(8 L: Michaelmas; 8 L: Lent; 8 L: Easter)
This set of lectures provides an introduction to Ancient Greek Philosophy. In the Michaelmas term we will look mainly at Plato’s presentation of the figure of Socrates, a presentation that is often inseparable from Plato’s own philosophical views. The lectures will consider how to read and interpret Plato’s ‘Socratic conversations’ philosophically and show how they can be a provocation to further philosophical inquiry. The main texts will be Plato’s Apology , Euthyphro , Meno , Phaedo , Protagoras , Gorgias , and Symposium . Those attending the course are encouraged to read as much as possible of these in advance. A convenient translation, all in one volume, is John Cooper ed. Plato: the complete works (Hackett: Indianapolis, 1997). In the Lent term we will consider two central texts in greater detail: Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. We will consider their respective discussions of happiness and human excellence in relation to their epistemological and metaphysical views. For the Republic , see the translation in Cooper ed. (above); for the Nicomachean Ethics , see Sarah Broadie and Christopher Rowe (transl. and comm.), Nicomachean Ethics (Oxford 2002). In the Easter term we will look at two themes: the Hellenistic philosophies of Epicureanism and Stoicism and Early Greek Philosophy and Science.
| QUINN/BASSO/MARTIN |
The second-century BC Greek writer Polybius, like many in antiquity, compared Roman hegemony over the Mediterranean with previous empires, which had already come and gone, as well as the current Carthaginian competition. This course examines imperial rule from the Persian empire in the sixth century BC to Late Antiquity, when Roman dominion in the East were threatened by the imperial successors of the Persians centred in what is now Iran. Issues to be explored will include how empires was created in the first place; the ways in which they both exploited the territories subjected to them, and sought to unify their empires under central control; and how the capitals of imperial powers reflected their imperial status.
The first part will cover the rise and fall of empires from Achaemenid Persia through those of Athens, Sparta and Macedon, to the formation of the Hellenistic kingdoms after Alexander. The second part will explore the rise of Roman power in conflict with Carthage and the Hellenistic Kingdoms, its consolidation and then challenge from Sassanian Persia.
Introductory bibliography: A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: a corpus of sources from the Achaemenid period (2007); P.J. Rhodes, The Athenian Empire (Greece & Rome New Surveys in the Classics 17, 1985); P. Low ed., The Athenian Empire (2008); A.B. Bosworth, Conquest and empire. The reign of Alexander the Great (1988); G. Shipley, The Greek world after Alexander, 323-30 B.C . (2000); C. Champion, Roman Imperialism: Readings and Sources (2004); A. Lintott, Imperium Romanum: Politics and Administration (1993); P. Garnsey & R. Saller, The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture , 2nd edn. (2015); E. Dench, Empire and Political Cultures in the Roman World (2018); M. Lavan, Slaves to Rome: Paradigms of Empire in Roman Culture (2013); F. Millar, The Roman Empire and its neighbours (1967).
| KOLBECK |
Our connection to the ancient past is indirect and delicate – resting on the proper interpretation of a limited number of small, unevenly distributed, and distorted reflections. This course will introduce this range of reflections – our ancient sources. We will explore the various types of evidence used by ancient historians, considering the pitfalls of each, the kind of history a particular source might produce, and the ways in which historians can critically assess the geographical, chronological, and social perspectives and imbalances of the material. How might the questions we ask of literary evidence differ from those we ask of archaeological data? How might inscriptions and documentary sources illuminate the lives of people neglected by other sources? What determines whether an event or period is ‘well documented’ or not? What are the difficulties and opportunities latent in bringing modern perspectives to ancient material? Students will develop a strong understanding of the landscape of ancient sources, as well as an appreciation for the fragility of the thread which connects modern observers and antiquity
| REMPEL ET AL |
This course provides an introduction to the scope and potential of the art and archaeology of the Greek and Roman worlds. The first 8 lectures will offer an overview of the questions, methods, and themes of classical 'art' and archaeology, and introduce the importance and inter-relationship of these strands of knowledge for studying the Greek and Roman worlds. The following 16 lectures familiarise students with the range of material culture produced by different peoples across the chronological and geographical span of Classical Antiquity. The focus of these lectures is on key sites, issues and approaches.
Suggested readings (double-starred [**] items are accessible online through iDiscover): ** S. Alcock and R. Osborne, Classical Archaeology, 2nd edn. (Oxford, 2011); M. Beard and J. Henderson, Classical Art from Greece to Rome (Oxford, 2001); A. Claridge, Rome: Oxford Archaeological Guides (Oxford, 2010); J. Elsner, The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450 , 2nd edn. (Oxford, 2018); R. Neer, The Art and Archaeology of the Greek World , 2nd edn. (London, 2019); R. Osborne, Archaic and Classical Greek Art (Oxford, 1998); **C. Shelmerdine (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge, 2008); ** N.J. Spivey, Greek Sculpture (Cambridge, 2013); N.J. Spivey and M.J. Squire, Panorama of the Classical World (2004); S. Tuck, A History of Roman Art (Chichester, 2015); J. Whitley, The Archaeology of Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2001).
Classical and Comparative Philology and Linguistics : 16 lectures (8 MT and 8 LT). The course is designed to introduce the systematic study of language in general and of the classical languages in particular, with the aim of supporting students’ language learning and consolidation while explaining both the concepts and techniques of modern descriptive and theoretical linguistics and the ways in which these can be fruitfully applied to the analysis of Greek and Latin. There will be discussion of selected testimonia from ancient authors and analysis of passages and examples taken from mainstream authors. An advanced knowledge of Greek or Latin is not presupposed.
Subject to Directors of Studies’ approval, supervisions will be organised centrally to complement the lectures.
Those who plan to offer one or more of the Group E papers (Historical and Comparative Linguistics) in Part II of the Tripos are advised to attend at least some of the lectures for linguistics in Part IA, even if they do not intend to answer linguistics questions in Paper 6 of Part IA, or to take a linguistics paper in Part IB.
Introductory readings:
Students may find the following helpful as introductory or follow-up reading for many of the concepts introduced throughout the whole course:
Larry Trask, Language: The Basics (Routledge 1999, 2nd edn.); Ralph Fasold & Jeff Connor-Linton (eds), An Introduction to Language and Linguistics (Cambridge, 2014, 2nd edn.); James Clackson, Language and Society in the Greek and Roman Worlds (Cambridge, 2016); Coulter George, How Dead Languages Work (Oxford, 2020); Egbert J. Bakker (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language (Blackwell, 2010); James Clackson (ed.), A Companion to the Latin Language (Blackwell, 2011).
| THOMPSON |
Ancient Greek and Latin are “dead” languages, meaning that we only have written evidence for these languages. These four lectures will explore how we can know what they sounded like. To this end, the concept of “sound” as an element of the language will be explained before discussing the sounds of Greek and Latin individually and as systems.
Recommended reading:
J. Clark, C. Yallop and J. Fletcher, An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Blackwell 2006
W.S. Allen, Vox Graeca, Cambridge 1987
W.S. Allen Vox Latina, Cambridge 1978
| MEISSNER |
Ancient Greek and Latin are “dead” languages, meaning that we only have written evidence for these languages. In these lectures we will explore the relationship between speech and writing. We will discuss the nature and the workings of the alphabet and then look at its origin, development and spread, and discuss how it is used by putting it in a linguistic, historical and cultural context. We will then read a number of primary sources (inscriptions) and literary texts in order to see how all of this works in practice.
Introductory reading:
Peter Daniels and William Bright, The World’s Writing Systems New York 1996
Andrew Robinson, The Story of Writing, London 2007
James T. Hooker, Ancient writing from cuneiform to the alphabet, London 1990
Alison E. Cooley, The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, Cambridge 2012
Arthur Geoffrey Woodhead, A Study of Greek Inscriptions, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1981
| CLACKSON/RAM-PRASAD |
In these lectures we explore the Greek and Latin languages as systems; systems that despite their considerable similarities and still show a great number of differences. How come fero and φέρω look the same in the first-person singular but completely different in the third-person plural? Why does Latin have more cases than Greek, but no aorist or optative? And what are all these cases for anyway? By analysing phonology, morphology and syntax we shall try to come to better understand why Greek and Latin work the way they do. We shall illustrate the lectures with selected passages from the Target Texts, and highlight the many different ways in which people spoke and wrote Greek and Latin.
Leonard Palmer, The Latin Language, London 1954 (older, but still useful; many reprints)
Michael Weiss, Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd edition, 2020 (advanced, but a useful place to look for particular details)
Leonard Palmer, The Greek Language, Bristol Classical Press, 1996
Stephen Colvin, A Brief History of Ancient Greek, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014
| HATZIMICHALI |
This course will consist of a variable number of lectures each year, focused on different topics. The lectures will introduce students to some key aspects of the history of Classics as a discipline, and the many ways in which the study of Greece and Rome has participated and continues to participate in live issues of politics, power and identity in the modern world. Every Caucus will offer at least one lecture for the module. Essay questions reflecting this module will be set in IA Paper 6.
The 2024/25 schedule of lectures will be the follwing:
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Exhibition awarded 5 stars
23 July 2024
The new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Paris 1924: Sport, Art, and the Body , Co-curated by Classics' Carrie Vout has been awarded 5 stars by the Guardian. "Timed to coincide with next week’s return of the Olympics to the French capital – is a revelation from first to last. You soon begin to realise that those Games...
Celebrating ECR successes
The Faculty of Classics would like to congratulate our Early Career Researchers who have secured new positions elsewhere in the UK and abroad. We thank Il-Kweon, Michael, Tom, Ludo, and Lea for all their contributions to our Classics community and wish them the very best for the next steps in their careers. Dr Il-Kweon Sir...
Dr Richard Duncan-Jones FBA 1937-2024
19 May 2024
The Faculty is saddened by news of the death of Dr Richard Duncan-Jones FBA FSA. He had been a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College since 1963 where he was a college lecture in Classics and Director of Studies for many years.
New appointment in Latin literature
15 May 2024
The Faculty is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Elena Giusti as a new Assistant Professor of Latin literature. She will join the Faculty in the new academic year. Elena will be joining from the University of Warwick, where she is currently Associate Professor of Latin . She works broadly on Roman literature and...
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The second essay format I teach my students is the classical argument. It is more advanced than the simple argument for a number of reasons.. To begin with, the thesis in a classical argument is debatable in a consequential way, meaning there is something at stake.That something might be political, social, religious, or any number of things that affect the broader world.
Learn how to write a classical essay based on ancient oratorical structuring, which consists of six parts: exordium, narratio, partitio, confirmatio, refutatio, and peroratio. See an 18th century example of a classical oration by Jonathon Swift and a guide to writing one.
Learn about the history and principles of classical argument, including the four rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos) and the five components of a classical argument (exordium, narratio, proposito, confirmatio, and peroratio). Narratio is the context or background of the topic that provides the reader with the significance and background of the issue.
Learn how to write a persuasive argument using the Aristotelian or classical model developed by Aristotle. Find out the basic format, strategies, and examples of this style of argument.
Learn how to write an Aristotelian or classical argument, a style of argument developed by Aristotle. Follow the basic format of introducing the issue, presenting your case, addressing the opposition, providing your proof, and concluding.
Learn how to write an Aristotelian or classical argumentative essay, a style developed by Aristotle. See the basic format, strategies, and techniques, and a sample paper with annotations.
The purpose of Essay 3 is to build on your research skills to take a position in an argument. For this assignment, you will write a classical argument based on an issue that is arguable and defendable. Ultimately, an audience will be persuaded by effective rhetorical appeals and sound evidence.
Learn how to write a persuasive argument using the strategies of Aristotle, such as ethos, pathos, and logos. Find out the basic format, modes of persuasion, and sample essay for this style of argument.
Learn how to structure and write a classical argument paper with five main parts: introduction, narration, confirmation, refutation and conclusion. Find suggestions and strategies for developing each section and examples of language choices and evidence.
You must submit invention techniques as part of the final essay grade. Plan and organize your essay: After the invention process, it is important to begin planning the organizational pattern for the essay. Planning includes identifying your thesis, establishing main ideas (or topic sentences) for each paragraph, supporting each paragraph with ...
Classical Essay Structure The following videos provide an explanation of the classical model of structuring a persuasive argument. You can access the slides alone, without narration, here .
Learn how to structure an argumentative essay using three formats: Classical, Rogerian, and Toulmin. See examples and templates for each format and tips on how to organize your thesis, evidence, and reasoning.
The following videos provide an explanation of the classical model of structuring a persuasive argument. You can access the slides alone, without narration, here . This page titled 12.1: Classical Essay Structure is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lumen Learning via source content that was edited to ...
Learn how to use the six-part classical arrangement for persuasive argument, based on the example of Cicero, a Roman orator and philosopher. The web page explains each part of the arrangement and provides a simplified diagram.
This essay format divides the essay into six sections. Section one of the classical rhetoric essay format: Exordium--in which the writer introduces his topic using anecdotes, analogies, quotes, statistics, short stories, comparisons, etc. in order to catch the reader's attention and connect the reader with the topic.Remember that in the exordium the writer proceeds from the general to the more ...
Classical Essay Structure The following videos provide an explanation of the classical model of structuring a persuasive argument. You can access the slides alone, without narration, here .
Learn how to write a classical argument with a clear thesis statement and six sections: introduction, definition, support, concession, refutation, and conclusion. See examples, tips, and variations for each section.
Learn how to use three methods of organizing your argument: Toulmin, Rogerian, and Classical. Each method has a different format and purpose for presenting your claims, data, warrants, counterclaims, and rebuttals.
The following videos provide an explanation of the classical model of structuring a persuasive argument. You can access the slides alone, without narration, here.
The classical model is also a good choice for timed writing (e.g., as when answering essay questions on tests) because of its simplicity and compatibility with the five-paragraph essay model. Writers often choose the classical model when their primary goal is persuasion, and because counterarguments can be effectively addressed using this model.
Learn how to write an argumentative essay in a classical style, following Aristotle's principles. See a sample paper with annotations and APA 7 guidelines.
To introduce the variety of critical methodologies possible in the study of classical antiquity and major current trends in scholarship. To develop a sense of the importance of classical antiquity and its study for the modern world. To develop skills in writing research essays. Scope and structure of the examination paper 2024-25
The following videos provide an explanation of the classical model of structuring a persuasive argument. You can access the slides alone, without narration, here . 8.1: Classical Essay Structure is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.