Discover the fragments of the lost love poet of Lesbos, learn how to read Greek sculpture and make an odyssey across mythical lands in Classical Civilisation – and more!
Subject Information
Classical Civilisation allows students to immerse themselves in the Greek and Roman culture, regardless of their previous experience studying the ancient world.
It is a wide-ranging subject involving the study of literature, art and philosophy, which in turn reveal insights into ancient thought and ideas, and their ancient historical context. You don’t need to know any languages, since all the texts are in translation. It also doesn’t matter if you haven’t studied the Greeks and Romans since primary school; all you need is an interest in the ancient world and its cultures.
We firmly believe in giving students as many opportunities beyond the classroom as possible. We will aim to run our popular trip abroad, to either Greece or Italy. We will also be attending regular lectures, visiting museums both in and beyond Cambridge and participating in national competitions for Classical Civilisation students. Students are also offered the opportunity to study a crash-course in Classical Greek, earning them an extra GCSE by the end of their time with us.
Course Details
Students look at the Odyssey and the Aeneid as part of the compulsory World of the Hero module. These texts encourage students to consider some core concepts that remain relevant today; What is masculinity? What is it to be a hero? What is the nature of the gods?
Students will also study Greek Art, focusing on Greek freestanding and architectural sculpture and vases. This gives students an excellent understanding of the development of Western art and allows them to flourish in museum environments (particularly on our regular Classical Civilisation trips).
The third and final module of Classical Civilisation is Love and Relationships. Using ancient philosophy and poetry to analyse ancient ideas about love and relationships, students are encouraged to consider key ethical and personal questions which preoccupy cultural discourse even today.
Classical Civilisation is assessed through a series of extended writing questions, which will be developed and enriched by focused study time alongside super-curricular trips, study days and lectures.
Subject Specific Entry Requirements
- Grade 6 in GCSE History.
- or Grade 6 GCSE English Literature / English Language.
Where could Classical Civilisation take me?
We have a wide-range of trips, lectures, museum and theatre visits on offer for Classical Civilisation students at Chesterton.
Classical Civilisation helps students develop analytical skills and an excellent, coherent writing style. It also encourages an appreciation for literature, art, archaeology and more. Because of the broad range of skills and content covered in Classical Civilisation, classicists go on to do all sorts of extraordinary and wonderful things from being publishers, curators, broadcasters, musicians, politicians, writers, documentary makers to footballers and even Nobel Prize winners.
Reading List
Love and Relationships
- In Our Time: Sappho
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pqsk4 - Greek and Roman Love Poetry
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0077744 - Plato’s Symposium
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03mhyzk - ‘Ancient Greece Declassified’ Podcast Series especially: Sappho spotify.com/episode/1v5V1VQ2QhBiBelsb1BUK7
- Introduction to Sappho
youtube.com/watch?v=A9wtqQ0zZi4 - Natalie Haynes Stand Up For Classics, Sappho bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zd8gy
- Ovid
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07756bd - The Emperor’s Babe, Bernardine Evaristo
- Medicus: A Crime Novel of the Roman Empire, Ruth Downie
OCR Recommended Reading
- Freeman, P. (2016) Searching for Sappho, W W Norton & Co Inc
- Goldhill, S. (2004) Love, Sex and Tragedy,
- John Murray Hardie, P. (ed) (2002) Cambridge companion to Ovid, Cambridge University Press
- Lefowitz, M. R. and Fant, M. B. (2005) Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: a sourcebook in translation,
- Duckworth Skinner, M. B. (2013) Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, Wiley Blackwell
- Greek Art
- Mary Beard and John Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome (Oxford University Press, 2001)
- Spivey, N. (1996) Understanding Greek Sculpture. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
- Beard, M. (2010) The Parthenon. London: Profile Books, chapter 2.
Books
- Iliad – Homer
- Odyssey – Homer
- A thousand ships – Natalie Haynes
- The King Must Die – Mary Renault (or anything by Mary Renault!)
- The Silence of the Girls – Pat Barker
- The Song of Troy – Colleen McCullough
- Circe – Madeline Miller
- Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
- Pompeii – Robert Harris
- Boudicea: Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- Lavania by Ursula Le Guin
- The Emperor’s Babe – Bernadine Evaristo
- Medicus: A Crime Novel of the Roman Empire – Ruth Downie
- The Wolf Den Trilogy – Elodie Harper
- Stone Blind – Natalie Haynes
- Children of Jocasta – Natalie Haynes
- Pandora’s Jar – Natalie Haynes
Journals
