Without the classics, we cant

know where we come from

Greek and Latin scholar Rodrguez Adrados uses national prize as
platform against dumbing down
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WINSTON MANRIQUE SABOGAL
CARLOS GARCA GUAL
Madrid 28 NOV 2012 - 12:33 BRST

Ampliar fotoFrancisco Rodrguez

Adrados has won the National Literature Prize.

LVARO GARCA

"Minister Wert should know that it's important for young people to
know where we come from," says Francisco Rodrguez Adrados
passionately. The new winner of the National Literature Award, which
is granted by the Education and Culture Ministry that Jos Ignacio

Wert runs, used his acceptance speech to mount a heated defense of

two issues that he has been fighting for over the last six decades:
preserving ancient Greek and Latin as part of the school curriculum,
and respect for Castilian Spanish as the official language of Spain.

The 90-year-old scholar and member of the Royal Language and Royal
History academies was targeting both the national government and
the leaders of regions with two official languages when he criticized
politicians for wanting to simplify education through a draft reform
that seeks to eliminate Greek and Latin from the schoolrooms. "If you
don't have that foundation, you are showing contempt for one of the
most essential aspects in learning how to reason."

Rodrguez Adrados was described by the jury as the author of

"globally recognized" work and "rigorous literary essays about
tragedy, fable and other genres with Hellenic roots. His work is also
that of a humanist who drinks from the best sources and who is
simultaneously one of the most authoritative voices in Europe in the
defense of classical humanities."

The author of Ilustracin y poltica en la Grecia clsica (or,

Enlightenment and politics in classical Greece) and Historia de la
lengua griega (or, History of the Greek language) has been a witness
to what he describes as a reduction in the quality of teaching ever
since the Franco years, resulting in what he calls "the sad moments of
today."

Eliminating Greek and Latin is like taking the

roots away from a plant"
To eliminate ancient Greek and Latin from the Spanish schoolrooms
"is like taking the roots away from a plant," he said. "Their elimination
causes an unbelievable, incalculable damage."

Rodrguez Adrados said that he has tried asking the government of

Mariano Rajoy to backtrack on its reform plans, and explaining to
Minister Wert why it is so important for students to receive this
education in the classical languages. The Spanish Society for Classical
Studies, which he founded and of which he remains honorary
president, has embarked on an advocacy campaign that included a
recent meeting with three of Rajoy's delegates. But the education
minister has yet to receive them, he says.

"He didn't want to; that's the truth of it," says the scholar. "I've met
him a few times and he always says, 'We'll talk.' But that tense is an
imperfect future. Let him sit down with us once and for all, damn it!
He should know it is important for young people to know where we
come from."

Freedom is one thing; the imposition of

regional tongues is quite another"
Rodrguez Adrados' second battle front is respect for Castilian Spanish
as the official language of Spain, especially in the last few years,
when he has been a witness to the use of language as a social
weapon by certain politicians.

"Languages are made for people to understand one another, not to be

divided by them: everyone understands Spanish. We should show
respect for the presence of other languages that may have been
inherited in different regions, but these should not become an
imposition," he says, in reference to the Catalan, Basque and Galician
languages and the policies followed by nationalist governments to
ensure these are used. "Freedom is one thing, and imposition -sometimes violent and arbitrary -- is quite another."

Nobody is preventing people from speaking their local languages, the

academician noted, but there should be some limits on their usage, as

when regional leaders attempt to push Castilian Spanish aside or

eliminate it altogether. This, he said, is detrimental to the regions.
That is why Rodrguez Adrados finds it "repugnant for some regions to
try to impose those languages by force, not just through teaching at
school but indirectly by demanding a knowledge of them in order to
get a job, for instance."

A prolific writer of literary and scientific work, Rodrguez Adrados has

published around 50 books and hundreds of articles over the last 60
years. He has been a formidable linguistics researcher, a historian and
translator of Greek language, a scholar of Indo-European languages, a
tireless champion of classical studies and a committed intellectual
who has taken a very critical stance with regard to the drift of
European culture.

Besides that, he has worked incessantly as a university professor in

Madrid and a lecturer at world congresses and forums. Rodrguez
Adrados also directed the monumental Greek-Spanish dictionary and
has produced clear versions of the work of Thucidides and
Aristophanes. Besides two royal academies in Spain, he is also a
member of the Athens Academy and the Argentinean Academy of
Letters.

The 90-year-old Rodrguez Adrados joins a list of illustrious winners of

the National Literature Award that includes Rafael Snchez Ferlosio,
Ana Mara Matute, Francisco Umbral, Antonio Buero Vallejo, Miguel
Delibes and Francisco Ayala.