Honour School of Classics and Modern Languages

Differences from 2016/17 to 2017/18

A

  • 1. The subjects of the examination in the Honour School of Classics and Modern Languages shall be (a) the Greek and Latin languages and literatures and the thought and civilisation of the Ancient World and (b) those modern European languages and literatures studied in the Honour School of Modern Languages.

  • 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this School unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

  • 3. The examiners shall indicate in the lists issued by them the language offered by each candidate obtaining honours or satisfying the examiners under the appropriate regulation.

  • 4. The examination in the Honour School shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and of Modern Languages, which shall appoint a standing joint committee to make, and to submit to the two boards, proposals for regulations concerning the examination.

  • 5. (i) The Public Examiners for Classics in this school shall be such of the Public Examiners in the Honour School of Literae Humaniores as may be required, together with one or two additional examiners, if required, who shall be nominated by the committee for the nomination of Public Examiners in the Honour School of Literae Humaniores; those for Modern Languages shall be such of the Public Examiners in the Honour School of Modern Languages as shall be required.

  • (ii) It shall be the duty of the chair of the Public Examiners in the Honour School of Modern Languages to designate such of their number as may be required for Modern Languages in the Honour School of Classics and Modern Languages, and when this has been done, and the examiners for Classics have been nominated, the number of the examiners in Classics and Modern Languages shall be deemed to be complete.

B

Candidates will be examined in accordance with the examination regulations set out below.

They will also be required to spend, after their matriculation, a year of residence in an appropriate country or countries, and to provide on their entry form for the examination a certificate that they have done this, signed by the Head or by a tutor of their society. Candidates wishing to be dispensed from the requirement to undertake a year of residence abroad must apply in writing to the Chair of the Medieval and Modern Languages Board, 41 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JF, stating their reasons for requesting dispensation and enclosing a letter of support from their society.

Candidates will be expected to carry out during this year abroad such work as their society may require. It is strongly recommended that candidates should apply through the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges for an Assistantship, where these are available, and should accept one if offered. Candidates who are not able to obtain an Assistantship should during their year abroad follow a course or courses in an institution or institutions approved by their society, or should spend their time in such other circumstances as are acceptable to their society. Candidates will agree with their College Tutor in advance of their year abroad an independent course of study to be followed during that period.

Except in a Special Subject or an alternative to a Special Subject, a candidate shall offer one modern language and its literature only except that candidates offering Ancient Greek may offer the subject Modern Greek Poetry, and all candidates may offer the subject Byzantine Literature as specified in the regulations below, if and only if they are not offering Medieval and Modern Greek as their modern language.

Any candidate may be examined viva voce.

Oral Examination: as specified for the Honour School of Modern Languages.

In every case where, under the regulations for the school, candidates have any choice between one or more papers or subjects, every candidate shall give notice to the Registrar not later than the Friday in the fourth week of Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination of all the papers and subjects being so offered.

Candidates offering two papers both of which involve the study of the same author or authors, may not make the same text or texts the principal subject of an answer in both the papers.

All candidates must offer eight subjects as specified below and may also offer an Additional Subject as specified at no.9.

Subjects 401-14, 501-69 and 601-5 will be set in accordance with the regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores. For each subject, a detailed specification and prescribed texts will be given in the Greats Handbook applicable to the relevant year of examination. The handbook will be published by Monday of Week 5 of Hilary Term two years preceding the examination.

  • 1. Honour School of Modern Languages, Paper I.

    Any candidate whose native language is not English may bring a bilingual (native language to English) dictionary for use in any examination paper where candidates are required to translate Ancient Greek and/or Latin texts into English, and any examination paper involving Greek or Latin prose composition.

  • 2. Honour School of Modern Languages, Papers IIA and IIB.

  • 3. Honour School of Modern Languages, one paper chosen from Papers VI, VII, or VIII.

  • 4. Honour School of Modern Languages, one paper chosen from Papers IV, V, IX, X, XI, or XII.

  • 5. Either (a) 501: Greek Core. One paper of three hours (commentary and essay) with an additional paper (one-and-a-half hours) of translation.

    or (b) 502: Latin Core. One paper of three hours (commentary and essay) with an additional paper (one-and-a-half hours) of translation.

  • 6., 7. Two of the following subjects. Candidates not offering Second Classical Language must include at least one of the subjects from (a)-(n).

  • Note: (i) Second Classical Language counts as two subjects (566/568 in Greek; 567/569 in Latin). It may not be offered by candidates who have satisfied the Moderators in Course IA, IB, or IC of Honour Moderations in Classics or of the Preliminary Examination in Classics, or who offered both Greek and Latin in the Preliminary Examination for Modern Languages. Candidates offering it must also offer at least one of the subjects from (a)–(s) under 8 or 9 below. If they offer Second Classical Language in Greek they may if they wish offer Literae Humaniores subject 521 at this point; if they offer it in Latin they may offer Literae Humaniores subject 522.

  • Note: (ii) Each of subjects 503: Historiography, 504: Lyric Poetry and 507: Comedy (of which candidates may offer only one) will be examined by an extended essay of up to 6,000 words and a one-and-a-half-hour translation paper, as specified in the Regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores. For each of subjects 503, 504 and 507, version (a) (as specified for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores) is the only version available to candidates who have satisfied the Moderators in Course IA, IB, or IC of Honour Moderations in Classics or of the Preliminary Examination in Classics, or who offered both Ancient Greek and Latin in the Preliminary Examination for Modern Languages.

  • Note: (iii) It cannot be guaranteed that university lectures or classes or college teaching will be available on all subjects in every academic year. Candidates are advised to consult their tutors about the availability of teaching when selecting their subjects.

    • (a) Either 501: Greek Core or 502: Latin Core (whichever is not offered under 5 above).

      (b) One of the following subjects (see introductory note 6, 7 (ii) above):

      • 503: Historiography

        504: Lyric Poetry

        507: Comedy

    • (c) 505: Early Greek Hexameter Poetry

      (d) 506: Greek Tragedy. This subject may not be combined with subjects 582 Ancient and French Classical Tragedy or 583 The Creative Reception of Greek Tragedy in German.

      (e) 508: Hellenistic Poetry

      (f) 509: Cicero. This subject may not be combined with 410.

      (g) 510: Ovid

      (h) 511: Latin Didactic

      (i) 512: Neronian Literature

      (j) 513: Euripides, Orestes: papyri, manuscripts, text

      (k) Either 515: Catullus: manuscripts, text, interpretation

      or

        524: Seneca, Medea: manuscripts, text, interpretation

    • Note: University classes will be given for only one of these options each year.

    • (l) One of the following subjects:

      • 517: Byzantine Literature. This subject is not available to candidates offering Medieval and Modern Greek as their modern language.

        581: The Latin Works of Petrarch, with special study of Africa (ed. N. Festa, Florence, 1926), Books, I, II, V, VII, IX. Candidates will also be expected to have read Vita Scipionis (in La vita di Scipione l'Africano, ed. G. Martellotti, Milano-Napoli, 1954), and to show acquaintance with Petrarch's major Latin works (e.g. Rerum memorandarum libri (ed. G. Billanovich, Florence, 1945), De secreto conflictu curarum mearum, De vita solitaria, Epistolae familiares (in F. Petrarca, Prose, ed. G. Martellotti, P.G. Ricci, E. Carrara, E. Bianchi, Milano-Napoli, 1955)).

      (m) 551: Greek Historical Linguistics. This subject may be combined with one but not more than one of 552, 553, and 554.

      (n) 552: Latin Historical Linguistics. This subject may be combined with one but not more than one of 551, 553m and 554.

      (o) 553: General Linguistics and Comparative Philology.  This subject may be combined with one but not more than one of 551, 552, and 554. Candidates offering section (a), General Linguistics, may not also offer the Modern Languages Special Subject General Linguistics.

      (p) 554: Comparative Philology: Indo-European, Greek and Latin. This subject may not be offered by candidates who offered the paper VI F(1) Historical Linguistics and Comparative Philology in Honour Moderations in Classics or in the Preliminary Examination in Classics. It may be combined with one but not more than one of 551, 552, and 553.  

      (q) One of the following subjects:

      • 401: Archaic Greek History: c.750 to 479 BC

        402: Thucydides and the Greek World: 479 to 403 BC

        403: The End of the Peloponnesian War to the Death of Philip II of Macedon: 403 to 336 BC  

        404: Polybius, Rome and the Mediterranean: 241-146 BC

        405: Republic in Crisis: 146-46 BC

        406: Rome, Italy and Empire from Caesar to Claudius: 46 BC to AD 54

        407: Athenian Democracy in the Classical Age

        408: Alexander the Great and his Early Successors (336 BC-302 BC)

        409: The Hellenistic World: Societies and Cultures c.300-100 BC

        410: Cicero: Politics and Thought in the Late Republic. This subject may not be combined with 509.  

        411: Politics, Society and Culture from Nero to Hadrian

        412: Religions in the Greek and Roman World, c.31 BC-AD 312

        413: Sexuality and Gender in Greece and Rome

      • 414: The Conversion of Augustine

    • Note: Each of subjects 401-6 will be examined in a three-hour essay paper and a one-and-a-half hour paper comprising passages for translation and comment from the prescribed texts, as specified for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores.

    • (r) One of the following subjects:

      • 601: The Greeks and the Mediterranean World c.950-500 BC  

        602: Greek Art and Archaeology c.500-300 BC  

        603: Hellenistic Art and Archaeology, 330-30 BC

        604: Art under the Roman Empire, AD 14-337

        605: Roman Archaeology: Cities and Settlement under the Empire

    s) Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. Any one of the following subjects, as specified in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy. In the list below, numbers in parentheses after a subject's title indicate other subjects with which it may not be combined.

    • 110: Aquinas (111)

      111: Duns Scotus, Ockham (110)

      115: Plato, Republic (in translation) (130)

      116: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (in translation) (132)

      130: Plato, Republic (in Greek) (115)

      131: Plato on Knowledge, Language, & Reality in the Theaetetus & Sophist (in Greek) (137)

      132: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (in Greek) (116)

      133: Aristotle on Nature, Life and Mind (in Greek) (138)

      134: Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in Greek) (136, 139)

      135: Latin Philosophy (in Latin)

      136: Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in Latin) (134, 139)

      137: Plato on Knowledge, Language, & Reality in the Theaetetus & Sophist (in translation) (131)

      138: Aristotle on Nature, Life and Mind (in translation) (133)

      139: Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in translation) (134, 136)

  • (t) 518: Modern Greek Poetry. This subject is available only to candidates offering Greek Core under 5 above who are neither offering Medieval and Modern Greek as their modern language nor offering subject 517: Byzantine Literature nor Second Classical Language.

    (u) Thesis. Any candidate may offer a thesis in Classics, or in a subject linking Classics and Modern Languages, in accordance with the Regulation on Theses in the regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores.

    (v) Second Classical Language. See introductory note 6, 7 (i) above. Candidates who offer Second Classical Language must offer either both subjects in Greek (566/568) or both subjects in Latin (567/569), and may not offer either subject in the same language as they offered in Course IIA or IIB of Honour Moderations or the Preliminary Examination in Classics or in the Preliminary Examination for Modern Languages.

8. One of the following:

  • (i) A second subject chosen from those listed under 4 above.

    (ii) A third subject chosen from those listed under 6, 7 above, subject to the groupings there set out and the restrictions there placed upon choice of subjects.

    (iii) 582: Ancient and French Classical Tragedy (not to be offered in combination with any of the following: 506: Greek Tragedy; Racine [Honour School of Modern Languages, paper X(5)]; Dramatic Theory and Practice in France 1605-60 with special reference to Corneille [Honour School of Modern Languages, paper XII Special Subject]).

    • Candidates must make a special study of either of the following pairs of texts, on which a compulsory comparative commentary question will be set: either (a) Seneca, Phaedra and Racine, Phèdre, or (b) Euripides, Medea and Corneille, Médée. In addition, essay questions will be set with special reference to the following texts:

      Aeschylus, Agamemnon

      Sophocles, Oedipus the King

      Euripides, Hippolytus, Andromache, The Phoenician Women, Iphigenia at Aulis

      Seneca, Medea

      Corneille, Discours, Horace, Oedipe, Suréna

      Racine, La Thébaïde, Andromaque, Iphigénie.

      Candidates will be required to answer two essay questions, one from a choice of questions specifically on the authors and texts prescribed above, the other from a choice of questions requiring a comparative or generic approach. The following editions will be used in the case of the texts prescribed for commentary: Euripides, J. Diggle (Oxford Classical Text); Seneca, Phaedra, M. Coffey and R. Mayer (Cambridge University Press); Corneille, A. Stegmann (L'Intégrale); Racine, J. Morela and A. Viala (Classiques Garnier).

  • (iv) 583: The Creative Reception of Greek Tragedy in German

  • Candidates must make a special study of Sophocles, Antigone and Hölderlin, Antigone, on which a compulsory comparative commentary question will be set. In addition, they will be required to answer two essay questions, one from a choice of questions specifically on the authors and texts listed below, the other from a choice of questions requiring a comparative or generic approach.

    Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus

    Euripides, Medea, Iphigenia in Tauris

    Plato, Republic II, III, X

    Aristotle, Poetics

    Goethe, Iphigenie auf Tauris

    Kleist, Penthesilea

    Nietzsche, Die Geburt der Tragödie

    Brecht, Antigone

    Christa Wolf, Medea: Stimmen

    The following editions will be used in the case of the texts prescribed for commentary: Sophocles, Lloyd-Jones and Wilson (Oxford Classical Text); Hölderlin, Frankfurt edition.

  • 9. Additional Subject.

    • Good performance in such subjects will be taken in account in allocating all classes. Candidates wishing to offer an Additional Subject may offer one of the following.

      • (i) A further subject chosen from the list prescribed under 4 above.

        (ii) A further subject chosen from the list prescribed under 6, 7 (a-t) above, subject to the groupings there set out and the restrictions there placed upon choice of subjects.

        (iii) 584: Greek Prose Composition. This subject may not be offered by candidates who have satisfied the Moderators in Course IA or IC of Honour Moderations in Classics.

        (iv) 585: Latin Prose Composition. This subject may not be offered by candidates who have satisfied the Moderators in Course IA or IB of Honour Moderations in Classics.

        (v) An extended essay on a topic in the modern language or combining the modern language and Classics (to be examined under the regulations for the Honour School of Modern Languages).

        (vi) A Special Thesis on a topic in Classics (to be examined under the regulations for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores).

        Candidates shall submit two copies of their thesis not later than noon on Friday of the week before the Trinity Full Term of the examination to the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, addressed to the Chair of the Examiners, Honour School of Literae Humaniores.