why is it better to read old texts like ancient greek tragedies instead of more contemporary materials?

Question

most schools require students to read "old" texts like ancient greek tragedies or shakespearean plays. many students wonder why they should read those texts instead of more contemporary materials. i think its better to read them than the present. but why?? help!

Answer 1

Reading the canon texts lets you experience where it all came from. An old joke among lit junkies is "Ah, Shakespeare: so full of cliches." The joke is that we've taken SO MUCH from these old texts that it's a shock to finally learn where it all came from.

For instance, I'm re-reading the Iliad. It's so apparent how the modern epic grew from this spellbinding tale, and how many parallels can be drawn from its pages. It connects us with our roots, and it's crucial to gaining a full understanding of literature and, in the process, the history of human civilization.

Answer 2

I believe that "old texts" or ancient greek tragedies are better than contemporary literature.Firtsly, greek tragedies are really amazing if you think that most of them were written 2500 years ago and yet they show everything that happends nowadays.They talk about love and hate or human rights and politics,the poor and the rich,teh right and the wrong,they are so "diachronic",they simply don't fade in the time.Secondly,they are the beginning of nowadays literature,the foundation i must say,not only of literature but of theatre too.as for their educational role,it is much better for the students to read those texts,as not only do they open their horizons by understanding that humanity will always have the same worries and people (unfortunately sometimes) behave tha same way they did 2500 years ago,but also,why should someone read the development of something (nowadays literature)and not the cause (old texts)?You must have the whole prospective of something,not a part of it.Hope i helped!!

Answer 3

I don't agree with you that it's "better" to read old than modern literature. I think there must be room for both. So you will see that the roots of modern culture often lay far away. Shakespeare has used texts from roman poets, who had used Greek sources. Only if you know the original, you can recognize it in a later text, see, how it has been changed, judge, why it was used by another poet. Contemporary literature can also contain allusions to Shakespeare or to Greek tragedies, and such allusions are usually like gems. Therefore it is worthwhile to read both the old and the new.

Answer 4

Every year hundreds of books are written, most of them terrible, but a few good, and a few great....After five or ten years, the terrible ones are forgotten, after fifty years, even the "good" ones are forgotten...

Any text that has survived since Ancient Greek times is clearly going to be the "best of the best".


The phenomenom is in part what is responsible for people genuinely believing music "used to be better"...the bad stuff is slowly cast aside and only the cream persists.

Answer 5

i've got in no way understood this. If I definitely have a call between epic battles interior the Iliad or Grisham whining on approximately yet yet another criminal expert with a coronary heart of gold, the alternative is obvious. As a instructor and a author, I might desire to settle for that the final has already been written.

Answer 6

its important that students read both contemporary and historical texts for the same reason that it is important for them to study history. Students need to understand how literature has evolved in order to see where its going. There are references to historical texts in alot of contemporary literature. I also think it is important for them to look at contemporary works aswell.

Answer 7

Because the ancient texts have influenced writers and thinkers down through the ages, it is important to understand the source material.

Answer 8

I would imagine asking students to read some of the classics is for educational purposes.. to broaden their horizons and to make them a more well rounded person...It is good to know the past as well as the present and future.

Answer 9

i believe greeck tragedies are precius and they have somethin to teach u. also there r somethin unic that u cant ind at the present or at anytime at the past. its history. cntemporary materials are also good to read but u can see the same things and stories over and over again and most of them take stories or ideas from the old texts! dont u agree?!!