On the Art of Reading · Chapter
Lecture VII: The Value of Greek and Latin in English Literature explained
The lecturer argues for the intrinsic value of Greek and Latin in understanding English literature, using the artistic concept of 'value' as a measure of depth, proportion, and atmosphere.
What happens
The lecturer argues for the intrinsic value of Greek and Latin in understanding English literature, using the artistic concept of 'value' as a measure of depth, proportion, and atmosphere. He contends that without a sense of ancestry and classical education, one cannot fully perceive the layered richness of English literature. He discusses the historical dominance of Latin as a universal language and the role of translations in bridging classical works, while emphasizing that the highest poetic speech defies translation. The lecture concludes with a plea for students to recognize the classical roots of English literature, illustrated by examples from Chaucer to Landor.
Themes in this chapter
Value of the Classics
The central theme of the lecture, arguing that Greek and Latin are essential for perceiving depth and proportion in English literature.
Reading and Life
The lecturer asserts that literature asserts life, and that classical learning enriches the understanding of life through literary values.
Critique of Modernity
Implicit critique of reformers who would discard classical education, likened to 'hot-eyed' and 'microscopic' vision.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Delivers the lecture, using personal anecdotes and rhetorical questions to advocate for classical education.
- Job
Quoted as 'patient Job' to illustrate the hidden path of value that escapes the vulture's eye.
- Wordsworth
Referenced for the idea that the present must be balanced on the wings of the past and future.
- Cardinal Newman
Quoted extensively on the continuity of Western civilization and the role of classical learning.
- Donne
Mentioned as a writer who used Latin to construct his mighty fugues in English prose.
- Burke
Cited as an example of an orator who disciplined his luxuriance through Latin models.
- Chatham
Quoted for his Romanly severe speech, illustrating the Latin influence on English oratory.
- Matthew Arnold
Referenced in connection with 'The Strayed Reveller' as an example of classical influence on English poetry.
Key passages
“I have promised you, Gentlemen, for today some observations on The Value of Greek and Latin in English Literature : a mild, academic title, a camouflage title, so to say; calculated to shelter us for a while from the vigilance of those hot-eyed reformers who, had I advertised The Value of Greek and Latin in English Life might even now be swooping from all quarters of the sky on a suggestion that these dry bones yet were flesh”
The lecturer introduces his topic as a deliberately mild title to avoid provoking reformers who oppose classical education, implying that the classics are not dead but vital.
Sets up the defensive tone and the central argument for the living value of classical languages.
“To see things, near or far, in their true perspective and proportions; to judge them through distance; and fetching them back, to reproduce them in art so proportioned comparatively, so rightly adjusted, that they combine to make a particular and just perspective: that is to give things their true Values.”
The lecturer defines 'value' in artistic terms as the ability to perceive and represent correct proportions and distances, akin to a painter or musician.
Establishes the key metaphor of 'value' as depth and proportion, applied to literature and life.
“The highest poetical speech of any one language defies, in my belief, translation into any other. But Herodotus loses little, and North is every whit as good as Plutarch.”
While the finest poetry cannot be fully translated, prose works like Herodotus and Plutarch can be effectively rendered, as seen in North's translation.
Acknowledges the limits of translation but affirms the value of good translations for accessing classical literature.
“I would have your minds, as you read our literature, reach back to that Dorian shepherd through an atmosphere—his made ours—as through veils, each veil unfolding a value.”
The lecturer encourages students to read English literature with an awareness of its classical roots, as if seeing through layers that reveal deeper meaning.
Summarizes the pedagogical goal: to cultivate a sense of historical depth and classical influence.
