An opportunity to write a few words on the magnificent Mary Beard will I not turn down!
As a field of study, “Classics” was an elite pursuit even before elite was a dirty word, and certainly doesn’t have it easy in the highly competitive environment of a contemporary higher education system that focuses more on career paths and professional development than on the humanistic (and less obvious) attributes and skill-sets attached to the study of ancient “systems” and “dead” languages. How I bemoan that I had not in my youth the imagination to contemplate such a dead end journey! Alas!
In this respect, as reported in The Guardian, Mary Beard’s (upcoming) retirement gift to Cambridge University, is a thoughtful and timely contribution. Acknowledging herself its relative modesty, Professor Beard does still hope that her gesture will, beyond the specific scholarships that will be offered, encourage broader interest and ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in the subject.
The way to go, Mare! – I do say. To wit, I dare say I hear the reply: Hold your horses, my dear – I’m old not dead, and ain’t goin’ nowhere! Or however that may be said in aforesaid language long said to be dead.