To avoid upsetting students, university chiefs removed a portion of an Ancient Greek poem that mentioned domestic violence.
The University of Reading officials cut lines from the Types Of Women (2,000 years old) by Semonides of Amorgos. This text is used to teach first-year students in classics.
The decision was made on the grounds that the words could ‘potentially trigger’ distress – even though no student had complained.
Critics fear other antiquity works may be targeted, and warn of a slippery slope towards censorship.
Jeremy Black, emeritus Professor of History at the University of Exeter said, “This is beyond naive.”
It is absolutely absurd and should not be used in academia.
Reading University officials have removed an Ancient Greek poem that mentioned domestic violence, in order not to upset students
“If news was censored in the same way, we’d end up having a very limited view of the world.”
Because of how women are depicted, the controversial 118-liner poem is not for everyone.
According to the Greek god Zeus, ten kinds of women were created by Zeus. Each type was represented by an element or animal.
Nine – those deriving from the pig, fox, dog, earth, sea, donkey, ferret, mare and monkey – have negative connotations, with only the female who comes from a bee considered to make a good wife.
Reading – which is ranked number 27 out of 90 UK universities – used a part of the poem in a module on Greek history, alongside works by Homer and Aristotle.
The students would have received a verbal alert stating that this work is an example of extreme misogyny Archaic Greece, but it was decided to delete any references to violence against women.
According to papers obtained by The Mail on Sunday pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, the following statement was made: “The part of the poem that is now missing involved a short reference about domestic violence.
Officials cut lines from the Types Of Women (above), a 2,000-year-old document by Semonides Of Amorgos, which was taught to students in first year classics.
“It was removed as it seemed to be unnecessarily bothersome and possibly triggering.
Ewen BOWIE, an emeritus fellow of Corpus Christi College and a professor emeritus in Classical Languages and Literature, stated that it was important to understand ancient works within their historical context.
He stated that censoring reading lists is a slippery slope to censoring books being sold at bookshops.
Alerts have been issued to Ancient Egypt students about the dangers of artwork depicting war scenes.
A spokesperson for University of Reading stated last night that the University does notcensor academic material.
“Students can access all relevant texts and they are encouraged to discuss many different materials.
“Content warnings can be used to promote discussion and to allow students to be alert to difficult or controversial materials before they are confronted.”
Students can access the complete text of Types Of Women online and in printed copy.