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Evans Wayde
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CCC2100 Pre-Modernism
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Dr Vahri McKenzie 31st May 2019

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Y40 – Bachelor of Arts Online

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 1

Wayde Evans
Dr Vahri McKenzie
CCC2100
31 May 2019

Research Essay: Classical & Classic

The word ‘classical’ is used in reference to cultures of the past, particularly of ancient

Greece and Rome, and also to art forms that belong to a long formal tradition. These

references have impacted on what we consider to be ‘a classic’ in the arts; contributing to a

long established tradition of using the term to refer to a work of art that has qualities of

lasting value. Additionally, many of the greatest and most famous classical works of art from

the past are, and were, simply referred to as classics, and that has also contributed to the way

that the term is commonly used. All of this shows that ‘a classic’ in the arts is a term that

evolved from the influence of ancient Greek and Roman cultures. The following is an

exploration of that evolution; beginning with the linguistic history of the word, followed by a

critical analysis of the term, and ending with examples of classics that provide evidence in

support of the claims that are made.

The origins of the word ‘classic’ have been traced back as far as the Neolithic, to a

language spoken by a people who lived from roughly 4500 B.C.E. to 2500 B.C.E. The

language known as Proto-Indo-European, which all modern Indo-European languages

descend from, contained the verb ‘kelh’ which means: a call (de Vaan, 2008).

‘Kelh’ is the root word of the Latin singular noun ‘classis’ which means: (social)

class; levy; fleet (de Vaan, 2008). ‘Classis’ eventually evolved into the French singular noun

‘classe’, which was later adapted by the English to create the singular noun ‘class’. ‘Classis’

can also be joined with the suffix ‘-cus’ to form the adjective ‘classicus’ which means: of the

highest class; of the fleet (de Vaan, 2008). ‘Classicus’ eventually evolved into the French

adjective ‘classique’, which was later adapted by the English to create the adjective ‘classic’.
 2

‘Classique’ and ‘classic’ both eventually came to be used as not only adjectives, but also as

nouns. When used as nouns they refer to: a literary work of ancient Greece or Rome; a work

of enduring excellence, also its author; an authoritative source; a typical or perfect example; a

traditional event (“Classic,” n.d.).

The first known usage of the word ‘classic’ as an adjective was in 1597 C.E., and then

in 1684 C.E. it began to also be used as a noun (“Classic,” n.d.). As an adjective it was used

to ascribe a high level of value to a work of art, but then over time the word ‘classic’ became

synonymous with valuable works of art, and so the word was soon able to stand alone as a

noun and continue to serve that same function. Now when a thing is simply referred to as ‘a

classic’, it is commonly understood that whatever the thing is, it is a thing of lasting value

and enduring excellence.

According to Abrams and Harpham (2018), classical writers are the writers of ancient

Greece and Rome “who were thought to have achieved excellence, and established the

enduring models, in all the major literary genres” (p. 236). Due to this high level of value

being attributed to the literary achievements of classical writers, ‘a classic’ is a term that is

now “applied to any literary work that is widely agreed to have achieved excellence and to

have set a standard in its kind” (Abrams & Harpham, 2018, p. 237). It is now also a term, not

only applied to literature, but to any work of art that possesses those same qualities of

excellence.

However, Italo Calvino believed that personal preferences are ultimately more

important than universally accepted definitions when categorising a literary work or author as

a classic. In his ‘Why Read the Classics?’ essay (1986), Calvino says, “your classic author is

the one you cannot feel indifferent to, who helps you define yourself in relation to him, even

in dispute with him” (p. 130). He goes on to say, “there is nothing for it but for all of us to

invent our own ideal libraries of classics” (Calvino, 1986, p. 133). Therefore, even though it

is clear there are universal guidelines in place for defining a work of art as a classic, it can
 3

also be seen that individual preferences should be used, if the actual category of ‘the classic’

is to have any meaningful value to the individual observing it.

Following are some examples of works of art that possess qualities of enduring

excellence, and therefore, they are widely considered to be classics within each of their

applicable fields.

An example of a classic painting is Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’

(as shown in figure 1). It was painted by Munch in 1893, and he later recalled of how it came

to be: He was out for a walk at sunset when “suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood . . .

[and] I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature” (as cited in Faerna, 1995, p. 17).

Figure 1: Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’, 1893, on display at

(The National Museaum of Art, Architecture and Design, n.d.).
 4

The agonised face in the painting is a timeless expression of human emotion, widely

recognisable as a symbol of fear and anxiety. It has been inspirational in the creation of many

works of art, including; the mask (as shown in figure 2) that was used in Wes Craven’s 1996

Scream film, and also the Silence (as shown in figure 3) who first appeared in Steven

Moffat’s ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ episode of the Doctor Who television series in 2011.

Figure 2: ‘The mask of Scream’ at ExpoSYFY, Figure 3: ‘The Silence’ at Doctor Who
Spain. (Dorronsoro, 2013). Experience, London. (Hudson, 2011).

The painting’s iconic status in popular culture is a testament to its status as a classic, as is the

fact that a second version painted by Munch in 1895 was sold at auction for $119.9 million in

2012 (Vogel, 2012).

An example of a classic piece of music is the ‘main shark theme’ from the score of

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws film, released in 1975. Composed by John Williams, the film’s score

earned him an Academy Award in 1976, and in 2005 it was also ranked the sixth greatest film

score of all time by the American Film Institute. The classic shark theme referred to here,

however, is no more than a simple alternating pattern of two notes, therefore, the ability of
 5

this piece of music to become a classic can be directly attributed to the film itself being a

classic; and although this is an extreme example, it is not uncommon for music to acquire the

status of a classic as a direct result of being associated with a classic film. The shark theme

from Jaws (as shown in figure 4) became the most recognisable piece of music that can be

used as a signal of approaching danger, and as such, it has also been used in other films

including; David Zucker’s Airplane! (1980), Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (1987), and Paul

Weitz’s Little Fockers (2010).

Figure 4: The 'shark attack music' from Jaws. (John Williams, 1975).

An example of a classic computer game is Tetris. The original version of Tetris (as

shown in figure 5) was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, while he was working for the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR as an artificial intelligence researcher (Hoad, 2014).

Pajitnov often wrote simple computer games as a fun way of testing the capabilities of new

hardware, and one of those games was Tetris. Proving popular with his colleagues, Vadim

Gerasimov ported the game to the IBM PC platform, and from there it began to spread

(Gerasimov, n.d.). By 2016 it had become the best selling video game of all time (Tassi,

2016), and the winner of ‘Best VR/AR Game’ at the 2018 Game Critics Awards went to a
 6

modernised version with Virtual Reality (VR) integration: Tetris Effect (Games Critics

Awards, 2018). Interestingly, the remake takes its name from a syndrome called ‘Tetris

Effect’, which itself takes its name from the classic Tetris computer game. ‘Tetris Effect’ is

something that can occur when people spend enough time on an activity that it begins to

pattern their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. After playing Tetris, many people have

experienced; after-images that last for days, playing the game in their heads, and even a

“tendency to identify everything in the world as being made of four squares and attempt to

determine 'where it fits in'” (Earling, 1996, p. 1). Having a syndrome named after it is a

testament to its influential power, and also its ability to stand the test of time. In the art of

video game design, Tetris has clearly earned the distinction of being referred to by many as a

timeless classic.

Figure 5: The ‘original Tetris game' at Soviet Digital Electronics

Museum, Leningrad. (Frolov, 2009).

An example of a classic work of prose-literature is Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (2000),

which dates back to the 5th century B.C.E. Sun Tzu is revered as a legendary military

strategist, and this ancient treatise of his is still very much valued to this day. Its influence
 7

continues to pervade many competitive fields of endeavour; from battlefields, to sports fields,

to the field of office politics, it has survived the test of time and earned its place amongst the

classics.

In conclusion, the word ‘classical’ is associated with cultures of the past, particularly

of the ancient Greek and Roman cultures, but it also has a close association with art forms

that belong to long formal traditions. These associations have impacted on what we now

consider to be ‘a classic’. Evolving within a sphere of Greek and Roman cultural influences,

‘a classic’ is a term of appreciation, respect, and endearment, that is often used in the arts to

distinguish ‘the cream’ from ‘the others’. Only art which embodies those qualities of

excellence and longevity, expressed in the examples above, can ever truly be ‘a classic’.
 8

References

Abrams, M., & Harpham, G. (2018). A glossary of literary terms (11 th ed.). Delhi, India:

Cengage Learning India Private Limited.

Calvino, I. (1986). The uses of literature: Essays (P. Creagh, Trans.). San Diego, CA:

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Retrieved from

https://archive.org/details/usesofliterature00calv/page/n7

(Original work published 1980).

Classic. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA:

Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/classic

de Vaan, M. (2008). Etymological dictionary of Latin and the other Italic languages. Leiden,

The Netherlands: Brill.

Dorronsoro, U. (2013). The mask of Scream [Photograph]. Retrieved from

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dorron/10772950845

Earling, A. (1996, March 21). The Tetris Effect: do computer games fry your brain?

Philadelphia City Paper, p. 1. Retrieved from

https://web.archive.org/web/20080122021142/http://www.citypaper.net/articles/

032196/article038.shtml

Faerna, J. M. (1995). Munch. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams.

Frolov, S. [Sergei Frolov]. (2009, June 13). Original Tetris game [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0gAgQQHFcQ

Games Critics Awards. (2018). Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2018. Retrieved from

http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/winners.html

Gerasimov, V. (n.d.). Tetris story. [Blog post]. Retrieved from

https://vadim.oversigma.com/Tetris.htm
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Hoad, P. (2014, June 3). Tetris: how we made the addictive computer game. The Guardian.

Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/02/how-we-made-tetris

Hudson, P. (2011). The Silence [Photograph]. Retrieved from

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pahudson/6502037631

Tassi, P. (2016, July 8). Here are the five best-selling video games of all time. Forbes.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/07/08/here-are-the-five-

best-selling-video-games-of-all-time/#39adb9645926

The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. (n.d.). The Scream [Photograph].

Retrieved from https://munchmuseet.no/en/munch

Tzu, S. (2000). The Art of War. (L. Giles, Trans.). Leicester, England: Allandale Online

Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ualberta.ca

Vogel, C. (2012, May 2). ‘The Scream’ is auctioned for a record $119.9 Million. The New

York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/arts/design/the-

scream-sells-for-nearly-120-million-at-sothebys-auction.html

Zanuck, R. D., & Brown, D. (Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1975). Jaws.

[Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.