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Classics at Cambridge:Steps towards Greek and Latin

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If before applying to university youwould like to try your hand at learn-ing Latin and studying the ancientGreeks and Romans, then sign up forour ...

CLASSICS TASTER DAY

on Saturday 22 June 2013.

The programme will include threeLatin classes and two lectures bylecturers at the University of Cambridge.

Financial assistance with the cost of travel is available on a first come,first served basis.

For further details, see

www.classics.cam.ac.uk/4year

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Free taster day

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At Cambridge, Classics is the degreethat allows you to study the lan-guages and cultures of the AncientGreeks and Romans. It brings togeth-er the study of language, linguistics,literature, history, philosophy, artand archaeology.

Cambridge has some of the mostcommitted teachers in the world. Allbelieve strongly that the study of the ancient world is both fascinatingin itself and provides knowledge andskills of life-long relevance for theirstudents.

We shall come to the details of thecourse later, but, first, why might it

be for you?

Studying Classics at Cambridge

Dr Christopher Whitton teaching on theFaculty lawn

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The Faculty of Classics at Cambridgewants the most intelligent and moti-vated applicants for its courses,whatever their background. Of course, entry to any top university iscompetitive, and we do not have thespace to take all the students we

should like to have. But if you havethe drive and ability to make themost of our courses and to hold yourown with other top students in thecountry, then we shall do our best tofind a place for you.

You do not need to have studiedLatin or Ancient Greek at school tostudy Classics at University.Cambridge has a four-year course inwhich you study both Greek andLatin from scratch. We enable thoseon this course to get beyond ‘A’

level standard in Latin by the end of their first year, and beyond ‘A’ levelstandard in Greek by the end of their second year. These studentscan then compete on level termswith those who have studied Latin to‘A’ level at school (such students areeligible only for a three-yearcourse). For more information on appli-cations, see www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/

undergraduate/apply/

Our students

Dr Rosanna Omitowoju teaching a Latin class

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Q How do I know if I am good wit h lan- guages?

A If your school teaches French orSpanish or Italian or German, you may

have studied one of these subjectsalready and know that you are good atlanguages. But if you have not had thechance to study any languages, or if you are uncertain about whether you

will take to Latin, why not sign up forour taster day, on which we invitethose interested to Cambridge? Formore details see page 2 of thisbrochure.

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Alex Rutterford , a 4-year student, asks:

In what University course could you, inthe space of a single week, study poetry,

politics, gender issues, war, prehistory,oratory, sculpture, the evolution of lan-

guage, and the earliest theory of atoms? I think it is fairly safe to say that such amix is unique to Classics. And the crown-ing glory of the four-year course, is thatyou learn two languages, in two years,

from scratch, taught by world experts.

As a 6th former, making my University applications, I wondered if I was theright 'type' for Classics, but now I realisethere's no such thing. With a willingnessto learn, a passion for the ancient world,and the amazing support you receive at

Cambridge, the four-year course can giveyou access to so many things you'venever had the chance to study before.I can't pretend it's not a challenge,but it’s definitely an enjoyable one.

Kerry Higgins is another current 4-year student:

Studying the 4-year course at Cambridgehas opened up a whole new world tome. Literally. It's challenging, but thecourse really is something unique and one to be proud of studying.

You get the opportunity to study Latinand Greek to the same level as peoplewho've been doing it for years. It's sorewarding for these ancient texts, previ-ously inaccessible, to unfold before your eyes as you gradually get a grip on thelanguage.

But you don't just get that: art and architecture, philosophy, philology and

history are also all wrapped up into onelittle/HUGE Classics bundle (as I said:challenging!). You'll sit down one morn-ing and translate Plato's concept of thesoul, then next you'll be panicking about

What students say

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dropping the ancient Mycenaean potthat's in your hands!

It really is an incredible, fascinating

course and something I never thought I'd be doing. And your teachers give you allthe support you need.

Being at the same college, NataliaKim and Emily Schurr are regularlysupervised together. They write:

Supervisions have been the mostrewarding part of our academicexperience of Cambridge.

You get a chance to voice your own opin-

ions about issues raised in the lectures -it's a really important thinking processthat prevents you from just writingdown what other people think.

It's also essential to have a balanceof contribution between the super-vision partners - then you can really

get a debate going.

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LatinLatin was the language not only of the Romans but of much literatureand other writing until the sixteenthcentury. Without Latin no one canproperly study the evidence forEuropean history up to that time.

Ancient GreekGreek is the oldest European lan-guage still spoken for which recordssurvive. Many modern genres (e.g.tragedy, comedy, history, lyric) werefounded by the Greeks.

Ancient cultureWe offer a high-powered training inthese languages to make them gate-ways to the whole of the ancientworld. So much in ancient culturestimulates thought about mattersacutely relevant today. Here aresome examples.

Are there divine forces that controlthe universe?

Are they just? What if they are positivelymalevolent towards humanity? Whatthen can humans hope to achieve? Theseare just some of the questions that arisefrom the study of Greek tragedy.

Will we be remembered after wehave died? Is the memorial that comes frombeing a hero worth the sacrifice of having a short life? Should a seniorsoldier put his army in dangerbecause of a quarrel with its badly-behaving commander? These aresome of the matters at issue inHomer's magnificent epic, the Iliad .

Can imperialism be justified? Are the sacrifices of a few worthwhile for the greater good of themany? These are questions one mayask from reading Virgil's Aeneid .Was the great Greek philosopherPlato right to think that there is a

fixed objective standard of goodnessand justice? Or was he wrong, anddo we define goodness and justiceas suits us?

Why the ancient world matters

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How should democracy function? How should municipal and local gov-

ernment relate to central govern-ment? Where better to start studying theseimportant questions than with theGreeks, who first introduced rule by

some of the people, and theRomans, who managed to govern

their empire only because of thehelp of local authorities.

Don’t imagine that the world of theGreeks and the Romans occupied only a

very restricted space and time-span. TheRomans came to dominate the whole of

western Europe. And a well-trained clas-sicist is able to read Greek literaturewritten between 700 BC and AD 600,that is a span of 1,300 years , longerthan from today to Alfred the Great!

The Cambridge Greek Play, Agamemnon Discovering the antiquities of Rome

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Teaching through the languages

If you come to study Classics atCambridge you will have to take coursesin Greek and Latin literature.

We believe that you cannot really getfully to grips with a culture unless youhave learnt its language. Besides, thefamous literature of the ancient world is

appreciated better by reading it in theoriginal, and historical evidence is evalu-ated better if you do not have to dependon the translations of others.

You will also be introduced to, andbe able to take courses in, two of:

Ancient History ,•Classical Art and Archaeology ,•

Ancient Philosophy , and•Classical Linguistics .•

Course content

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Year 1

Your first year is preliminary: in ityou focus on learning Latin .

Teaching is intensive (it has to be!)but has been carefully designed foradult learners. As your skillsimprove, you will move from coursebooks to Latin texts by authors suchas Cicero and Ovid.

Crucially, learning the language isdone within the context of learningabout Roman Culture more broadly.

Towards the end of the year we shallstart you off on learning AncientGreek .

You will also attend lectures andsupervisions (called 'tutorials' inmany other universities) on Greekand Roman Literature , AncientHistory , Art and Archaeology ,Ancient Philosophy and Linguistics .

In the summer vacation we run a

two-week residential course thatwill enable you to start moving for-wards very briskly with your Greek.

Year 2

In the second year , you will jointhose who have newly arrived withA-level Latin or equivalent and takewhat we call 'Part IA'.

You will continue to receive addi-tional Latin tuition, and you willcontinue with the Ancient Greekthat you have started: we shall bebuilding up your reading skills inboth languages through study of aselected schedule of ancientauthors.

You will attend more lectures andsupervisions on Greek and RomanLiterature, Ancient History, Art and

Archaeology, Ancient Philosophy andLinguistics and will decide whichtwo of the last four options are foryou.

Year 3

In your third year (Part IB), you willbe reading a wider range of ancient

authors in both Greek and Latin.

In addition, you will be deepeningyour study of whichever you havechosen from Ancient History, AncientPhilosophy, Art and Archaeology orLinguistics.

Students taking part in excavations in Thwing, Yorkshire

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Year 4

For most students the fourth and finalyear (Part II) is intellectually the most

exciting, because in this year it is pos-sible to specialise and study in greaterdepth.

You have to take either four papersor write a thesis and take threepapers. Most students now write athesis, because it is a wonderfulopportunity to explore in a 10,000word extended essay almost anyaspect of the ancient world thatinterests them.

And the number of options on offeramong the papers is vast. There arealways four on offer from the lectur-ers in Ancient Literature, AncientHistory, and Art and Archaeology,while the Ancient Philosophers andLinguists offer three. Additionally,the Faculty has a long tradition of offering interdisciplinary papers thatcut across the traditional boundariesof subjects within Classics.

Subjects currently on offer include:Homer's Odyssey ; Virgil's Aeneid ;Sophocles' tragedies; Ovid'sMetamorphoses ; the study of the

manuscripts of Sophocles andCatullus; Plato; Aristotle; God andAnti-God in the ancient world; Greekdemocracy and its legacies;Carthage and Rome; Knowledge,Wealth, and Power in the RomanEmpire; The Transformation of theRoman World, AD 284-476; The Artof Collecting (in) Greece and Rome;Aegean Pre-History; The Poetics of Classical Art; Cities in the RomanEmpire; The Elements of ComparativeLinguistics; Alexander's Legacy: Greekas a world language; Latin and itsneighbours; Idols? Imagining the godsand heroes in the Greco-RomanWorld; Prostitutes and Saints.

Or you may borrow a paper fromanother discipline: the Tragedy paperof the English Faculty has proved pop-ular, as have papers in early Christianthought or Political thought.

EmploymentBecause Classics is a challengingdegree undertaken by intelligent,motivated and adventurous people,those who have graduated in it arehighly sought after by employers.

Our students go into a diverse rangeof stimulating careers from banking,law, management consultancy andthe civil service to political or

sports journalism, marketing,drama, education and academia.

A recent independent study of major employers confirmed theirhigh opinion of Classicists as poten-tial employees: they know how towork hard, are accurate and effi-cient, take new tasks in their strideand can master situations intelli-

gently. Above all they can talk artic-ulately and argue coherently.

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How we teach is as important aswhat we teach.

All students in Classics benefit fromtuition which is organised centrally bythe Faculty and, on a more individualbasis, by the college (every student at

Cambridge belongs to a college).Colleges also provide you with a

Director of Studies in Classics, who willhelp you maximise your potential.

This variety of provision allows us tooffer a unique level of care and flex-

ibility. Lectures are offered on allparts of the course as well as insome areas that cut across disci-plines, while classes (especially inPart II) allow you to debate issuesand formulate your own arguments.

Likewise, throughout your degree,college-teaching or 'supervision'offers you the chance to study theancient world in depth, often empha-sizing different aspects of the subjectfrom those covered in lectures.

The format of supervisions differsaccording to college. Often you willwrite an essay in advance and joinwith your supervisor and up to three

other students to discuss it. There isa real opportunity to work on eachindividual's intellectual develop-ment. Supervisions train you to thinkcritically and independently.

How we teach

A history supervision with Professor Mary Beard

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The Museum of ClassicalArchaeology on the first floor of theClassics Faculty building houses oneof the finest collection of plaster-casts of classical sculpture in theworld and has an excellent potteryor 'sherd' collection. It is regularlyused in Art and Archaeology teach-ing. Many pictures in this brochurewere taken in it.

The library downstairs completesthe picture. Not only is it a wonder-ful and up-to-date resource for pri-mary and secondary literature on

open access, but it is light and airy.Undergraduates, graduates and lec-turing staff find it a friendly andproductive place to study.

Resources

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FACULTY OF CLASSICSUNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGESIDGWICK AVENUECAMBRIDGE

CB3 9DA

tel: 01223 335151 or 335960e-mail: schools.liaison@classics.cam.ac.ukweb: http://www.classics.cam.ac.uk