What does ‘Applied Classics’ mean?

‘Applied Classics’ was a term I had never encountered before I began my preparation for this module. I had often thought about what kind of skills I have developed through the study of Classics and how they can be transferred to a modern workplace environment in the future, but I had never seriously considered how ancient material in its original form can be useful in examining current societal issues. The idea that Classical sources can make a valid contribution to modern discussions of issues such as climate change, overpopulation, and poverty is a highly ambitious and controversial notion due to the distance in time, technology, and understanding between the two periods. This uncertainty about the relevance of Classics is reflected in different academics’ definitions of ‘Applied Classics’.

In the introduction of Chaniotis, Kuhn & Kuhn’s volume Applied Classics: Comparisons, Constructs, Controversies, for example, the authors define it as turning “to classical antiquity in order to find inspiration, paradigms, arguments, and parallels that could somehow be applied to other areas than Classics”. In my opinion, the list they give of Classics’ applicable qualities somewhat underestimates the direct pertinence that some ancient material can have in today’s society. Mary Beard’s definition in her book Confronting the Classics comes closer to reflecting the ambitious potential of the term ‘Applied Classics’ when she describes us comprehending, interpreting, and appropriating the ancient world. She argues that Classics has modern-day relevance because it actively teaches us something about ourselves as a society when we reflect on how we engage with its material, rather than being a passive source of “inspiration, paradigms, arguments, and parallels” as the previous definition implied. Beard also emphasises how “the classical tradition is something to be engaged with, and sparred against, not merely replicated”, which more accurately highlights the dynamic relationship between ourselves and the ancient world.

That said, even Beard’s definition could be argued to fall short of truly capturing the full potential of ‘Applied Classics’, if we also embrace the idea of citizen scholarship. Under Beard’s conception, applying Classics is primarily a personal activity in which you privately evaluate how you and your society engages with ancient sources, and self-consciously ‘spar against’ Classics. However, the notion of ‘citizen scholars’ highlights how graduates should use their academic study, and the skills they learned through this, to be active and engaged citizens who are involved with contributing to their community and society’s issues. This idea has led to a rise in inter- and multi-disciplinary degrees, such as those provided by the London Interdisciplinary School and Edinburgh Futures Institute, whose curriculum combines arts, sciences, and humanities, and focuses on how we can apply intellectual theory to real-world problems. This can impact our idea of ‘Applied Classics’ as it focuses on the interventionist foundation of the term. ‘Applied Classics’ should encapsulate utilising the Classics in order to be active participants in contributing to the solutions of modern-day issues, while simultaneously reflecting the ethics of our society’s uses and abuses of ancient material.

One platform that aims to take this interventionist approach is Pharos, a blog which aims to tackle modern misappropriations of Classics. In modern-day politics, Alt-Right groups often utilise, and sometimes distort, ancient sources in order to promote racist, sexist, and nationalist ideologies. For instance, Donna Zuckerberg’s book, Not All Dead White Men, evaluates how an extremist group called The Red Pill use Classical references to “lend cultural weight to their reactionary vision[s]” and politics. Pharos’ mission is to respond to these kinds of misappropriations and show how they have misused and misinterpreted the Classics. However, they make clear on their website that “Pharos’ responses and essays are not intended to change the minds of those who use antiquity to support their racist ideologies. They are intended, rather, to ensure that someone who turns to the web to learn about antiquity finds something other than the appropriations we are documenting.” This makes me question their ambition as ‘citizen scholars’. Although they are doing commendable work in publishing reputable and informed Classical content and correcting misinformation, it could be argued that they are not being active or interventionist enough.

The blog Eidolon perhaps goes further. Launched by Donna Zuckerberg, it has increasingly used Classics to promote a feminist and leftist political agenda in the modern world, with the intention of informing and shifting people’s viewpoints. Rather than simplifying or misappropriating ancient material (as e.g. the Red Pill community tends to), many Eidolon contributors embody the idea of ‘citizen scholarship’ by using ancient sources to make a positive difference in today’s society. The extent of this impact can range from humbly encouraging individuals to use Stoic philosophy on the making and breaking of habits in order to quit smoking, to exerting influence on the ideology of a whole society by examining instances of trans antagonism evident in modern Classical scholarship of ancient texts which describe ambiguously gendered characters.

Traditional approaches to the study of Classics tend to treat it as an inert set of materials which we examine and interpret in lots of different ways. Some conceptions of ‘Applied Classics’ are simply an extension of this, viewing Classical material as something for us to look at and find modern parallels in. However, Mary Beard draws attention to something more dynamic and symbiotic: she talks about how Classics ‘fights back’, making us think and reassess both the ancient and modern. As she stresses, material from the ancient world can inform modern thinking in very positive ways, but it also contains less progressive and problematic elements which are available for misuse. In my view, ‘Applied Classics’ should actively ‘fight back’ against that. Effort and determination are needed to mitigate against misapplications and to utilise Classics as a positive, progressive intervention in society.

(Originally published on the School of Classics blog, 1 April 2021)