A scene from the Young Scholars' Roundtable Photo: Zhu Gaolei/CSST

Held on June 8 in Athens, Greece, as a sub-event of the Second World Conference of Classics, the Young Scholars’ Roundtable took “Continuity of Past and Present: Youth Perspective on Classical Studies and Philosophy & Social Sciences” as its theme. Seeking to gain a deeper understanding of how the younger generation is embracing, reinterpreting, and carrying forward the rich legacy of classical studies in a rapidly changing world, CSST spoke with several young scholars from China and abroad who are deeply engaged in the field. They shared stories of their encounters with ancient texts and reflected on their commitment to this enduring discipline.

Tracing the scholarly path

For young scholars, the journey into classical studies often begins with an encounter across time through ancient texts. For Liliana Carolina Sánchez Castro, an associate professor of philosophy at the National University of Colombia, that first encounter was rooted in her father’s work as a biologist. In his research, the scientific names of plants and animals, rendered in “beautiful and wise” Latin and Greek languages, became her earliest exposure to the classical world.

During her undergraduate years, a chance reading group proved transformative. Under the guidance of a philosophy professor, Sánchez studied Ammonius’s commentary on Aristotle’s Categories. The logical rigor of Aristotelian natural philosophy, and its speculative inquiry into the nature of all things, deeply inspired her. From that point on, she devoted herself to ancient philosophy, gradually extending her scholarly horizon from Aristotle back to the Pre-Socratics.

For Yue Shenghao, an assistant research fellow from the Institute of Foreign Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the starting point was an undergraduate classroom in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University (PKU). Soon after arriving at PKU, he encountered Plato’s Phaedo and The Republic. These dialogues unsettled his assumptions about the everyday world and pushed him to critically examine ideas and practices he had long taken for granted. What makes a life worth living? How should reason be reconciled with desire?

Seeking answers to these questions, Yue turned to classical studies. As an undergraduate, he joined the classical philology program at PKU’s Center for Classical Studies. After completing his master’s degree, he went on to Leiden University in the Netherlands to pursue his PhD, focusing on Platonic philosophy. Over more than a decade of study, Yue has remained captivated by the unique paradigms of life and systems of thought embodied in Greco-Roman civilization.

Angeliki Roumpou, a research fellow in Latin literature at the Academy of Athens, has been immersed since childhood in the cultural and literary traditions that gave rise to Greek classical literature. Her own research, anchored in both Greek and Latin classical texts, has led her through years of meticulous textual analysis to recognize the enduring relevance of classical literature in its sustained engagement with fundamental questions of human existence—questions that recur across eras. The Homeric epics, the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and the works of Latin authors such as Virgil and Ovid all confront enduring concerns: mortality, justice, power, suffering, identity, memory, and the relationship between the individual and the community.

“Although these texts emerged from historical contexts very different from our own, they nevertheless give literary form to experiences, conflicts, and ethical dilemmas that remain intelligible, and often unresolved, for modern readers, inviting continuous reinterpretation,” Roumpou told CSST.

Xie Qinglu, an assistant research fellow from the Chinese School of Classical Studies at Athens under CASS, came to classical studies through philosophy. Her academic path moved steadily from philosophy as an undergraduate discipline, to ethics at the master’s level, and then to political philosophy in her doctoral studies. Her initial approach to classical studies grew precisely out of the overlap between classics and philosophy—namely, ancient Greek philosophical writings. In Xie’s view, the ancient Greek philosophers remain indispensable figures at the beginning of Western intellectual history, while the works of Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle form the bedrock of Western philosophical inquiry.

Unlike peers who enter the field through literature or linguistics, Xie approached classical studies through a philosophical problem consciousness. This laid the groundwork for her later exploration of how classical studies and political philosophy can mutually enrich one another.

Vasilis Trigkas, an assistant professor of Global Affairs at the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, represents a quintessential cross-civilizational scholar. Hailing from Greece and having conducted teaching and research in China for many years, he occupies a natural vantage point at the confluence of these two great classical civilizations. His engagement with classical studies began with the intellectual resonance he found between the Axial Age civilizations of East and West.

“From Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus to Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and Hanfeizi, the classical traditions of Greece and China have produced a complete corpus on the human condition,” Trigkas observed.

Subtle, profound influence of classical studies

Classical training is never confined to textual criticism or linguistic exegesis. In subtler and more profound ways, it shapes a researcher’s paradigm of thought, system of values, and approach to life.

Under the influence of classical natural philosophy, Sánchez has abandoned the traditional notion of humanity as the master of nature, opting instead for a more humble environmental ethic. This awareness has directly informed both her lifestyle and her research agenda, prompting her to practice kindness toward all living beings and reverence for nature in daily life, while focusing her scholarship on Aristotelian natural philosophy. For Sánchez, the most precious gift of classical studies has been the ability to transcend an anthropocentric ethical perspective.

Yue described the impact of classical studies on his own self-understanding in terms of a critique of modernity. Through systematic engagement with Greco-Roman classics, he said, he was able to dismantle his bias toward the belief that modern concepts are inherently rational and irreplaceable. In his view, the institutions and ideas of modern society—deeply shaped by the Enlightenment—have brought material prosperity and institutional progress, but have also generated modern maladies such as nihilism and atomized individualism.

For Roumpou, sustained work in classical literature has cultivated historical consciousness and critical thinking through the close reading of epic poetry, tragedy, and Latin verse. Above all, ancient Greek and Latin literature has helped her recognize that “human societies are constantly shaped by tensions between continuity and change.”

From the perspective of the interplay between philosophy and classics, Xie emphasized the role of classical training in developing speculative thought, noting that “the collation, textual criticism, commentary, and exegesis of primary sources provide a solid textual foundation for philosophical inquiry.” She added that research into ancient Greek literature and historical works helps scholars understand the relevant cultural and historical contexts, “enabling us to strive for accuracy in textual interpretation without sacrificing its rich connotations.”

Drawing on his experience of cross-civilizational study, teaching, and research in Greece and China, Trigkas said the comparative study of Eastern and Western classics has helped him form a more holistic global mindset. Although ancient Greek philosophy and pre-Qin Chinese thought arose from distinct civilizational soils, he observed, they converge significantly on questions such as human nature, the logic of governance, and leadership foresight. Classical studies, he added, have enabled him to move beyond a single-nation perspective and grasp the underlying human logic behind various geopolitical conflicts and social contradictions—a realization that forms the intellectual bedrock for his research in applying classical insights to international relations and global governance.

‘Chemistry’ between classical studies and social sciences

Long classified as part of the traditional humanities, classical studies may appear to belong to a different scholarly world from modern social sciences such as political science, sociology, law, and economics. Yet scholars interviewed by CSST pointed to concrete pathways for the deep integration of classical studies and the social sciences, drawing on their respective domains of expertise.

Xie described classical civilization as an intellectual wellspring of the modern social sciences. Core concepts frequently invoked in social science research—justice, the public good, liberty, virtue, and practical wisdom among them—first emerged in classical texts. Many of the questions and themes that occupy the social sciences today, she noted, were already explored in antiquity, which means classical studies can deepen our understanding of contemporary problems.

Yue added that classical studies forms the foundation for all disciplines concerned with the ancient world. At the same time, since its emergence as a field, it has continuously drawn nourishment from philosophy, history, sociology, and other disciplines. After World War II, he noted, the broader development of the social sciences brought new perspectives and insights into classical studies.

“Classical wisdom about power and human conduct is irreplaceable, while modern social science brings standards of evidence and comparative methods that the ancients lacked,” Trigkas asserted.

Sánchez offered specific examples: “We see the ‘chemical reaction’ in the use that psychology and psychotherapy are making of Hellenistic philosophy and the Socratic notion of ‘care of the self.’ We see all the teachings that reading Aristotle’s Politics are arising from the way in which we relate with political regimes, and the value of notions such as freedom, autarcheia, and phronesis.”

Roumpou argued that contemporary classical scholarship can enter into productive dialogue with the humanities and social sciences by examining how ancient texts participate in broader processes of cultural production, social organization, and political imagination. “Questions concerning gender, migration, collective memory, emotions, identity formation, environmental thought, and imperial power,” she added, “have opened new avenues for interdisciplinary research.”