tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-832828141484670773.post3857824800433256319..comments2023-11-02T01:36:13.887-07:00Comments on Friends of Classics <br>Reviews: THE CRIMES OF ELAGABALUS by Martjin IcksJAT55http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675416372149189361noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-832828141484670773.post-71401401113441283842013-07-01T05:00:22.777-07:002013-07-01T05:00:22.777-07:00I should preface this comment by admitting that I ...I should preface this comment by admitting that I am currently conducting research into a 'reception' topic, in my case on the influence of Thucydides on later political thought. I might also add that I have serious intellectual qualms about 'reception' as a theory. That said I find your reference to 'bleating receptionists' provocative and insulting. I take issue with it for the following reasons <br />1. 'serious' study of the reception of an classical author requires an in depth knowledge of the languages and culture of the ancient world. Take Thucydides. I have to know the text inside and out in Greek - as well as the textual history from the first manuscripts to appear in Italy onwards, as well as all relevant modern scholarship on Thucydides as an author and Greek history if I am to stand any chance of understanding how the text was read and translated and its political import.<br />2. I also have to understand the way people have read this text both in the ancient world (in Greek and Latin) and in modern Europe (in Latin, German, French, Italian, and English). This requires surveying a truly vast amount of literature (which only increases as one has to engage with secondary literature from different disciplines)<br />3. The study of that body of evidence allows me to uncover traditions of reading Thucydides simply ignored by most researchers, whose bibliographies do not extend much beyond the nineteenth century. This, I would argue, is research into the ancient world. It provides a genealogy and historical sociology of our subject and reminds us of previous research we might have forgotten. <br />4. I believe my final point is the most crucial point. The study of the reception of Thucydides is an analysis of and an argument for his continuing relevance. It is not enough to simply assume that because a classical historian he carries enough cultural kudos to be worthy of study (and indeed worthy of taxpayers money). Reception research explores why he has been important to thinkers such as Hobbes and Strauss and why people should read him today. I, personally, would not assume that the classics are intrinsically worthy of study. The walls of civilisation will not fall if we all switched to studying the Hindu or Chinese traditions. One of the ways value can be found in our subject is through situating them in their changing historical contexts. <br />Kind Regards,<br />Ben Earley - B.E.Earley@bristol.ac.uk<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16728102398010071251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-832828141484670773.post-7128332398395726212013-06-27T04:15:00.785-07:002013-06-27T04:15:00.785-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16728102398010071251noreply@blogger.com