Ancient Greek and Latin
Rigorous instruction in Greek and/or Latin builds your linguistic tool bag so you can begin studying other, unrelated languages with confidence. Derivative languages like French, Spanish, Italian or Romanian will be a breeze! In our courses, you’ll learn to read one specific language, but you’ll also learn how languages work, from the inside out.
It should be no surprise that our graduates pursue diverse careers. Any field that requires high-level critical thinking, research, and communication is likely to have a few Classics majors in it.
Greek and Latin are foundational languages for all cultures that have roots in the ancient Mediterranean. Romance languages are derivatives of Latin, and classical Greek evolved into Koine Greek (the language of the New Testament and much of early Christianity and Second Temple Judaism) and eventually into modern Greek. Throughout Europe, North Africa and the Levant, Greek and Latin remained critical components of the educational establishment for centuries. Knowledge of Greek and Latin gives immediate access to a shared cultural foundation and cultivates a global mindset. These languages are ancient but not out-of-date.
Introductory and Intermediate Ancient Greek/Latin
The first three semesters of our Greek and Latin programs are devoted primarily to grammatical instructions, the bones of the language. In the fourth semester (GREK 202 or LATN 202), students transition to reading an authentic Greek or Latin text in its original language.
Upper-level Ancient Greek/Latin
Once you have completed GREK 202 or LATIN 202, you can take any 300- or 400-level course. These courses tend to be small seminars (6-12 students) and vary widely in topic.
Recent upper-level Ancient Greek courses:
- Homeric Hymns
- Lucian, A True Story
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica
- Herodotus, Histories
- Plato’s Republic
Recent upper-level Latin courses:
- Lucan, Civil War
- Hanibal of Carthage (readings from Nepos, Livy, and Silius Italicus)
- Ovid’s epistolary literature
- Apuleius, Golden Ass
- Vergil, Aeneid