Talking classics the shock of the old
"Why the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why-for better or (sometimes) worse-antiquitycontinues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a mu...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Chicago, IL :
University of Chicago Press,
2026.
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MARC
| LEADER | 00000cam a2200000 i 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | on1544848410 | ||
| 003 | OCoLC | ||
| 005 | 20260609112800.0 | ||
| 008 | 251011s2026 ilua 001 0 eng d | ||
| 020 | |a 9780226834245 |q (hardcover) | ||
| 020 | |a 0226834247 |q (hardcover) | ||
| 035 | |a (OCoLC)1544848410 | ||
| 040 | |a YDX |b eng |e rda |c YDX |d OCLCO |d OCLCQ |d OQX |d CHY |d JCX |d IUK | ||
| 050 | 4 | |a DE59 |b .B44 2026 | |
| 082 | 0 | 4 | |a 938 |2 23 |
| 100 | 1 | |a Beard, Mary, |d 1955- |e author. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Talking classics : |b the shock of the old / |c Mary Beard. |
| 260 | |a Chicago, IL : |b University of Chicago Press, |c 2026. | ||
| 300 | |a 198 pages : |b illustrations ; |c 22 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a unmediated |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a volume |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 505 | 0 | 0 | |t Introduction -- |t A sense of wonder -- |t How to be modern? -- |t Rights and wrongs -- |t The case for classics -- |t Epilogue: the boy who breathed on the glass in the British Museum -- |t Further reading -- |t Acknowledgments -- |t List of illustrations -- |t Index. |
| 520 | |a "Why the ongoing fascination with the ancient world? This witty, approachable book asks why-for better or (sometimes) worse-antiquitycontinues to exert such a powerful hold on the contemporary imagination. Recalling a formative childhood encounter with a four-thousand-year-old piece of bread in a museum, Beard introduces the idea of thauma, or wonder, that kick-started a lifetime engaging with classics. It was not the canonical "greats" of ancient literature and art that initially drew her in, she confesses, but rather the more intimate, messy, and humdrum evidence of daily life in the remote past. Confronting the uses and abuses of symbols of the ancient world, Beard reminds us that the traditions and "masterpieces" of Greece and Rome have certainly been politicized, but they belong to neither the left nor the right. Happily, no one owns the past. She warns us not to let a sense of reverence or overfamiliarity dampen the "shock of the old," arguing that one of the most important things that classics teach us is how to grapple with complicated and controversial things. "The Greeks and Romans are long dead, they cannot answer back, and you can say what you like about them," she reminds readers. "The simple fact that classics belong to none of us can offer a safe space to argue about the most difficult debates we face now." Beard welcomes everyone into classics. "It is not compulsory to be excited by the ancient world," she writes. "But it can be a shame not to be." This charming, sharp, and readable book from one of the world's most entertaining classicists offers something for both new and established fans of classics, bringing new wonder and curiosity to even the most ancient of ideas"-- |c Provided by publisher. | ||
| 650 | 0 | |a History, Ancient. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Civilization, Classical. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Classical antiquities. | |
| 994 | |a C0 |b PCB | ||
| 949 | |a CCL |b CadNFN |c 938 Be |d i |e 39241503929213 |f 822367 |g ddc |h Popular |j 06/30/2026 | ||
| 949 | |a schlow |b SANONNE |c 938 BEA |d i |e 39635104905832 |f 821316 |g ddc |h Popular |j 06/16/2026 | ||
| 949 | |a schlow |b SANONNE |c 938 BEA |d o |e 39635104878969 |f 819747 |g ddc |h Popular |j 05/27/2026 | ||
| 999 | |a 519251 | ||
