Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
I don't see the point of reading the classics as being broadening one's horizons. I see it as a workout for the mind. Sure, reading the Classics will increase your knowledge, but that's a byproduct. The point is to increase your understanding.
Nor do I agree that the Classics are directed at the people on the top of the pile. They are directed at the people who think. The pile is not static, at least in the West. And people at the top and bottom of the economic pile at any one time are not necessarily the people at the top or bottom of the intellectual pile.
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Well, I guess we should ask the OP why HE wants to read the classics. I was approaching it from a "broaden my horizons" aspect, but you're right that there are other reasons to read classics.
But I do think the Greek classics are largely written by the top 'o the pile of that society, for better or worse. Alas, the Greek slaves for the most part weren't able to record their thoughts on a medium that has survived to reach us.
Even things like The Illiad and The Odyssey is written from the POV of the god-children and heroes and generals. Not so much from the POV of the cannon-fodders. Or, for that matter, from the POV of the women other than a handful of queens and princesses.
