Classics

The College normally accepts 5 undergraduates a year to read Classics. The nature of the courses available depends on whether, and to what extent, the applicant is already competent in Latin and/or Greek (see the entry on the University website).

The College has tutors for all three main branches of the course. Dr Scullion's specialities are Greek religion, Greek tragedy, and the history of Greek literature, Professor Quinn’s Hellenistic and Roman history and Dr Peramatzis' ancient philosophy. The College has a useful collection of classical books and is near the Sackler library, the Ashmolean Museum, the Institute of Archaeology and the new Classics Centre.

The usual course, after the Honour Moderations exam in the fifth term, is to proceed to 'Greats' (Classics Finals), for which a combination of topics is studied, drawn from Language and Literature (including Philology), History, Philosophy and Archaeology. In Philosophy a wide range of optional subjects, both ancient and modern, is available. After Moderations undergraduates may also be permitted to change to other degrees, especially to Classics and Modern Languages where, for example, Modern Greek or Italian may be studied from scratch. Latin or Greek may also be studied as a subsidiary to a modern language, the first examination being the Modern Languages Prelim. The College welcomes applicants in Classics & English.

Ancient History may be studied either in Classics or in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History (see separate page), or in combination with History in Ancient and Modern History, a course similar in pattern to that of the History degree (see under 'History'). This is an attractive course for those with some knowledge of classics, whose primary interests are historical.  Professor Quinn is happy to discuss these options with potential applicants.

Full details of the courses are available on the university website at www.ox.ac.uk/courses and the Classics website at www.classics.ox.ac.uk