Year 9
Greek
Ancient Greek is available without extra charge out of class time, both to beginners and the experienced, using Wilding's Greek for Beginners. Progress is very carefully tailored to suit the needs of individual students.
Latin
Students can decide to continue with or begin Latin in the Year 9. The course used is the Cambridge Latin Course. Students who take Common Entrance or Scholarship Latin begin at Unit IIIA; others start at the most appropriate Unit. Beginners are welcome in Year 9 and have achieved subsequent success at both GCSE and Advanced Level. Emphasis is placed on reading and comprehension throughout, and linguistic skills are mainly practised through the exercise of translation. A varied background course in Literature in translation and Roman Civilisation is provided.
Years 10 & 11
Greek [OCR]
The course aims to combine a systematic training in the basics of the Greek language with the appreciation of Greek literature and culture. Teaching is outside the timetable, and progress is closely tailored to the individual student's needs. The examination is as follows:
- Language (50%) : This is assessed by means of an easier translation (15%), a comprehension (15%) and a harder translation (20%).
- Literature (30%) : A Greek play is studied, about 150 lines of which are read in Greek and the rest in English. The present text is Euripides, Ion where mother and son, in ignorance of each other's identity, try to kill each other.
- Culture (20%) : The present topic is Greek religion. Study is made of the main Greek gods, temples, sacrifices, festivals and oracles.
Latin [OCR]
The School's Classics Project Latin course is a radical approach to the subject, where the emphasis is firmly placed on the reading and understanding of Latin texts. The course book followed is the Cambridge Latin course, and part of Cambridge Latin Anthology forms the set text. The reading of Latin texts in the original is a valuable and enjoyable experience.
The examination comes in four parts. These comprise the prose set text (25%), background civilisation (20%), the verse set text (25%) and passages for unseen comprehension and translation (30%).
Set texts studied in the past include:
- Catullus: The romance between the poet and his girlfriend
- Tacitus: Nero does away with his mother
- Ovid: Icarus flies too close to the sun
- Pliny: The eruption of Vesuvius
Sixth Form
Classical Civilisation [OCR]
The aim of the course is to give students an appreciation of ancient culture, history and thought through the reading of works of ancient literature in translation, works that are important for the understanding of all European culture. The courses are assessed by a mixture of context questions and examination essays. Each of the topics is worth one-third of the total assessment.
1. Greek and Roman Epic
- Homer: The Iliad and/or The Odyssey. These are the oldest works of European literature, the final product of a timeless bardic tradition. The material will be familiar to many - the Trojan War and the travels and triumphant return of Odysseus.
- Virgil: The Aeneid. This is probably the most elegant work of propaganda ever composed, striving to give mythical credibility to the despotism of the Emperor Augustus, and the entire Roman nation.
2. Tragedy
The Greek family is seen at war with itself, leading to a high body count and social mayhem that soap operas would not dare to include in their scripts. A study of three plays by Euripides is combined with a study of Aeschylus and Sophocles.
3. Comedy
Aristophanes, the Greek version of Spitting Image, wipes the floor with Athenian politicians of his own time, in an effort to promote peace with the Spartans. The later plays of Aristophanes are also studied, leading to a study of the later Greek comedian, Menander. A major theme is the drift in Greek comedy from biting political satire through social comment to situation comedy.
Greek (Classical) [OCR]
Classical Greek may be studied in the Sixth form. Most students continuing at this level study for AS Greek. The lessons are often given outside the timetable. The scheme of assessment is similar to that in Latin, thus the AS course is examined by papers in Set Text (70%) and Translation, defined by a 100 word vocabulary list (30%). Authors recently studied have included Euripides (at the cutting edge of Greek Tragedy), Homer (Odysseus in the Underworld) and Plato (So, What Is Justice?). Candidates have found the pace of the AS course comfortable.
Latin [OCR]
The aim of the course is to give students an appreciation of Roman culture and thought through the study of Latin language and literature. An attempt is made to keep to the more interesting authors and books. Part of the course is devoted to methodical instruction in Latin language, tested in examination by translation (AS 15% and A2 15%) and prose composition (A2 15%). Vocabulary in the AS translation is defined by a 1000 word vocabulary list. The other part is devoted to the study of set texts drawn from Latin literature (AS 35% and A2 20%). Authors commonly studied are:
- Horace : "carpe diem", "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori". This is a man who turned the quiet life into an art form.
- Catullus: love poet and lampoonist.
- Ovid: probably the cleverest and wittiest Roman poet.
- Virgil: the Aeneid is one of the greatest works of world literature; his pastoral poetry is merely attractive.
- Cicero: the orator who could twist any argument to serve his own ends.
- Tacitus: a historian who criticised and recounted the evils of the rule of emperors. He also gave us our best account of the campaign of Boudica.
- Seneca: Nero's tutor.