By now, you’ve all met Percy, the chirpy (and adventurous) CA teddy bear. But why is he called Percy? Surely a Classical name would be more appropriate? Why not Archimedes? Caesar? Cleopatra? Sophocles? Ursula? Percy doesn’t sound all that Classical, does it? Well no, but that’s because Percy takes his name from a man whom many regard as the founder of The Classical Association.
In November 1902, John Percival Postgate wrote an article in The Fortnightly Review entitled ‘Are the Classics to go?’His article appeared in response to the education reforms of the day which he felt would threaten the study of Latin and Greek. Postgate was the Editor of Classical Review at the time, and his editorial published in July of the same year includes a stark warning. The upshot of his article in The Fortnightly Review was a series of correspondence resulting in the founding of The Classical Association in December 1903.
Don’t forget, if you’d like a Percy of your very own (moustache not included), he’s available online here.
