Classics

Classics majors do a lot more than learn declensions. People in any Greek and Latin course are bound to learn about philosophy, art, history, anthropology, philology, and psychology as well as literature.

And there are really lots of fields within the Classics department. You can concentrate in Greek, Latin, just plain Classics, Classics and a related language (like English, French, or German), and Classics and a related subject (like Fine Arts, History, or Philosophy).

But a student should have a natural aptitude for language to be a Classics concentrator. If he doesn't, he'll be both oppressed and bored by the daily assignments. And he won't get the most out of the mature treatment of the text as literature rather than a linguistic puzzle.

If you like classical literature, but don't think you have the necessary language ability, take a course like Greek 11 (Greek drama in translation) and Humanies 2 (the Epic and the Novel) and major in something else.

Classics concentrators are nearly all contented with their field. Most of them are honors candidates, so a C is practically considered a flunking grade. Marks below C are given only when a student severely neglects his work.

Students in this department support a lively Classical Club which holds discussions and has such lecturers as Oxford professors. A branch of this organization is the well-known Classical Players troupe, which produces the annual Latin plays.

Greek and Latin classes are small. The instructors are more than usual inspiring teachers and inspiring scholars; often they are both.

Pease is retiring and Hammond is replacing him. Post, the only man ever to make summa cum laude in three subjects, is also retiring. Bloch, the medieval Latin specialist, will be on leave for the fall term, and Dow will be on leave for the spring term.

Six Courses Required

Jaeger, Finely, and Green are all well-known. There are also some very good young men, such as Elder, a specialist in Catullus' works.

Ordinary Classics concentrators must take six courses in Classics or related subjects. Four of these must be in Classics, and two must be not regularly open to freshmen. There are of course various other requirements for honors candidates, depending on the type of Classics concentration chosen.

It may or may not be true that the Iliad is The Poem, and the Odyssey is The Other. It may or may not be true that an educated man is one who can read Plato in the original with his feet on the fender. But a man with a degree in Classics is likely never to regret it.