Why We Read

I have never been so taken by a response as I was by the post of Meowmix515, "in response to practicing morality." As a teacher of literature, I cannot agree more. In fact, the issue that Meowmix515 addresses is the very reason I chose not to complete a Ph.D. in Classics. While in graduate school and listening to the philological discussions of my classmates and professors, discussing this or that influence on this or that author and getting, to my mind, bogged down in issues of literary analysis, I found myself continually asking the question, "but is what this author said true?"

Meowmix515, you are not wrong in your desire to apply to present life the literature of the past. I cite the following from our Latin website. The source is Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics 1104b:

[W]e ought to have been brought up in a particular way from our very youth, as Plato says, so as both to delight in and to be pained by the things that we ought; this is the right education. (David Ross, translator)

Add to this a line from Cicero's Pro Archia, "Let others be ashamed if they have so hidden themselves away in literature that they can bring forth nothing for public benefit or into the light to be seen."

The reason certain works have lasted over time is because of their ability to speak to people of all stages of life, in all places of the world, in all times. We study matters of literary style so we can see more clearly the content of the works. By knowing something of the art of stained glass work, we see the brilliance of the complete work. We also study literary matters so those who wish can compose likewise, with the tools of persuasive, powerful, and creative communication. We must never, however, lose sight of the truths and falsehoods great writers have given to us. By interacting with the thoughts of those who have gone before us, we enter into the great conversation of humanity.

Thank you, Meowmix 515. You have rightly identified the point studying the humanities. Continue your search for and application of the truths you find.