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One depressing day of my life came when I realized that my Greek professor was but a scholar of Aristotle, and not an Aristotelian. It is impossible for the Classics to be a living tradition when the scholars themselves see their ancient subjects as things to be dissected, rather than men to argue with.

Doesn't professor Hanson overreach when he says that modern classicists have abandoned Greek traditions by capitulating to postmodernists? It seems that contemporary scholars have in fact adopted the philosophy of one disreputable set of Greeks, the sophists. I recall one textbook's distinct glee of newly discovered relevancy when it pronounced that the sophists, too, viewed society as a social construct.

The academic deans willing, I will have my Bachelor's degree in Classics this December. I have found that focusing upon learning the languages is a sure way to get to the meat of the ancient texts, while avoiding the latest theoretical fads.