [[Vulgar Latin]], in use throughout antiquity. These are mainly preserved in sources such as graffiti and the [[Vindolanda tablets]].

===Literature===
{{main|Latin literature}}
Latin literature seems to have started in 240 BC, when a Roman audience saw a play adapted from the Greek by Livius Andronicus. Andronicus also translated Homer's ''Odyssey'' into Saturnian verse. The poets Ennius, Accius, and Patruvius followed. Their work survives only in fragments; the earliest Latin authors whose work we have full examples of are the playwrights [[Plautus]] and [[Terence]]. Much of the best known and most highly thought of Latin literature comes from the classical period, with poets such as [[Virgil]], [[Horace]], and [[Ovid]]; historians such as [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Tacitus]]; orators such as [[Cicero]]; and philosophers such as [[Seneca the Younger]] and [[Lucretius]]. Late Latin authors include many Christian writers such as [[Lactantius]], [[Tertullian]] and [[Ambrose]]; non-Christian authors, such as the historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], are also preserved.

===History===
{{main|Timeline of ancient Rome}}
According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC;<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=11}}</ref> in reality, there had been a settlement on the site since around 1000 BC, when the [[Palatine Hill]] was settled.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=10}}</ref> The city was originally ruled by kings, first Roman, and then Etruscan{{Snd}}according to Roman tradition, the first Etruscan king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, ruled from 616 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|pp=21–22}}</ref> Over the course of the 6th century BC, the city expanded its influence over the entirety of [[Latium]].<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=28}}</ref> Around the end of the 6th century – traditionally in 510 BC{{Snd}}the kings of Rome were driven out, and the city became a republic.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=31}}</ref>

Around 387 BC, Rome was sacked by the Gauls following the [[Battle of the Allia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=44}}</ref> It soon recovered from this humiliating defeat, however, and in 381 the inhabitants of [[Tusculum]] in Latium were made Roman citizens. This was the first time Roman citizenship was extended in this way.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=46}}</ref> Rome went on to expand its area of influence, until by 269 the entirety of the Italian peninsula was under Roman rule.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=79}}</ref> Soon afterwards, in 264, the [[First Punic War]] began; it lasted until 241.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|pp=83–85}}</ref> The [[Second Punic War]] began in 218, and by the end of that year, the Carthaginian general [[Hannibal]] had invaded Italy.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|pp=98–99}}</ref> The war saw Rome's worst defeat to that point at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]]; the largest army Rome had yet put into the field was wiped out, and one of the two consuls leading it was killed.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=101}}</ref> However, Rome continued to fight, annexing much of Spain<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=104}}</ref> and eventually defeating Carthage, ending her position as a major power and securing Roman preeminence in the Western Mediterranean.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1978|p=106}}</ref>
<!-- Three more paragraphs probably needed: one on the late Republic and civil war, one on the early empire, and one on the later empire to the fall of the Western empire -->

==Legacy of the classical world==
The classical languages of the ancient Mediterranean world influenced every European language, imparting to each a learned vocabulary of international application. Thus, Latin grew from a highly developed cultural product of the Golden and Silver eras of Latin literature to become the ''international lingua franca'' in matters diplomatic, scientific, philosophic and religious, until the 17th century. Long before this, Latin had evolved into the [[Romance languages]] and Ancient Greek into [[Modern Greek]] and its [[Modern Greek dialects|dialects]]. In the specialised science and technology vocabularies, the influence of [[Latin influence in English|Latin]] and [[English words of Greek origin|Greek]] is notable. [[Ecclesiastical Latin]], the Roman Catholic Church's official language, remains a living legacy of the classical world in the contemporary world.

Latin had an impact far beyond the classical world. It continued to be the pre-eminent language for serious writings in Europe long after the fall of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|pp=xi–xii}}</ref> The modern Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Catalan) all derive from Latin.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=161}}</ref> Latin is still seen as a foundational aspect of European culture.<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=xiii}}</ref>

The legacy of the classical world is not confined to the influence of classical languages. The Roman Empire was taken as a model by later European empires, such as the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[British Empire|British empires]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ostler|2009|p=xii}}</ref> Classical art has been taken as a model in later periods – medieval Romanesque architecture<ref>{{harvnb|Ziolkowski|2007|p=26}}</ref> and Enlightenment-era neoclassical literature<ref name="Kaminski 2007 57"/> were both influenced by classical models, to take but two examples, while [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' is one of the most influential works of twentieth-century literature.<ref>{{harvnb|Martindale|2007|p=310}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|History}}
* [[Classical tradition]]
* [[Great Books of the Western World]]
* [[Neoclassicism]]
* [[Outline of classical studies]]
* [[Outline of ancient Greece]]
* [[Outline of ancient Rome]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
; Works cited
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Balbo |first=Andrea |title = Review of Bob Lister (ed.), ''Meeting the Challenge: International Perspectives on the Teaching of Latin'' |journal = Bryn Mawr Classical Review |year=2009 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Becker |first=Trudy Harrington |title = Broadening Access to a Classical Education: State Universities in Virginia in the Nineteenth Century |journal=The Classical Journal |year=2001 |volume=96 |issue=3 }}
* {{cite conference |last=Bulwer |first=John |title=Teaching Classics in Europe: An Overview |conference=Meeting the Challenge: European Perspectives on the Teaching of Latin |year=2005 |url=http://www.epea.gr/content/content/files/BULWER_TeachingClassicsinEurope.pdf |location=Cambridge, England |access-date=2016-05-19 |archive-date=2022-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107185717/http://www.epea.gr/content/content/files/BULWER_TeachingClassicsinEurope.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite news |last=Cook |first=Stephen |title=Latin Types |date=2003-02-18 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/feb/18/schools.secondaryschools }}
* {{cite journal|last1=Dyson|first1=Stephen L.|date=1993|title=From New to New Age Archaeology: Archaeological Theory and Classical Archaeology – A 1990s Perspective|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/505656|journal=American Journal of Archaeology|volume=97|issue=2|pages=195–206|doi=10.2307/505656|jstor=505656|s2cid=193119611}}
* {{cite book|last=Eliot|first=T. S.|year=1920|title=The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149159|publisher=Methuen|location=London, England}}
* {{cite book |last=Grant|first=Michael|year=1978|title=The History of Rome|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London, England }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Easterling |editor1-first=P. E. |editor1-link=P. E. Easterling |editor2-last=Knox |editor2-first=Bernard M. W. |editor2-link=Bernard Knox |year=1985 |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature |volume=1 |chapter=Comedy |last=Handley |first=E. W.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, England }}
* {{cite book |last=Kallendorf |first=Craig W.|chapter=Introduction |year=2007 |editor-last=Kallendorf |editor-first=Craig W. |title = A Companion to the Classical Tradition |publisher=Blackwell |location=Malden, Massachusetts; Oxford, England; Carlton, Victoria }}
* {{cite book |last=Kaminski |first=Thomas |chapter=Neoclassicism |year=2007 |editor-last=Kallendorf |editor-first=Craig W. |title = A Companion to the Classical Tradition |publisher=Blackwell |location=Malden, Massachusetts; Oxford, England; Carlton, Victoria }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Easterling|editor2-last=Knox|editor1-first=P. E.|editor2-first=Bernard M. W.|year=1985|title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature|volume=1|chapter=Homer|last=Kirk |first=G. S. |publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England }}
* {{cite journal |last=Kristeller|first=Paul Oskar|year=1978|title=Humanism|journal=Minerva|volume=16|issue=4|pages=586–595|doi=10.1007/BF01100334}}
* {{cite web|last=Mackay|first=Christopher|year=1997|title=Philology|url=https://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/Philology.html}}
* {{cite journal |last=Mann|first=Wolfgang-Ranier|title=The Modern Historiography of Ancient Philosophy|journal=History and Theory|volume=35|issue=2|pages=165–195|year=1996|doi=10.2307/2505360|jstor=2505360}}
* {{cite book |last=Martindale|first=Charles|chapter=Reception|year=2007|editor-last=Kallendorf|editor-first=Craig W. |title=A Companion to the Classical Tradition |publisher=Blackwell |location=Malden, Massachusetts; Oxford, England; Carlton, Victoria }}
* {{cite book |last=Ostler|first=Nicholas |title=Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin and the World it Created |year=2009|publisher=HarperPress|location=London, England }}
* {{cite journal |last=Renfrew|first=Colin|year=1980|title=The Great Tradition versus the Great Divide: Archaeology as Anthropology|journal=American Journal of Archaeology|volume=84|issue=3|pages=287–298|doi=10.2307/504703|jstor=504703|s2cid=162343789}}
* {{cite journal |last=Rommel|first=Georg|title=The Cradle of Titans: Classical Philology in Greifswald and its History from 1820 |year=2001|journal=Illinois Classical Studies |volume=26 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sandys |first=Sir John Edwin |title=A History of Classical Scholarship; Volume One: From the Sixth Century B.C. to the End of the Middle Ages |year=1921 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781108027069 |page=591 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cA8AAAAIAAJ&q=there+are+not+four+men+in+Latin+Christendom+who+are+acquainted+with+the+Greek%2C+Hebrew%2C+and+Arabic+grammars.&pg=PA591 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shapiro|first=H. A.|chapter=Introduction|year=2007|title=The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece|editor-last=Shapiro|editor-first=H. A. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England }}
* {{cite journal |last=Shorey |first=Paul|year=1906|title=Philology and Classical Philology|journal=The Classical Journal|volume=1|issue=6}}
* {{cite journal |last=Stray|first=Christopher|year=1996|title=Culture and Discipline: Classics and Society in Victorian England |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition|volume=3|issue=1|pages=77–85|doi=10.1007/BF02676905|s2cid=144110386}}
* {{cite journal |last=Stray|first=Christopher|year=2010|title='Patriots and Professors': A Century of Roman Studies|journal=Journal of Roman Studies|doi=10.1017/s0075435810000018|s2cid=162987340}}
* {{cite book |last=Trivedi|first=Harish|chapter=Western Classics, Indian Classics: Postcolonial Contestations|editor1-last=Hardwick|editor1-first=Lorna|editor2-last=Gillespie|editor2-first=Carol|title=Classics in Post-Colonial Worlds|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford }}
* {{cite book |last=West|first=Martin|chapter=Early Greek Philosophy|editor1-last=Boardman|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Griffin|editor2-first=Jasper|editor3-last=Murray|editor3-first=Oswyn |title=The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Easterling|editor2-last=Knox|editor1-first=P. E.|editor2-first=Bernard M. W.|year=1985|title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature|volume=1|chapter=Tragedy|last1=Winnington-Ingram|last2=Gould|author2-link=John Gould (classicist) |last3=Easterling|last4=Knox|first1=R. P.|first2=John|first3=P. E.|first4=Bernard M. W. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England }}
* {{cite book |last=Ziolkowski|first=Jan M. |chapter=Middle Ages |year=2007 |editor-last=Kallendorf|editor-first=Craig W. |title = A Companion to the Classical Tradition |publisher=Blackwell |location=Malden, Massachusetts; Oxford, England; Carlton, Victoria }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
;;General
* {{cite book|last1=Beard|last2=Henderson|first1=Mary|first2=John|title=Classics: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2000|isbn=9780192853851}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Hornblower|editor-last2=Spawforth|editor-first1=Simon|editor-first2=Anthony|title=Oxford Classical Dictionary|edition=4th|year=2012|location=Oxford and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199545568}}
;;Art and archaeology
* {{cite book|first=John|last=Boardman|title=Greek Art|year=1996|edition=4th|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=9780500202920|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greekart00boar_0}}
; History, Greek
* {{cite book|first=Graham|last=Shipley|title=The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC|year=2000|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780415046183}}
* {{cite book|first=Robin|last=Osborne|title=Greece in the Making 1200–479 BC|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=2009|edition=2nd|isbn=9780415469920}}
* {{cite book|first=Simon|last=Hornblower|title=The Greek World 479–323 BC|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=2011|edition=4th|isbn=9780415602921}}
;;History, Roman
* {{cite book|first=Peter|last=Brown|title=The World of Late Antiquity 150–750|url=https://archive.org/details/worldoflateantiq0000brow|url-access=registration|year=1989|publisher=W. W. Norton|location=New York|isbn=9780393958034}}
* {{cite book|first=M.|last=Crawford|title=The Roman Republic|url=https://archive.org/details/romanrepublic00craw|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|year=1993|edition=2nd|isbn=9780006862505}}
* {{cite book|first=T. J.|last=Cornell|title=The Beginnings of Rome|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=1995|isbn=9780415015967}}
* {{cite book|first=F.|last=Millar|title=Rome, the Greek World, and the East: The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution|volume=1|year=2002|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=9780807849903}}
;;Literature
* {{cite book|first=Tim|last=Whitmarsh|title=Ancient Greek Literature|year=2004|publisher=Polity Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780745627915}}
;;Philology
* {{cite book|last=Chadwick|first=John|title=The Decipherment of Linear B|edition=2nd|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9781107691766}}
;;Philosophy
* {{cite book|first=Terence|last=Irwin|title=Classical Thought|url=https://archive.org/details/classicalthought00tere|url-access=registration|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780192891778}}
* {{cite book|last=Annas|first=Julia|title=Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2000|isbn=9780192853578}}
* {{cite book|first=Christopher|last=Shields|title=Ancient Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=London|edition=2nd|isbn=9780415896603}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Classics}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Classics |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* [http://www.tlg.uci.edu/index/resources.html Electronic Resources for Classicists] by the University of California, Irvine.
* [[Perseus Project]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ website] at Tufts University
* [[Alpheios Project]] [https://alpheios.net/ website]

{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Ancient Rome topics}}
{{Humanities}}
{{Western world}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Classical studies| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Greece studies]]
[[Category:Humanities]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman studies]]