we can not only fail to hear the claim of the incipient, but even drive ourselves to the self-delusion that we do not have to listen to it in the first place, since we already "know" about it. The whole world talks about the extraordinary "cultural" significance of the ancient Greeks. But no one who speaks like this has the slightest knowledge that, and how, an inception occurs there.
Those who evince a somewhat belated enthusiasm for "classical antiquity," and likewise those who encourage and promote the "humanistic gymnasium," demonstrate a no more essential stance toward the incipient, so long as their efforts are devoted only to salvaging what has been hitherto; so long as they fall back upon an inherited and very questionably arranged cultural treasure, and in so doing consider themselves superior to the enthusiasts of the technological age. Familiarity with the ancient Greek language is certainly indispensable for the endeavor, expressly understood as a task, to awaken, develop, and secure remembrance of the incipient. The education of those who must bring about remembrance of the incipient cannot forgo instruction in the language of the ancient Greeks. But one should not infer from this the erroneous opinion that those who, for whatever reasons and intentions, possess knowledge of the Greek language and pursue a "humanistic schooling" would also be in possession of the ancient Greek world. Not all of those who study at a humanistic gymnasium, nor all of those who teach there, nor all who train these teachers at the university, have already, by reason of that fact, a knowledge of the inception of the essential in Western history, and that means of its future.
How many Germans "live" who speak their mother tongue effortlessly and yet are unable to understand Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or one of Hölderlin's hymns! Hence whoever has mastered the Greek language, or has some acquaintance with it by accident or choice, possesses not the least proof thereby that he is able to think according to the thought of a Greek thinker. For it could be that he does not let himself get involved with questions in the first place, since he imagines himself, perhaps as an adherent of a religious faith, to be in possession of the truth. In such Cases, which are not at all rare, passion for the "classical" and for "humanism" is even more fateful than naked ignorance of this "cultural