Classical Greek

Course summary

Classical Greek preserves the study of texts that have been read (and re-read) for millennia. Our course recognises that you will have moved fast to cover material at GCSE, and consolidation of linguistic understanding is an early focus. Literature lessons focus on nothing less than a critical reading of the defining authors of European thought: Thucydides on Athenian foreign policy and the roots of democracy; Plato and Socrates’ conception of love; a son lost without his father in Homer’s Odyssey; and Sophocles’ masterful exploration of pride and madness at Troy in Ajax Our classes are small, so you receive a lot of individual attention. For the language elements, you learn vocabulary, practise new constructions by translating sentences into and from the classical language and tackle an unseen translation every week. You have to prepare the set texts for each lesson, so you can enter fully into class discussion, and there is a weekly assignment for each literature module, which is either a context question, a short presentation or an essay.