Classics

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	Full Time M.A.
	Part Time M.A.
	M.Phil.
	Ph.D.
	New Common Reading Lists
	Old Common Reading Lists
	Individual Lists

Full-Time M.A.

The M.A. degree is earned in either Greek or Latin but students are expected to have completed at least one year of advanced work in the other language; transcripts of undergraduate course work are accepted as evidence that this requirement has been met. An adequate and proven reading knowledge of Greek or Latin is required, as well as the completion of at least one year of advanced work in the other language; students will generally be able to complete the M.A. degree in one academic year. No full-time student may take longer than two years to complete the degree.

Course Requirements: Eight courses, at least 6 of which must be taken for E (graded) credit. E credit courses must include either Greek or Latin 4105, 4106, and 4139. Exemption from Greek or Latin 4139 may be given on the basis of an examination. All entering students must also participate in the workshop on methods in the study of antiquity given during registration week at the beginning of the Fall semester. Candidates who do not intend to proceed beyond the M.A. may substitute a research essay for Greek/Latin 4105 or 4106.

Modern Language Requirement: A reading knowledge of French, Italian or German, to be demonstrated by a written test.

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Part-Time M.A.

The purpose of the part-time M.A. is to provide a period of graduate study in the classics, including research experience, at the same level as that of the full-time M.A. Although the part-time M.A. degree is primarily intended for those who do not expect to continue to the Ph.D. degree, the department is prepared to consider applications from such students upon completion of the part-time M.A.

Requirements: The requirements for the part-time M.A. are the same as those for the full-time M.A., with the exception of the time limit. Part-time students are expected to complete the degree within eight consecutive semesters, but leaves of absence that extend the time limit will be granted in cases in which a student's other obligations conflict unavoidably with attendance at the University. The time limit may also be extended by petition in special circumstances.

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M.Phil.

General Course Requirements: 15 courses for E (graded) credit (including the six required for the M.A.) are required, including Greek and Latin 4105, 4106, 4139; Greek or Latin 4140; and four advanced courses (8000 level or above) in Greek or Latin. Four of the 15 courses may be appropriate offerings given in other departments, normally in ancient history, ancient art and archaeology, or ancient philosophy. Students are expected to meet with the Director of Graduate Studies at the beginning of each semester. Those with insufficient previous study of ancient history in particular will be required, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, to take one or more courses in this area. In cases of doubt, the Director of Graduate Studies decides on the acceptability of specific courses.

Modern Language Requirement: A reading knowledge of French or Italian and German, to be demonstrated by written tests as early as possible in the student's graduate career, and in no case later than the certification examination. This requirement includes competence in one language demonstrated as part of the work for the M.A. degree. Students are also encouraged to learn Italian as early as possible.

Qualification Examination: One four-hour examination (to be taken in two parts on successive days) in the translation of Greek and Latin texts based on a common reading list. The examination will be administered at the beginning of each semester; it must be taken no later than the beginning of a student’s third year of residence, and must be passed no later than the middle of that year.

Certification Examination: Students are required

(i) to complete a written examination on a special author in the secondary language (i.e. the language that is not expected to be the focus of the student’s dissertation). The form and content of the examination are to be determined by the examiner in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. This examination is to be taken no later than the end of a student’s third year of residence.

(ii) to complete a take-home examination (to be completed within a designated period of 48 hours) on the field of the proposed dissertation. The examination will be set and administered by the prospective dissertation supervisor and second reader, on the basis of a reading list of both primary and secondary materials to be approved by the prospective supervisor. The examination is to be taken no later than the middle of a student's fourth year of residence.

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Ph.D.

Within one semester of the completion of requirements for the M.Phil. degree (i.e., by the end of the fourth year of residence), a candidate for the Ph.D. must submit to the supervisory committee a prospectus for the proposed dissertation, to consist of a statement of the topic and a rough outline of both working order and expected structure, in no more than 20 pages, with a short bibliography (no more than 30 titles) of relevant scholarship. It should be noted that all dissertation (i.e. non-teaching) fellowship awards are contingent upon the approval of the dissertation prospectus. The student must present and successfully defend a dissertation, normally on the subject approved by the supervisory committee.

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New Common Reading Lists

(Continuing students are still operating under the old lists.)

Greek

• Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon Aeschylus Agamemnon, Choephoroi
• Alcidamas , On the writers of written speeches
• Apollonios , Argonautica Book III
• Aristophanes , Birds, Frogs
• Aristotle, Poetics, Politics II and III
• Callimachus, Hymns 5,6 Aetia frgt 1-2 Pfeiffer, Epigrams
• Demosthenes, On the Crown
• Euripides, Medea, Bacchae
• Herodotus, 1 and 7
• Hesiod, Theogony 1-719, Works and Days 1-329
• Homer, Iliad 1-9, 18 24; Odyssey 1-12, 18-24
• Homeric Hymn 5 To Aphrodite
• Isocrates, Antidosis
• Longus, Daphnis and Chloe
• Lucian , True Story
• Lyric Selections as in Campbell ed. Greek Lyric Poetry
• Lysias, Orations 1,3, Pseud. Funeral Oration
• Menander, Dyskolos
• Pindar, Olympian 1,6; Pythian 1,2, Nemeans 7
• Plato, Charmides, Gorgias, Republic II-III
• Plutarch, Lives of Pericles and Fabius Maximus
• Polybius, book 6
• Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King
• Theocritus, Idylls 2,7,11
• Thucydides, Histories 1-2.65, 5. 84-115, 6.8-32, 7. 72-87
• Xenophon, Cyropedia 1

Latin

• Apuleius, Cupid and Psyche
• Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1
• Catullus, entire
• Cicero, Pro Archia; Pro Caelio; Catilinarians 1-4; De oratore 1; Somnium Scipionis; Tusculan Disputations 5; Letters (nos. 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 61, 63, 66, 67, 69, 74, 76 in Shackleton-Bailey, ed., Selected Letters)
• Horace, Odes 1-4; Satires 1.1, 4-6, 9, 10, 2.6; Epodes 1, 16; Epistles 2; Ars Poetica
• Juvenal, Satires 1, 3, 6, 10
• Livy, Histories 1, 5, 21
• Lucan, Pharsalia 1, 7
• Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1, 3, 4.1058-end, 5.772-1457
• Martial, Epigrams 2.8, 14, 20, 77, 91, 92; 3.2; 4.30, 67, 72; 6.21, 64; 7.36; 8.55; 9.18; 10.4, 5, 47, 64; 12.15, 18, 31, 57 (= nos. 1-22 in L. and P. Watson, eds., Martial: Select Epigrams (Cambridge)).
• Ovid, Amores 1; Ars Amatoria 1; Heroides 1; Metamorphoses 1, 8; Tristia 2
• Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis
• Plautus, Amphitruo; Bacchides
• Pliny, Letters (nos. 3, 5, 6, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 38, 40, 47, 48 in Sherwin-White, ed., Selected Letters)
• Propertius, Elegies 1, 3.1-5, 4
• Quintilian, Institutio 10.1
• Sallust, Bellum Catilinae
• Seneca, Consolatio ad Helviam; Epistles (nos. 5, 7, 18, 77, 88.1-20, 114 in Summers' edition); Apocolocyntosis; Thyestes
• Statius, Siluae 1.1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.7
• Tacitus, Histories 1; Annals 4; Agricola; Dialogus de oratoribus
• Terence, Adelphoe
• Tibullus, Elegies 1, 2.5
• Vergil, entire

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Old Common Reading Lists

Greek

• Aeschylus, Agamemnon; Prometheus Vinctus
• Aristophanes, Clouds; Birds
• Aristotle, Poetics; Nichomachean Ethics 1, 3
• Callimachus, Hymn 5; Aetia, frr.1-2 Pf.; Epigrams
• Demosthenes, On the Crown
• Euripides, Bacchae; Trojan Women
• Gorgias, Helen
• Herodotus, Histories 1, 7.1-18, 201-239
• Hesiod, Theogony 1-719; Works and Days 1-329
• Homer, Iliad 1-9, 16-24; Odyssey 1-13, 18-24
• Homeric Hymn 2 (To Demeter)
• Isocrates, Panegyricus
• Longus, Daphnis and Chloe
• Lucian, Icaromenippus
• Lyric, etc., Selections as in Campbell, ed., Greek Lyric Poetry
• Lysias, Orations 12
• Menander, Dyskolos
• Pindar, Olympians 1, 6; Pythians 1, 4; Nemeans 3, 7; Isthmians 8
• Plato, Euthyphro; Republic 10; Symposium
• Plutarch, Life of Alexander
• Sophocles, Antigone; Oedipus the King
• Theocritus, Idylls 1, 2, 7
• Thucydides, Histories 1-2.65, 5.84-115, 7.70-87
• Xenophon, Memorabilia 1, 2.1

Latin

• Ammianus, History 14
• Apuleius, Cupid and Psyche
• Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1
• Catullus, entire
• Cicero, Pro Caelio; Catilinarians 1-4; De oratore 1; Somnium Scipionis; Letters (nos. 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34,
• 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 61, 63, 66, 67, 69, 74, 76 in Shackleton Bailey, ed., Selected Letters)
• Ennius, Fragments of Annales 1, 7; Medea Exul; Andromachia
• Horace, Odes 1-3; Satires 1.1, 4-6, 9, 10, 2.6; Epodes 5-7; Epistles 2.1; Ars Poetica
• Juvenal, Satires 1, 3, 10
• Livy, Histories 1, 21
• Lucan, Pharsalia 1
• Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1, 3.1-416, 830-end, 4.1058-end
• Ovid, Amores 1; Ars Amatoria 1; Heroides 1; Metamorphoses 1, 8; Tristia 2
• Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis
• Plautus, Amphitruo; Menaechmi
• Pliny, Letters (nos. 3, 5, 6, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 38, 40, 47, 48 in Sherwin-White, ed., Selected Letters)
• Propertius, Elegies 1, 4
• Quintilian, Institutio 10.1.16-131
• Sallust, Bellum Catilinae
• Seneca, Epistles (nos. 5, 7, 18, 77, 88.1-20, 114 in Summers' edition); Apocolocyntosis; Thyestes
• Tacitus, Histories 1; Annals 4; Agricola
• Terence, Adelphoe
• Tibullus, Elegies 1
• Vergil, Eclogues; Georgics 3-4; Aeneid 1-2, 4, 6-10, 12

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Individual Lists

• total not less than 850 pages of Oxford text (or the equivalent)
• include at least 300 pages of verse texts and at least 300 pages of prose texts
• cover at least six different authors

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