Sphinx

The great advantage of classicists getting involved in the analysis of contemporary political rhetoric, given that it seems to be full of classical references at the moment (Johnson going on about Punic terms, the die-hard fanatics of the E”R”G – yes, the lunatic fringe’s lunatic fringe – going under the name of the Spartans, a Tory MP called David Jones citing chunks of Tacitus, including Latin, in a meeting of the influential 1922 Committee) is that they’re highly sensitive to nuance, allusion, and the history of reception of different figures, ideas and phrases. The disadvantage of classicists getting involved is that they’re highly sensitive to nuance, allusion etc etc. In other words: it’s not that these references are imaginary, but perhaps they aren’t as important as we tend to think they are. Or at least not as important to others, including those who made them in the first place, as they are to us, seeing classical antiquity yet again being besmirched by its appropriation by people with distasteful and dangerous politics.

I mean, yes, it’s mildly annoying, as well as extremely silly, that the old Thermopylae trope is being wheeled out to heroise bloody-mindedness and characterise political debate as life-or-death struggle – but it seems a lot less toxic than when Generation Identity and their ilk use it to legitimise racist Clash of Civilisation ideas. It feels to me more in the vein of the ‘tales from Plutarch’ image of Sparta – my grandmother’s fondness for the ‘boy and fox’ story – and, while it coincides with connections between some of the E”R”G and Steve Bannon’s would-be global insurgency, likewise fond of classical war motifs, my immediate reaction is that it’s unlikely to be the basis for that developing relationship (or even mentioned), and – unlike the recent reference to “cultural Marxism” from another right-wing Tory MP, Suella Braverman – unlikely to be an imitation of the rhetoric of that insurgence, but rather indigenous, from the same tradition that references Lysander et al in regimental songs and old school values.

Yes, but… One obvious reason for questioning whether ‘Sparta’ works as a dog whistle in this manner, summoning up the values of aggressive masculinist nationalism and imperialist nostalgia for those who have ears to hear, is that Britain already has a whole raft-load of socially-sanctioned myths, focused above all on WWII but to a lesser extent evoking simulacra of an idealised British Empire, global role etc. – you don’t need Sparta in order to say such things (Jones’ evocation of Tacitus – leaving aside the fact that various other MPs noted in response that the rebellious Britons were slaughtered – at least claims some relevance to an imaginary British Identity). This isn’t about the West versus the Asiatic hordes, it’s not about the Defence of Civilization; it’s a way of over-dramatising reckless stubbornness, presenting a decision to disagree with party leadership as noble self-sacrifice.

There are lots of reasons to worry about these clowns and their disproportionate influence on current debates. A few classicising references isn’t one of them…