So much depends...
How would the world be different, if one greedy man - probably a goatherd - hadn’t decided to betray his people? In 480 BC, Ephialtes looked out at the amassed forces of the Persians blockaded at Thermopylae, and apparently thought he was on the losing side. He showed them a way around the Greek army, a narrow track through the mountains which cut around the united Greek forces. That singular decision set in motion a cascade of events - most of the Greek army withdrew, the Spartan forces remained and nobly gave up their lives defending the retreat, and eventually the Persians were driven from Greece and didn’t manage another invasion. And Ephialtes’ name became synonymous with “treachery”.
There’s an argument to be made, that Ephialtes was personally responsible for the outcome of those battles - they never would have taken place in the way they did without his treachery. Perhaps the outcome of the Persian War would have been radically different if he hadn’t sold out. The Persian king Xerxes was a bit of a madman by all accounts - this is a guy who literally whipped the waves of the sea when he was pissed off. How would western philosophy and culture, which owe so much to the Greeks, differ if Xerxes had won?
How would the world be different, if Julius Caesar hadn’t been killed in a public forum, in an astoundingly stupid political move? Would he be a mere footnote in history now, and would we remember more of the Roman Republic than the Empire, because there never was such a thing? Doubtless, though, “the ides of March” would not be considered significant, and at least one of Shakespeare’s plays wouldn’t exist. Not to mention the fact that Caesar's name wouldn’t have been used for centuries as a title of Imperial leadership.
These are the kinds of questions I think about all the time. History fascinates me, particularly ancient history. I have a degree in Classical Civilizations. I considered, for a while, writing up a defense of my major and my field of study, and arguing that more people should study history in context and look at where we’ve come from. More of us, I contended, should look at college as a fabulous opportunity to study whatever the hell we want, and to indulge in a love of learning. And if that meant reading Homer in the original Greek or taking entire courses on The Roman Family, then so be it!
But how would my attitude be different, if I hadn’t had a full scholarship to go to university? If I had to mortgage my future against my education, would I really have felt free to choose a degree based on what I love? If I knew I had to find work - and good paying work, too - immediately after graduation to try to pay off my student loans, would I still be in a position to argue for the study of stone dead languages and the iconography of cultures from the past? Would I, in fact, have gone to college at all?
Things would be different, I think. I don’t know exactly how the world would look if that singular change had been made in my personal history. But my arguments for making mistakes, for being impulsive, for looking at college as a world of opportunities instead of a pressure cooker designed to help us get a piece of paper that will make us more money - well, they’re gone. I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the time to have the luxury of looking at education as a worthy goal in and of itself, rather than a means to an end for making money.
There’s value to be had, for certain, in learning for the sake of learning, and doing what you love. And there’s certainly value in a degree in Classics. But how many people never get to consider that, because our society puts so much pressure on kids - kids - to make fundamental, financial, and long-term life choices right out of high school?
We say that education is vital, that we value it. We show this by basically demanding certain amounts of education before we will consider someone for a job, no matter their skills or aptitudes. The bar for “the basics” has been raised higher and higher, and the cost of achieving those “basics” has skyrocketed. We’re devaluing learning by putting such a high price on it.
How would the world be different if anyone could afford to go to college, if we presented university as just another option open to people? Would the market for predatory for-profit colleges dry up and go away? Would our attitudes about the “value” of that education shift and change in response? Right now, this is such a radical change from what we have here in the United States - where availability of education is directly correlated to socio-economic status, and most people can’t afford to go to college without incurring debt - that I honestly can’t imagine what it would be like.
That piece of paper you can get from a university is seen as a status symbol, a mark of achievement and employability. Because it’s such a huge financial burden to get to university at all, the emphasis has to be on getting out from under that burden, on having a marketable degree. In the job market nobody really cares what specific courses your took, only that you have a degree (and hopefully a “good” one). It is absolutely the destination that matters, and not the journey. And what are we teaching when we teach that?
I don’t know what the world would look like if the Persians had successfully invaded and occupied Greece, way back in 480 B.C. But I wish more people had the opportunity - really had the opportunity - to learn about the Battle of Thermopylae (or the rise of mystery cults in ancient Rome, or the symbolism of the carvings on the Ara Pacis Augustae, or the oral tradition of the Odyssey), and speculate, and wonder with me.
There’s an argument to be made, that Ephialtes was personally responsible for the outcome of those battles - they never would have taken place in the way they did without his treachery. Perhaps the outcome of the Persian War would have been radically different if he hadn’t sold out. The Persian king Xerxes was a bit of a madman by all accounts - this is a guy who literally whipped the waves of the sea when he was pissed off. How would western philosophy and culture, which owe so much to the Greeks, differ if Xerxes had won?
How would the world be different, if Julius Caesar hadn’t been killed in a public forum, in an astoundingly stupid political move? Would he be a mere footnote in history now, and would we remember more of the Roman Republic than the Empire, because there never was such a thing? Doubtless, though, “the ides of March” would not be considered significant, and at least one of Shakespeare’s plays wouldn’t exist. Not to mention the fact that Caesar's name wouldn’t have been used for centuries as a title of Imperial leadership.
These are the kinds of questions I think about all the time. History fascinates me, particularly ancient history. I have a degree in Classical Civilizations. I considered, for a while, writing up a defense of my major and my field of study, and arguing that more people should study history in context and look at where we’ve come from. More of us, I contended, should look at college as a fabulous opportunity to study whatever the hell we want, and to indulge in a love of learning. And if that meant reading Homer in the original Greek or taking entire courses on The Roman Family, then so be it!
But how would my attitude be different, if I hadn’t had a full scholarship to go to university? If I had to mortgage my future against my education, would I really have felt free to choose a degree based on what I love? If I knew I had to find work - and good paying work, too - immediately after graduation to try to pay off my student loans, would I still be in a position to argue for the study of stone dead languages and the iconography of cultures from the past? Would I, in fact, have gone to college at all?
Things would be different, I think. I don’t know exactly how the world would look if that singular change had been made in my personal history. But my arguments for making mistakes, for being impulsive, for looking at college as a world of opportunities instead of a pressure cooker designed to help us get a piece of paper that will make us more money - well, they’re gone. I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the time to have the luxury of looking at education as a worthy goal in and of itself, rather than a means to an end for making money.
There’s value to be had, for certain, in learning for the sake of learning, and doing what you love. And there’s certainly value in a degree in Classics. But how many people never get to consider that, because our society puts so much pressure on kids - kids - to make fundamental, financial, and long-term life choices right out of high school?
We say that education is vital, that we value it. We show this by basically demanding certain amounts of education before we will consider someone for a job, no matter their skills or aptitudes. The bar for “the basics” has been raised higher and higher, and the cost of achieving those “basics” has skyrocketed. We’re devaluing learning by putting such a high price on it.
How would the world be different if anyone could afford to go to college, if we presented university as just another option open to people? Would the market for predatory for-profit colleges dry up and go away? Would our attitudes about the “value” of that education shift and change in response? Right now, this is such a radical change from what we have here in the United States - where availability of education is directly correlated to socio-economic status, and most people can’t afford to go to college without incurring debt - that I honestly can’t imagine what it would be like.
That piece of paper you can get from a university is seen as a status symbol, a mark of achievement and employability. Because it’s such a huge financial burden to get to university at all, the emphasis has to be on getting out from under that burden, on having a marketable degree. In the job market nobody really cares what specific courses your took, only that you have a degree (and hopefully a “good” one). It is absolutely the destination that matters, and not the journey. And what are we teaching when we teach that?
I don’t know what the world would look like if the Persians had successfully invaded and occupied Greece, way back in 480 B.C. But I wish more people had the opportunity - really had the opportunity - to learn about the Battle of Thermopylae (or the rise of mystery cults in ancient Rome, or the symbolism of the carvings on the Ara Pacis Augustae, or the oral tradition of the Odyssey), and speculate, and wonder with me.