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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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merican Philological ssociation
Classical Philology and HumanismAuthor(s): Werner JaegerSource: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 67 (1936), pp.
363-374Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283246Accessed: 19-03-2015 21:47 UTC
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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Vol.
lxvii]
Classical
Philology
nd Humanism
363
XXV.-ClassicalPhilologyndHumanism1
WERNER
JAEGER
UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO
The
disruption
f Western ivilizationwhichwe are
witness-
ing,
with
the
rise of
the
doctrinethat
culture
and
knowledge
are
nationalistic
ossessions,
ividinggroup
from
roup,
rather
than expressionsof kinshipbindingthe heirs of a common
heritage
into closer
union, dismays
not
only
disinterested
philosophers nd
educators,
but
men of
foresight
nd
good
will
in
all walks
of
life.
It
is of
deep
concern o
classical
scholars,
for n
the
past
it has been
their
primary
unction o transmit
from eneration o
generation ne of
thegreat
unifying radi-
tions. This is the
heritage,
eceived from
he
ancient
world,
of classical humanism. What especially troublesthosewho
like myself till seek to
perform
his function s
a division
within
our
own
group
which
has
widened within
he last half-
century
s a
result
of the
application
of
scientific
methods to
the
study
of classical
iterature nd
archaeology.
Undoubtedly
these methodshave
in a
multitude f
ways
renewed he
vitality
of
our
subject,
and
have
increased
both our
knowledge nd
understanding f the ancientworld. But the extremecon-
centration
pon
them
n
our
day
and
the
narrow pecialization
which
they
have
produced threaten to
obscure
and
nullify
our main service
to
society,
never
moreneeded
than
today,
of
keeping alive and
developingthe
universal
tradition
of
humanism.
That a
reconciliation etween
the
older concep-
tion
of
humanistic
studies and
the
newer
type of
classical
scholarship s possibleand is indeed beingeffected believe.
But a
conflict etween them
in
varying
degrees of
acuteness
still
exists,which
must be
resolved f the
study of
antiquity
is
to performts
noblest
function n
themodern
world.
1
I am
greatly
indebted to
Professor G. L.
Hendrickson of
Yale
University
for
his
extraordinary
kindness
in
revising and
condensing
my
article
for
publication.
It
owes much of
its
present
form
to
his
generous
assistance.
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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364
Werner
aeger
[1936
I recall very
vividly
how after
nineyears spent
n a classical
school of the
old type
I entered
the university,
nd
learned
as one of the achievementsof scientific cholarshipthat
humanism
was a
pseudo-Greekword
of recent
origin,
nd
that both the
word
and its
contentof meaning
were
under
strict
ban from he vocabulary
of classical
philology.
It was
a
painful
shock to the
tradition
and
creed in which
I had
been
brought
up, by teachers
who
had held
beforeme the
august
ideal
of humanism,
receiving
authority
fromsuch
venerable names as Humboldt,Winckelmann, nd Goethe.
At
first saw
no chanceof bridging
he
gap between
thisolder
tradition
of humanism
as a
cultural
ideal, and the
exact
scientific
cholarship
whichwas
offeredme by
my philological
and archaeological
teachers.
I
should indeed
have
been
tempted o abandon
altogether
my
classical studies
had I
not
observed that
in
the
best
of
my
teachers,
behind the
rigidity
and a certainbigotryof scientificmethod,there glowed an
ardor which gave to
the interpretation
f ancient literature
warmth nd vitality.
In
them discerned
conflict etween
the
rigorous
philologist
nd the
humanist,
n which
however
the
humanistwas
only
admitted
apologetically.
I
speak of
my ownexperience
ecause
it was typicalof
the
situation
n
Germany,
nd
it may
serve as
a
point
of
departure
forconsideringwhat reconciliations possiblebetween these
conflicting
onceptions
of classical
study.
It
is a
problem
which our
generation
has
inherited
from ts
immediate
pre-
decessors,
nd
I
have outlined
t
in this
personal
form
uspect-
ing
that my
own
case
is
not
isolated,
but
symptomatic
of
wider concern.
The antagonism
between
the
newer
science of
antiquity
and theolderhumanismwas perhapsmost acute inGermany,
which
formed the
center
and
starting point
of that
exact
critical scholarship
which
had revolutionized
he humanistic
studies
of
earlier centuries.
But
German
example
spread
quickly
to the
whole
world and it trained
competitors
n
the
same avenues
of
approach
to
classical
study
and involved
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Vol.
lxvii]
Classical
Philology
nd
Humanism
365
them
in
the
same
problem.
There
remained,
to be
sure, in
many
countries
n unbroken
humanistic radition
which
could
not be entirelyoverwhelmedby the new scholarship,but
broadly
speaking
ts effectwas to
create an
undecided
conflict
and a
feeling
f
uncertainty
bout the
legitimacy
f the
one
conception f
our function r of
the other.
It would
be
inter-
esting o
attempt
characterization f
the
classical
scholarship
of
the
different
ountries f
Europe
as
modified
y
the
impact
of
the
new
critical
tudy of
antiquity,
but
it
would
take us
too
farafield. Let it suffice o say thatAmerica,perhapsmore
than
any other
country,
has
inclined to the modern
German
type
of
classical
study,
although
individual Americans
have
criticised
t
sharply.
Thus,
speaking
generally,
n
the
university
world
of the
nineteenth
entury
he
old
humanism
had given
way
more nd
more to
scientific
esearch n
classical
philology
nd
archae-
ology, thoughnot withoutsome resistance. What was the
cause
of
this
change?
How
did
it
happen
that
philological
study,
the
child of
humanism,
had
turned
against it?
The
beginnings
of
this
development
go back
to
times
when
humanism
was
still
dominant.
Humanism,
which
was
in its
origins
the
creation
of
the
great
Italian
poets of
the
early
Renaissance
and of
the
neo-Latin
poets
and
prose
writers,
competingwiththeancients n their wnforms nd language,
had
by
the
end of
the
sixteenth
entury
narrowed
o
a sterile
erudition.
From
this
later
phase
of
humanism a
new
anti-
quarian
and
critical
tudy
of
the
ancient
world
developed,
no
longer
looking
to the
re-creation f
a
modern
literature
on
ancient
models,
but
to a
comprehensive
knowledgeof
the
ancient
world. The
cardinal
point
in
this
developmentwas
reached n thesecondhalfoftheeighteenth entury,whenfor
the
first
ime
the
historical
sense
awoke in
reaction
against
the
rationalism
of
the
age
of
reason.
The
German
neo-
humanism
of
Winckelmann
nd
Humboldt
and
Goethe
was
to
be
sure
in no
small
degree
determinedby
the
abstract
rationalism
of
the
earlier
time. It
sought
an
absolute
ideal
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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366
Werner aeger
[1936
of man,
and found
in
the Greeks
the one
revelationof
the
highestharmony
nd
completeness
f human
ife.
But the type of classical scholarshipwhich grew up in
Germany
at the
end of the
eighteenth
nd
in the
earlynine-
teenth century
was
animated
by
a new feeling,
a
newly
awakened
historical
sense.
Its goal
was
the knowledge
of
ancient ifeas a
whole.
The
spiritualvalues
of
iterature
till
held their
place
supreme,
but a new
element
ntered
ntothis
study,
an
impulse to
understand
them
not in
isolation,
but
againstthebackground f their ime. That meanttherecon-
struction
f the history
of their
time.
Not the
old
history,
whichwas a
mere re-telling
f the story
as recorded
by the
ancient historians,
ut
a history ut
together
rom
ourcesof
every
kind-inscriptions,
archaeological
monuments
nd
re-
mains,
papyri
from he
dry
sands of
Egypt,fragments
f lost
works
of
literature
alvaged
by
antiquarian
or grammatical
lore, nothing n shortoverlookedwhichmightserve to fill
a
gap of
knowledge
and complete
the reconstruction
f
the
past.
Great provinces
which
up
to that
time had
owed
scant
allegiance
to general
classical
scholarship such
as
Greek
philosophy
or
Roman
law-were
reclaimed
for
the classical
scholar
nd compelled
o pay
their ribute
o
the
central
whole.
In.place
of a
limited
number
of classical models,
to which
the old humanismhad paid homage,there was now set up
as the goal
of
study a panorama
of
historical
development
extending
hrough enturies.
A
particular
curiosity
nd
in-
terest ttached
to
all that
was new,
to the discovery
of facts
or
materials,
literary
or archaeological,
which were before
unknown. The great
culminating
points
of
antiquity
lost
favor
n
comparison
withthe
early
and the ate.
The
example
ofMommsen'spenetratingtudiesof Rome kindled heyouth-
ful Wilamowitz to
a
similar
breadth
of view in his studies
of
the classical
and Hellenistic
periods
of
Greece. He was
eager
to
know all
that
had
existed
from
the
earliest
times to
late
antiquity.
When
asked
what
his research
had to
offer
n
place
of
the
old
classical
ideal
for
the education
of
youth,
his
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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Vol.
lxvii]
Classical
Philology
nd Humanism
367
answer
was: a
survey
of
the
whole
development
of one
of
the
highest
civilizations n all
the
stages
of
its
history.
The
dominating pirit f this formulationfpurposewas historical
and
scientific,
ot humanistic.
Other scholars went
further
and
declared that the
function
f classical
scholarship
was
to
serve as
a
tool
for
the
historian,
r
again,
that
precise
knowl-
edge
of ancient diom
n
language
or in art was
only
a
pathway
leading
to
'higher' historical
onclusions.
It was accounted
heresy
and
bumptiousness
when as a
youngman, in my inauguraladdress as professor t Bale, I
protested
gainst
such
views and
their
cceptance
as
axioms,
and defended
the
contemplation
and
understanding
f
the
immortal
masterpieces
f ancient art
and
literature s an
aim
in
itself.
I
went even further nd
contended that
the r6le
of
history
nd all its
apparatus
of research
was
rather
o
give
them
background
and
setting.
That which
led even
so
sympathetic scholar as Wilamowitz to
protest
repeatedly
against the
old classicism
was the
fact
that the
picture
of
the
ancient
world,
as
conceived of
and as
represented
by the
humanists,
was
grossly
dealized and
simplified.
They did
not
in
truth
aim
to
understand
the real
life of
the
classical
world at
all.
Their
only
care was
for
types
and
ideals
which
theyfound
in
certain
works of
the
great
authors,
and
these
they
took over
without further
nquiry
as
pertinent
o
their
own lives and times. In
historical
evolution
they
had
no
interest
nd
indeed no
conception
of
it.
Obviously
no
one
with
a
developed
historical
feeling
could
contemplate
with
complacency
he
notionthat even
the
greatestworks
f
ancient
art and
literature
epresented inal
nd
absolute
standardsof
human
perfection.
History goes on and
must
go
on.
Thus
the
road back
to the
old
humanism
ould
notbe
retraced.
The
question
of
humanism
however
arose again
when
the
position
of the
classics
in
education
and in
general public
esteem
began
to
be
menaced. In
some
instanceseven
before
the
World
War,
but
especially
since
then, in
almost
every
Western
country
manifestations
f
a
revival of
this
question
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
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368
Werner
aeger
[1936
have been
seen.
In Germany
the periodical
Die
Antikehas
for the past
dozen years
presented
in non-technical
and
attractiveform he results of philologicaland archaeological
research.
In
the
English speaking
countries
and in France
this revival
has been
markedbythe great
series
of translations
with original
texts,such
as the Loeb Classical
Library,
and
the Collection
es
Universites
e France. Their extraordinary
success
is a
symptom
of
an
unsuspected
interest.
At
the
congress
of
the AssociationBude
in
Nice
in
1935
the whole
problemof humanismplayed a leading part; and impulse
was
given
to make of the next meeting a
world
congress
dealing
with
this
theme,
ontemplating
n
international
rgan-
ization
of the
friends f humanism.
As has been said,
some
of
these
movementsgo
back to
a
time shortly
before
the World War. It was not until then
that
we
had faced
the
consequences
of
the
great
spiritual
nd
social
revolution
which,
lmost
mperceptibly,
ad come
about
during
the
nineteenth
century.
One
manifestation f this
revolution
was the
decline
of
classical
studies
in
the
schools.
The rising
masses of
the
population
were without
an
intel-
lectual
tradition,
while
on the
other
hand the
class
which
had
enjoyed
a classical education
and
maintained
its
traditions
was either
n
decline
or no
longer
ure
of its own ideals.
The
classical scholarship
f
the
universities,
rained n the
modern
school
of
philological
nd
archaeological
research,
had at its
disposal
undreamed-of
reasures
f
knowledge
nd
illustration,
but
it looked
at
esthetic
and ethical
humanism,
which
had
earlier
been
the
driving
force
of
classical
education,
as
the
lost
faith
of its childhood.
Thus that
which
had
constituted
the
inner
force
nd
inspiration
f these studiesin school
and
college,
was
now without
upport
from ts
recognized
eaders.
The
decline went
on.
There
were
experiments
without
end
and
a
hundred
recipes
were
tried,
but
therewas lack of
faith.
When
the
teacher
n the school
sought
id
from he
scholarship
of the
university
e
was told that faith
was a
private
affair;
that
it
was
not the
business
of
scholarship
o establish
values,
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Classical
Philology
nd
Humanism
369
but to
investigate
nd discover
truth.
But in
fact,
s we
have
seen,
scholars were unable to
justify
humanistic ducation
in
terms of the older faith. The defense took on an organized
form;
societies were
formed,
groups
of
alumni,
influential
personages
n social and
political
ife,
ll
were nvoked
to
stem
the
adverse
tide;
but
no better
rguments
wereadvanced
than
the
incomparable
formal
training
afforded
by
the
ancient
languages,
and the
great
importance
of
knowing
thoroughly
the
history
f Greece and Rome. But
the
truthwas
that
the
unique position of the so-called 'ancient world' had been
shaken
by the
disclosure
of ancient
civilizations
which
had
long
preceded it.
Thousands
of
years
had
been
added to
'ancient'
history,
nd
(as
in
philosophy)
historical
elativism
seemed
to
be the
inescapable
consequence
of
new
perspectives
in
the
long
history
of
mankind.
Thus
the old
hierarchy
f
values
had
disappeared;
and
from the
first
place
in
the an-
nouncements of universitycourses classical philology was
compelled
to
assume
a
modest
or
even
minor
place
among its
alphabetical
sisters.
The war
revolutionized
verything
here as
elsewhere.
It
threw
us
back to the
very
foundations
f
our
existence-to
a
consciousness nd
realization that
classical
antiquity was
one
of
those
foundations,
n
something
more
than
the
sense of a
merehistoricalnfluence. It was a crisisthatservedto
reveal
the
true
position of the
ancient
world in
the
scheme
of
our
present
time.
It is a
lasting law of
the
human
spirit
that
whenever
one of its
fundamental
values
seems
to
have
lost
meaning nd
significance,
t
must be
traced
back
to
its
origins
for
re-assessment.
This
is
the law
of
renaissance,
since
'
renaissance' s
not
merely
he
name of
a
particular
ventand
time. It is a rhythmn the spiritual
movementof
history,
recurring
rom
ime
to
time,a
concomitant f
the
pressure
f
the
spiritual
atmosphere.
Confidence
nd
self-assertion
re
promoted
by
a
return o
the
culminating
oints
of
life,
nd a
revival of
inner
values
modifies
ur
conceptionof
history
nd
sets
it
in
a
new
light.
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
9/13
370
Werner aeger
[1936
The values
of life
are
historical
values,
which means
that
life in
the
past
has shaped
their
form.
The
mind
is not
a
white paper, receivingonly the immediate impressionsof
surrounding
nature
and
social
environment.
It
is a living
thing,
taking
shape
continually
from
the
record
of past
ex-
perience.
History
s morethan
a record
of external
emporal
facts;
t is
a repository
n which
abidingvalues
are
constantly
accumulating.
It
is
more than
the
memory
f the past;
it
is
the spiritual
presence
of
the imperishable.
The historian
n
the usual senseoftheword s therecorder f eventsas events;
but behind
him stands
thesympathetic
cholar,
versed
n the
mediumof
a
work
of literature
r art,
guardian
of
tradition,
able to
interpret
o
us the
abiding
values
whichhave
had
and
continue
o
have meaning
forour life.
The newer
historical
tudy
of the
classics
of
ancient
litera-
ture
and art
interprets
heir values
and
measures them
by
standardsdifferingrom those which the old humanism n-
voked.
But
this
newer type
of
study
exists and
should
continue
to
exist only
on
the
assumption
that
these
values
exist.
It cannot
in the long
run maintain
ife
f
t
sinks to
a
mere
technique
nd
method,
ndifferent
o
its
subject
matter.
The
very standards
of exactness
which
it
vaunts have
de-
veloped
from he
belief
hat
it was
dealing
with
the
fragments
of a worldwhichwas believedto be ofunlimited alue. The
older
classicists' conception
of the
significance
f
ancient
literature
nd
art
rested
upon
a
dogmatic
assumption
hat
its
monuments
were
to
be
regarded
s
setting
bsolute
standards
of
excellence,
imeless
nd
perfect.
It
was derived
immedi-
ately
from ater
Greek
and Roman
writers,
ho canonized
the
masterpieces
f
earlier centuries
s a
gallery
of models
to
be
forever
mitated. Each authorand each workhad its place
in
a
fixed
anon
which
admitted
no
newcomers,
nd
to
each
was attached
a
carefully
weighedpredication
of
attributes
r
qualities.
When
with
awakening
historical
sense this whole
unreal
and
abstract
structurecollapsed,
the
monuments
of
Greek
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
10/13
Vol.
lxvii] Classical
Philology
nd Humanism
371
and
Roman
literature tood
forth
resh nd
new,
n
the
fullness
of
their
iving form nd
content,
he
expression
f
individual
men and times. They were freeto be read and understood
as
they
were,
without
thought
of
furnishing
models of
excel-
lence or of
having any
relationto
educational ends.
But
though they
were
released from a
role
which
their
authors
can
neverhave
contemplated,
there emanates
from
them
nevertheless n
emotion
and spiritual
elevation,
educa-
tive in
the
highest ense,
which
no one can fail
to
experience
who approaches them with earnest purpose to understand.
Even
the
strict
mastery
which
scholars
seek
is
most rewarded
where
this spiritual
nfluence
s
most
deeply
felt.
Apprecia-
tion
will
have
different
egrees
of
clarity,
from
he
vague stir
of
enthusiasm,
nd realization
that
one's
own life s
involved
in
the
poet's
words, to
the sharp
and
distinct
perception
of
exact
meanings.
There is no
limit
to'the ntensificationf our
understanding fthespiritualworld. An estheticnature will
perhaps
respond
more
mmediately o the fascination
f
form.
But the
works of
the
ancients
represent o
us
something till
more
comprehensive-a
world
of
the
highest
human
values.
The
best
way to
explain
this
is
perhaps to
go
back
to the
views which
the
Greeks
themselves
held of
poetry
and
of
spiritual
creation.
To themtheworkofartwas never a mereobject ofesthetic
pleasure.
It was
the
bearer ofan
ethos,
feeling r
intention
of
the artist
which
has sought
deal
expression,
nd
found
t.
It
was
true
to life,
not
realistic n the
narrow
sense of
mere
verisimilitude,
ut
true in
the
perfection
r
excellence
arete)
of
the
object
represented.
The
subject
of
their
rt is
always
man in
all
the
essential
relationsof his
existence to life,
to
nature, nd to destiny. Wherepoetry eases
and the
content
of
thoughtcalls for
prose-oratory,
history,
hilosophy-the
same
rule
holds.
The
literature f
the
Greeks
offers
hus a
splendid
spectacle:
the
strivingof
the
human spirit
for
the
abiding
expression of
its
ideals, the
moulding
of
human
excellence
its
arete) from
he
heroic
stage of
the epic
to
the
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
11/13
372
Werner aeger
[1936
laterphases
of the
tragic, he
political,the
philosophical
man.
The
embodiment
of these
values
in art
was to be sure
only
what the Greek could create out of his Greek environment,
and
we have
learned
not to
separateworks
of the
spirit
from
their proper
environment,
s the
older
humanistsdid.
We
have learned
to feel
themmore
vividly
and individually
by
referringhem
to the
time
and place and
atmosphere
f
their
origins. This
does
not
mean however
that we
should
see
these
works
resolved
nto thehistory
f their
ime
and become
merely ourcesforour knowledgeof a bygoneage. On the
contrary
he effort
o grasp
them n their
first etting
causes
us
to
understandbetter
how and
whythey had
the strength
to rise above their
time
into the
regions
of permanence
nd
timelessness.
It
is precisely
histimelessness
which
history ecords.
The
revelation
of heroichumanity
n
Homer
did not seem
anti-
quated to the Greeksof a laterand morerational period. It
maintained
its validity
far beyond
a thousand
years, and
remained
the foundation
of culture
through uccessive
cen-
turiesof
Greek life.
In
a similarway
each new
period
made
its
contributiono
that which
the
Greeksat the
culminating
point
of theirconsciousness,
n
the fifth
nd fourth enturies
before
Christ,
called their teaching,
their lesson
(paideia).
Since theysoughtto mould the universal n the individual,
in literatures well
as
in
the
plastic
arts,
their reative
hought
transcended
he bounds of
their
own
national
existence,
nd
in missionary
piritthey early
strove
to extend
their culture
to other
people.
Thus
Isocrates
attributes to this
Greek
paideia
an educational
function
for the
whole
of
humanity.
The
Romans
in
Cicero's
time
proved
the best
interpreters
f
this
continuing
unction f theGreek
spirit,
nd expressed t
by
their
rendering
of
the
Greek
paideia
with
the Latin
humanitas,
he ideal
manifestation
f
man. It is
fromthis
meaning
of the Latin
word,
as
the
spiritual
development
of
man
through
rt
and
thought
nd
literature,
hat
our
concept
of humanism
nd
its name
has
come.
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
12/13
Vol.
lxvii]
Classical
Philology
nd Humanism
373
Thus
even in
antiquity
the
problem
was
propounded:
to
explain the
mysterious
ircumstance hat deals and
standards
ofexcellence haped underparticularhistorical onditionsby
a
particular
people
could
maintain their
validity
and
their
inspiration
or
other
times
and
other
peoples,
and
become
in
fact human
culture
n a
universal ense.
Efforts
will
be
made
again and
again
to
explain
this
quality
of Greek
culture
and
its
Roman
derivative.
For
us it is
enough to
know
that
it
is
so,
and its
truth s
proven
by the
experience
of the
centuries
sinceitsorigin.
I
have
attempted to show that
the
nature and
the tasks
of
modern
classical
study
need
not
stand in
any
antithesis o
the
older
humanism.
They
are rather
he form
f
humanism
suited to
our
times and to the
modern
habit
of
scientific
thought
nd
inquiry.
We must
not abandon
nor
fail to use
any
of
the
achievements
f
the
exact
scholarship f
our
day.
On the other hand I maintain and champion the essential
truth
f the
older humanism:
that
knowledge nd
studyof
the
ancientworld
s a
unique
civilizing nd
creative
power
n
the
life
of
nations
and of
individuals.
The
forms
nd
mouldswhich
the
ancient
world
created
as
the
expression f
theirhighest
ultureare not
for
us
ultimate
ends
to attain
and
to
reproduce, ut
they
remain
the
founda-
tion stones upon which is built our occidental civilization.
This
civilization
s a
product
of
repeated
recurrence o
the
ancient
tradition,
romwhich n
turn
t has
drawn
mpulseto
new
creation.
One
'renaissance'
has
succeeded
another-
from
the
Carolingian
time,
through
the
great
Renaissance,
down
to
the
neo-Hellenism
f
the
early
nineteenth
entury-
marking
periodic
returnsto
the
regenerating
ower
of the
common source. The reciprocalinfluences f the classical
inheritance
and of
original
creation, each
upon
the
other,
constitute
the
underlyingunity
of
the
spiritual
life of
the
Western
world.
Humanism
itself
s an
expanding
term, nd
what
was once
applied
only to
the
study of
the
Greco-Roman
worldhas
its
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8/9/2019 Jaeger, Werner_Classical Philology and Humanism_TAPhA, 67_1936_363-374
13/13
374 Werner aeger [1936
application
to all literatures
nd
languagesand
art
which
are
capable
of making
contribution
o the human spirit. The
study of peoples and tongueswhichlie outside the circleof
Greek and Roman
origins
furnishes
windows,
so
to speak,
through
which
the
Western pirit
s able
to contemplate ther
races
and alien
ideals,
to contrast
hem
with tself,
nd
to learn
from them.
It is
the open-minded
receptivity
of Greek
curiosity nd
inquiry-
historia
n the
proper
meaning),
still
living n
modernresearch,
which
mpelsus to
enrich urselves
in thisway withwhat the Greekscalled the wisdomof the
barbarians.
The nations
ofthemodern
world, evered by
boundaries
of
space
and language
and
national usage,
understand
one
another
only
to the
degree
in
which
they
understand
the
spiritual
anguage
which
is
the common
hereditary
diom
of
our being. In
so far
as
we live for the
task
of
shaping
and
developingmankindaccordingto the laws and potentialities
of
man's
nature,we
live in
a worldwhich
I
venture
to
call
hellenocentric-a
spiritual
world
revolving
bout
the
sun
of
Hellenic
wisdom.
The planets
of this
worldwill
not
fade
nto
darkness
o
long
as this central
un does not lose its splendor.
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