Why All Exonian Should Take Latin
By SAM ALTMAN, JINMIN LEE, and FORREST ZENG.
Courtesy of Quizizz
“If you have seen truly where the matter lies, then leave behind your reputation and be content even if you live the remainder of life, however long [it may be], as your nature wills. Consider what it wills, and let nothing else distract you. For your experience tells you how much you have strayed: nowhere in so-called reasonings, wealth, reputation, enjoyment, nowhere do you find living well.”
“Latin kids live on a pedestal,” say those heedless of the rejection of worldly pleasures such as wealth, clothes, and reputation that is called for by the Roman emperor and stoic Marcus Aurelius.
“I feel bad for your GPA,” say those oblivious to the tight-knit communities of those adventurers who dare to explore the texts of the world of millennia past.
“Latin is dull,” say those who know nil of the timeless traditions of the classics department that every classicist knows and loves.
“Latin is a dead language and is useless,” say those naively ridiculing the beauty and visceral magic of the classics.
All too often, we Latin scholars — however few and far between us are, — are ridiculed and laughed at. Disclose a passion for the classics, utter a word that does not follow the stereotyped narrative that “Latin students are depressed no-lifers,” and receive correction from those who have forgotten the language inscribing our school’s motto itself.
We, Latin scholars, truly pity those oblivious to the ingrained relevance of Latin and the classics in our life. We truly pity those who can only watch the gladiator fights and chariot races hosted by our Kirtland Classics Society and somehow find it “dull.” We truly pity those deprived of the intimate connections between those who dare to explore the spellcasting worlds of ancient mythology, who dare to learn from Julius Caesar’s prolific campaign against the invading Helvetians, who dare to examine the pervasive influence of the Latin language in modernity.
Yet, above all, it is those who refuse to advance his or her knowledge, discipline, drive, virtue, care, humility, kindness, humanity, philosophy, character, and morality by making good use of the absolute premier classics department in this nation, that we, as students of the ancient world, pity most.
In no world with a firm sense of rationality may Latin be discarded as a dry, useless, perhaps dead language. May it be taken that this is our testimony to our love of Latin.
BEAUTIFUL PRECISION
Perhaps the most prominent difference between English and Latin is the existence of different word forms (declensions), which, according to their type, change their ending in compliance with their use. In one swift switch of a word’s ending, the word changes its purpose, whether serving as the subject, object, possessor of a noun, or some other auxiliary function. Likewise, a verb form, all in one word, expresses its tense, plurality, mood, and voice. Indeed, the Latin language can convey an enormous amount of information in a shockingly short number of words. Its concision allows for each word to have a boundless amount of passion behind it, and its rigid and uniform grammatical constructions form a beautiful tapestry of language. Not only does this make translating those greatest works of the classical world that much more fulfilling, but on a level of practicality, it teaches the student how to analyze words quickly and to envision how each and every intentional switch of construction, word form, figure of speech affects the text as a whole. It is, of course, not the case that every single such feature is unique to Latin, but it is nevertheless the progenitor of the vast majority of them that we see in language today. Therefore, one of the most notable reasons for studying Latin is to appreciate its spectacular precision, not only to appreciate the beauty itself but because it undergirds our language culturally so that the value of understanding it will be immeasurable.
PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
Ever wonder what Thomas Hobbes meant in De Cive? What about all of the Enlightenment thinkers who proposed radical systems of liberty? Ever wonder who inspired the Harkness method of learning? Hint: It was not Edward Harkness. We base too many of our ideas and philosophies on Greco-Roman ideas and governments to afford ignorance. What about mottoes that dictate every decision of an institution? Non Sibi? In English, it simply means “not for oneself.” But in what case is “sibi” and what kind of connotation does it hold? Dative or reference? Dative of purpose? Dative of Agent? What is the motto of South Carolina? Dum Spiro Spero. Sure, you can go read a translation of this, but you will not understand the deep, philosophical meaning behind these words. Why ditch the wisdom of decades, centuries, millennia?
Some may assert that Latin is irrelevant because it is thousands of years old. But we refute this tired point by affirming that its relevance is precisely due to its age. As mentioned previously, the ideas and concepts expressed by the Latin language are frozen in time—they reflect the culture, history, and philosophy of the time. In fact it is the foreign nature of the classics that makes it so worthy to study. Why is it that the word virtus, meaning “strength/power, worth, courage, manliness,” is in the feminine gender? Why is it that all Latin words expressing abstract qualities are feminine? The word for “apple” in Latin (malum) also means “bad thing.” This homograph is unlikely a mere coincidence—not when we think about the stories of Adam and Eve, or the story of Snow White.
The ancient world was a magical place. By translating works by Cicero, Vergil, Ovid, Pliny the Younger, Catullus, Homer, and countless other masters of literature, we can live the lives of Hero and Leander, two lovers separated by a physical ocean. We can feel angst and romance as Leander swims miles across the sea every day to see Hero, guided by a small green lantern, only to drown in desperation after he loses sight of the lantern in a massive Leviathan storm. Liszt, the maestro of Romantic music himself, wrote his second ballade off this story.
In case you are still not persuaded by the use of the classics in pursuing knowledge and culture, here is a brief list of notable figures in history who are Latin Scholars: Approximately half of all U.S. presidents, almost all post-Christ philosophers, and the below:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Frederich Nietzsche
Karl Marx
Sigmund Freud
Jane Addams
Dorothy Sayers
C.S. Lewis
Simone De Beauvoir
J.R.R Tolkien
Boris Johnson
J.K Rowling
Mark Zuckerberg (at Exeter)
Tom Hiddleston
Ted Turner
Toni Morrison
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
Chris Martin (Coldplay)
…And our dear Mr. Chisholm
DISCIPLINE
On top of gaining logical prowess and philosophical understanding, learning the most difficult language in the world allows—forces—students to learn study skills. How can a Latin student balance thousands of obscure vocabulary words, 20+ figures of speeches, four different verb moods, six different indicative tenses, four different subjunctive tenses, 50+ constructions in different cases, the plot of the story, writing essays on tests, quizzes every other day, scanning the meter, sight tests? They do so by building indefatigable studying habits. They know how to optimize everything — how to memorize quickly using obscure, efficient apps like Anki, how to drill constructions until they can do it while half-asleep, and how to calm their minds down before and during a test. Latin students have unannounced sight tests twice a term when the teacher hands out a long passage in Latin never seen before. Students walk into each class knowing that perhaps it is the day they have a test and learn how to embrace it psychologically.
Unsurprisingly, most Latin students and teachers are polyglots because of their rigorous study habits. For instance, Mr. Langford, former chair of the classics department, who has taught Latin at Exeter for over three decades, speaks multiple languages—including Korean, a completely different system of words and alphabet. We discuss how Mr. Langford is an incredibly smart teacher and that learning challenging languages like Latin and Greek undoubtedly prepared him to undertake such a journey. We will also not mention that most modern European languages have powerful Latin roots. Learning Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and English becomes second nature. But it’s not about learning other languages. Latin students build study habits for life across all disciplines. If one can stand the challenge of Latin, he can seize any academic endeavor.
LANGUAGE
Latin students can notice and eloquently use figures of speech; they become masters of rhetoric. Latin’s logical lullaby lively empowers students’ speech (alliteration). But why should I continue if—! (aposiopesis) Perhaps the non-Latin students will understand if they wear togas instead of frowns (zeugma). To properly engage an audience, logic is not enough and prose is not enough and bland writing is not enough (polysyndeton, parisosis). Latin will lead to figures of speech, and figures of speech lead to rhetoric, and rhetoric leads to persuasion (anadiplosis). But it is unfortunate that people can’t notice the very figures of speech in this paragraph (litotes). There is an ideal world somewhere where people notice all the rhetorical devices written here (ekphrasis).
And people argue that Latin is only used to gain an “SAT vocabulary advantage.” We don’t negate this. Latin students don’t just ameliorate their vocabulary — they visualize words fundamentally differently. Our ability for linguistic association between words and unfamiliar concepts is superior to another language because Latin discusses vocabulary that pertains to challenging concepts like war, virtue, and power. We gain a deep relation to each word and its profound meaning concerning philosophy. That is our secret. So yes, we are apt for the SAT. Perhaps an example will help with our point. What if there is an innumerable, copious amount of words standing in this very paragraph here coming from Latin roots? Would it be radical to even suggest that Latin permanently mutates our perception of sentences? Fine. We’ll enumerate them. “argue” comes from arguo, “used” from utor, “vocabulary” from voco, “advantage” from ante, “negate” from nego, “students” from studeo, “ameliorate” from melior, “visualize” from video, “fundamentally” from fundus, “differently” from fero, “ability” from habilis, “linguistic” from lingua, “association” from socius, “words” from verbum, “concepts” from capio, “unfamiliar” from famulus, “superior” from super, “discusses” from disco, “pertains” from per + teneo, “virtue” from virtus, “power” from posse, “relation” from fero, “profound” from fundo, “concerning” from cerno, “secret” from cerno, “apt” from aptus, the “SAT” (Scholastic Aptitude Test) from schola + aptus + testis, “example” from ago, “point” from punctum, “innumerable” from numerus, “copious” from copia, “amount” from mons, “standing” from sto, “radical” from radix, “suggest” from gero, “permanently” from maneo, “mutates” from muto, “perception” from per + capio, “sentences” from sententia, “enumerate” from numerus.
You can’t unsee the connections (necto) once you take Latin.
COMMUNITY
It is a consequence (sequor) of the incorrectly (rectus) minor (from minus) role attributed (attributus) to the study (studeo…fine, we’ll stop) of the classics that the classics community is so tight-knit. In only one club on campus you can find century-old traditions interwoven closely with our brilliant faculty. In only one club on campus you can find a gladiator fighting tournament, monthly chariot races, competitive classics quiz bowl—called Certamen—and a fully built Lego Coliseum.
Only a classics student could tell you the thrill of seeing Magister Unger dressed up as Caesar, chanting encouragement for our Certamen teams before they dominate Yale Certamen the next day. Why must it be that the experience of an indescribable bond between two people who are in love with the classics is limited to a repressed minority?
Studying classics brings people together like no other subject—for it necessitates a love of ancient culture, customs, and language. Although our community is shamefully small, classics students share this love for Latin and each other internationally. This effect is clear in the grand celebration of the classics hosted yearly by the National Junior Classical League, to which Exeter sends countless delegates to compete with and meet other lovers of classics.
IMPLORATION
Let it be known that the myriad of other languages offered at Exeter are, of course, beautiful and difficult in their own right. No one here seeks to deny that whatsoever. The issue that we do bring up is that while once, especially at Exeter, taking classical languages was the rule rather than the exception, it is now the exception rather than the rule, and it will continue to fade as such if we do nothing. We could debate all day whether it ought to be required, but all we implore is that perhaps you are not so quick to assume that there has never been a good reason to study classics.
CONCLUSION
In 458 BC, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, widely recognized as a paragon of Roman virtue, was called up from his peaceful retired life on a farm and hailed as dictator for the time to lead his country in a time of need. Without a thought, he called for his toga, met with the Senate, and soon led his troops in battle against the invading Aequi. After completing his task, he laid down his dictatorship in the true spirit of democracy. See, Cincinnatus was not satisfied with simply retiring his service to his country and casting away his duties in favor of a more pleasant life. Nay, he understood the systems from which he came and which underpinned his life and was ready to give all his effort to defend it.
Today, we ask not for you to lead troops in battle or to be a modern Cincinnatus but to consider taking a gander at the society and language that underpins your own today. Indeed, it is the opinion of these writers, per all of the arguments presented thus far, that the Latin language is not something we ought so vehemently reject, citing how different and “advanced” our world is today. Because, from a small city founded 2777 years ago on a land amidst seven hills, today there is not a country, not a city, not a building, nor a man who has not been imbued with the stories, writings, and culture of a people long past.
