Introducing the Classics Ecology

This introduction sketches a framework for the volume in the form of the UK Classics ecology. Drawing on existing uses of ‘ecology’ elsewhere in the arts and humanities, this framework seeks to understand Classics as a multifaceted network cohering around the conservation of knowledge often configured as part of a tradition foundational to the ‘West’. Making a distinction between the academic discipline of Classics and the ancient worlds the discipline seeks to name and claim, the introduction outlines how knowledge of these worlds is produced, conserved, and given value by an ecology dominated by the discipline. Some examples illustrate this in practice. The introduction sets up the volume’s project as aligned with other recent attempts to contend with problematic assumptions that can be perpetuated in the discipline. It concludes by outlining how the theatrical and educational concerns of the volume demonstrate the potential value of ecological thinking for approaching uses of the ancient world in modern cultures.