A Periodic Table of Greek Mythology (2025)

I was absolutely honoured to be asked by Working Classicists to contribute to A Periodic Table of Greek Mythology (2025), a compendium of characters from Greek myth, written by and for people from all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and identities! 

Why is this important? 

Put simply, there is a class issue in Classics. 

Historically, Classics was almost exclusive to the upper classes, owing to their education in ancient languages at their private schools. While working class people are now more able to attend universities at all, ancient languages are not typically required for studying Classics, and some comprehensive schools do offer Latin or Classical Studies courses, the gap remains gaping. 

This is partly because not enough comprehensive schools are able to offer Classics and ancient language courses (owing, in part, to the idea that kids from comps won't need such an education and the fact that the privileged students studying Classics are then less likely to take up a teaching position at a comp). 

Only 7% of people in the UK have attended private school, but that is not representative of their demographics in the field of Ancient Studies. 

This means that, when working class students do bust through the barriers and get to study Classics, it can be an incredibly alienating experience. 

Then there are the problems that are less Classics-specific, like the fact that people who have gone to private school are more likely to hire others who have gone to private schools, giving them more opportunities and edging working class people out of job markets. While this is true across the board, it is very much also the case in the niche field of Classics. 

'The Chariot of Zeus', Stories of Greek Tragedians (Alfred Church, 1879)

My experience

I feel that I've been fairly candid about the fact that I've felt like an outsider in academia generally, and Classics specifically. 

I grew up on a council estate in the West Midlands and went to comprehensive primary and secondary schools. Well, I say 'went to', I was a non-attender at school between the ages of 7-16 for a multitude of reasons (seriously, my mum got into trouble and everything), until I sat my GCSEs, thought 'that was fun' and did well by some miracle. 

After that I never left education, doing my A-Levels, Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees, a postdoc, and now - somewhat unbelievably - I get to be a lecturer. 

I felt like an imposter and an outsider in all three of my degrees and my postdoc, and a massive part of that was because of being working class. 

Although I've said before that the imposter syndrome gets more intense at each level, this was especially true during my PhD. Not only was I trying to become a doctor ("seriously, who do I think I am?"), my PhD research sat at the intersection of English Literature and Classics. 

And I'd never studied Classics in my life. 

Although I'd always had a passion for mythologies, and Greek myth in particular, I didn't have any formal education in Classics. 

As I dived in, I became more and more aware that Classics Proper did not try to make a place for me. Although I couldn't speak or read a word of Ancient Greek or Latin, I still had something valuable to say in the field of classical reception, and I have fought to carve that space out ever since I realised I was up against a brick wall. 

This was particularly demoralising while on the academic job market, where I was told - both implicitly and frankly - that I wouldn't get a position in Classics because I didn't have any ancient languages, despite neither my research nor teaching up to this point or going forward required them. 

Although my current research project is in the field of digital cultural studies rather than Classics, I haven't given up by any means. I'm still researching, writing, and publishing on contemporary classical reception, and my dogged determination isn't abating yet. 

 

Resistance

But, in the face of these near-insurmountable problems, there are people doing something about it beyond a personal level. Professors Edith Hall and Arlene Holmes-Henderson founded the Advocating Classics Education (ACE) project, Edith Hall and Henry Stead wrote A People's History of the Classics, there's Classics For All, and there's a Network for Working-Class Classicists which published a very illuminating report on UK Class in Classics.

Then there is, of course, the Working Classicists, a grassroots network founded by and for working class people who are in any way interested or affiliated with Classics. As they put it: 

We want the field of Classical Studies (and Classics) to better represent the makeup of the population.

It is estimated that 7% of the UK population attend private schools, but the majority of students in our field come into it through connection to the private sector.

This is simply not egalitarian. This is not equality of choice or opportunity.

We believe that whatever background you are from you should be able to pursue an enthusiasm in these subjects, as a hobby, a course of study, or as a profession.

We believe that significant redistribution of the knowledge wealth in this area hinges on developing networks of connection between individuals and organisations who have difficulty in accessing it, and those who are in a position to extend a hand and wish to see the subject thrive.

We believe in socialism in education and opportunity.

We believe that Classics is for everyone.

So, when George & Miri were given the opportunity to publish a Working Classicists book, of course they shared that opportunity. Classicists (broadly defined) were given the opportunity to contribute to A Periodic Table of Greek Mythology. 

A Periodic Table of Greek Mythology

Each page of the book tells the tale of a different figure from Greek mythology: 'This beginner’s guide is an engaged, discursive, sometimes personal, and occasionally provocative look at Greek mythology, what it meant to the ancient Greeks, and what it can mean for us today.' (Working Classicists)

At this point, you might be thinking "Shelby, you've written this entire blog post and you've barely mentioned the book". 

Well, to that, I'd say this is more than a book. This is activism in print, this is being the change you want to see in the world, and demonstrating that working class people have beautiful, creative, valuable contributions to make in the world of Classics. 

I'd also say that my entry was on the Nesoi, primordial goddesses that personified islands. 

If you'd like to learn more about them, or the other 100+ figures featured in the book alongside beautiful illustrations, you can buy it from any of these places: 

Contubernales Books

Waterstones

Amazon