People, Places and Histories of the Graeco-Roman World

In this course we will survey events in antiquity from Homer through to the Roman Emperor Constantine. On the way we will explore the world of fifth century Athens, gaining an insight into the society that established democracy and move on to appreciate Alexander's campaigns and the formation of the Hellenistic kingdoms after his death. We will also turn to the west of the Mediterranean Sea and investigate the development of Rome from a small town to the capital of a large Empire, its constitutional transformations and the social impact of those changes on people's sense of place and identity.

15 points

CLAS111; CLAS112; CLAS113

Greek and Latin for Absolute Beginners

This course introduces Greek, Latin grammar to students by way of English grammar. At the end of the course students will understand the most important basic grammatical concepts in Greek and Latin and will have a working vocabulary of about 75 words in each language. They will be prepared to continue more intensive study in Greek and/or Latin.

15 points

CLAS134, CLAS144, CLAS 143, CLAS 131

Sport and Leisure in the Ancient World

A study of the impact of sport and leisure on various aspects of ancient life and their modern reconstructions. Note: course requirements in this combined 200 and 300-level course will be appropriate to the level at which the student is enrolled.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CLAS, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS319

Greek Philosophy

The intellectual rigour, which informed the Greeks’ speculations on life, the universe and everything, changed our understanding of the world forever. In this course we survey the origins and development of western philosophy in the Greek world, focusing on the 6th to the 4th centuries BC when many areas that preoccupy philosophers today were analysed and explored by the Greeks, including cosmology, physics, ethics, politics, psychology and more. Figures such as Socrates, Plato and many others before and after them will feature.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CLAS or PHIL, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS324; PHIL314; PHIL224

Intermediate Greek Authors 1

A study of selected Greek texts and unseen passages, with emphasis on the development of knowledge of the language.

15 points

CLAS135, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS231

Intermediate Latin Authors A

The aim, by the end of the course, is to equip students with the skills and knowledge to enable them to read actual Latin texts and great authors such as Catullus, Vergil, Ovid, Cicero, Tacitus and others who remain amongst the most influential and important literary figures of the ancient world.

15 points

CLAS145, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS241

Roman Social History

A study of Roman society, focussing on the day-to-day life of Rome's inhabitants. Topics include familial relationships, health and wellbeing, urban infrastructure, floods, fires, travel, among others.

30 points

Any 30 points at 200 level from CLAS, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS307, CLAS407 (in 2003, 2008, 2010), CLAS425

Ancient Laughter

A study of Greek and Roman Comedy and Roman Satire in terms of the performability, thematics and characterization of the former and the social commentary and humour of both of these related genres.

30 points

Any 30 points at 200 level from CLAS, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS306, CLAS321, CLAS409

Myth, Power and Identity in the Graeco-Roman World

In this course students will consider how the Greeks and the Romans thought of themselves and others in their mythology and social power structures. Students will gain an understanding of ancient cosmic world-views, gender issues, colonisation and identity in Archaic and Classical Greece and Augustan Rome, and the relevance of such ideas now. Students will read, analyse and interpret ancient literary texts (selections from epic, tragedy, etc.) and material culture (art and architecture) that depict Greek and Roman myths as well as expressing ancient political and social views.

15 points

CLAS104; CLAS105

Beginner's Greek

An introduction to Ancient Greek grammar and to the reading of Ancient Greek texts, building on from the material learnt in CLAS151. Students, in this course, concentrate on Ancient Greek only, learning the language of fifth century Athens through the reading of texts. The dialect we learn is Attic Greek, which, when learnt, will enable access to other Greek dialects including New Testament Greek.

15 points

CLAS151, or by approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS131

Beginners' Latin

An introduction to Latin grammar and to reading Latin, following on from CLAS151.

15 points

CLAS151 or by approval of the Head of Department

CLAS143

Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean World

This course introduces the basic principles of archaeology as a discipline. It will focus on the main categories of evidence for Classical Archaeology and will use examples drawn from sites in the Mediterranean basin from 3000 BCE- 400 CE. The course will also use artefacts in the collections of the Teece Museum and the Canterbury Museum.

15 points

Any 15 points from 100 level in CLAS, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA, or 60 points at 100 level from any other bachelor's degree.

Alexander the Great

A survey of the career of Alexander the Great (336 to 323 BC) with special attention to problems of source interpretation.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CLAS, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS313

Intermediate Greek Authors 2

Continued study of Greek literature and unseen passages, with emphasis on the development of knowledge of the language. This involves reading important texts by authors such as Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Homer and others, as well as analysing these more fully in their cultural and literary context.

15 points

CLAS234, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS231

Intermediate Latin Authors B

Continued study of selected Latin texts and unseen passages, with emphasis on the development of knowledge of the language.

15 points

CLAS244, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS241

Concepts of Art and Literature from Homer to Aristotle

Today, all over the world, Greek dramas continue to be performed and adapted; Homer’s epics are forever finding new audiences through new translations, adaptations and interpretation on film and TV; and Greek art attracts millions of people worldwide to galleries, museums and archaeological sites. But what did these works mean to the ancients themselves? In what ways did the Greeks link visual and verbal artforms to other issues such as psychology, ethics, politics and desire? Are modern ways of viewing these ancient works compatible with ancient responses to them or are there vast differences in post-antique ways of reading ancient literary and material culture? If so, what are these differences? Some answers to these and other related questions can be found in looking at ancient writings about the visual and verbal arts in Archaic and Classical Greece and reconsidering these artworks in the light of such writings. This course analyses Greek views of visual imagery (primarily paintings and statues), poetry and rhetoric in the Archaic and Classical Greek world (c. 750-320 BC). Over this period many of the most influential developments in these media were achieved, and critical thinking about art, language and poetry first burgeoned, particularly in the fifth century. In fact, the very terms that have become central to our way of categorising and thinking about visual, verbal and aural artforms - music, poetry, lyric, epic, tragedy, comedy, drama, rhetoric, graphics, mimesis, icon, idol - are all Greek in origin and again indicate the importance of the Greeks’ achievements as practitioners and theorists in these areas, as well as raising issues that speak to us now in the 21st century.

30 points

Any 30 points at 200 level from CLAS, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

CLAS315, CLAS454

Advanced Greek Authors

Continued study of Greek literature and unseen passages, with emphasis on the development of knowledge of the language. This involves reading important texts by authors such as Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Homer and others as well as analysing these more fully in their cultural and literary context.

30 points

CLAS235, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS331

Advanced Latin Authors

Continued advanced study of Latin texts and unseen passages.

30 points

CLAS245, or subject to approval of the Head of Department.

CLAS341