Classics MA

What was the role of religion in ancient Greece and Rome? What do we know about their gods and myths? Are myths simply entertaining stories, or do they serve other purposes? What could these be?

We explore a range of primary sources for studying myth and religion in ancient Greek and Roman societies, with particular emphases on their religious and social significance.

As well as investigating sources in detail, you will explore the following:

• different approaches to analysing myth and religion
• how the Greeks and Romans understood their myths and religion
• the role of religion and the gods in ancient societies
• a range of modern theories and scholarship on ancient religion

You will focus on literary, visual or historical aspects of myth (according to your own interests), while examining how these different narrative forms may overlap and interact. By the end of the module, you will have gained valuable interdisciplinary research skills.

This module is worth 20 credits.

Discover how the stories we tell shape the things that we think.

On this module we’ll explore literary, historical and visual narratives and their workings. We will also look at constructions of history, society and culture - both Greek and Roman, ancient and modern.

Topics that might be covered, include:

• plot in ancient novels
• narratology
• rhetoric
• historiography
• narrative art
• ekphrasis
• silence
• literary self-positioning
• dealing with fragmentary sources

This module is worth 20 credits.

You will select, research and write a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice. This must be in the field of Classics and Ancient History.

The Course Director and module convenor can offer support and guidance when choosing your research topic.

Recent dissertation titles include:

• Narratives of Fear in the Early Roman Republic
• Arsinoe II and the Hellenistic Ruler Cult in Ptolemaic Egypt
• A Study on the Theme of Revenge in Ovid's Metamorphoses
• The Representation of Sparta in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
• Crossing the Boundaries: Reflections of Gender Anxieties in Roman Domestic Art
• Horns and Hunting: An Analysis of Iconographic Motifs from the Bronze Age Aegean

This module is worth 60 credits.

You’ll discover how an arts and humanities masters degree can be used to:

• transform society, politics and culture
• enhance your range of careers and opportunities

You’ll explore the skills particular to your own discipline and how they can impact on wider issues. This will help your understanding of the function of arts and humanities, and how they can be applied, in wider society. In particular you’ll get greater understanding of what is meant by knowledge exchange and public engagement.

With an emphasis on ‘learning through doing' you’ll collaborate with other masters’ students on consultancy projects, working to solve real-life briefs from a range of cultural industries and schools.

By the end of the module you’ll have:

• developed a portfolio of professional skills and experience
• worked on issues of research, networking, grant-writing and cultural exchange
• learnt how to engage, communicate and create.

This module is worth 20 credits.

This module introduces you to the wide range of interdisciplinary research happening in the Faculty of Arts. We invite you to ‘think outside the box’ in relation to your own research, while learning key research techniques and methods. The module aims to:

• introduce the ideas, practices, complexities, and opportunities of interdisciplinary research in the arts
• enable you to practice critical self-reflexivity about the conventions and expectations of your own disciplines in relation to those of others
• train you in core research skills necessary for graduate-level study
• develop your confidence in communicating research findings to non-specialist audiences

You will build on your existing research skills gained from your university career to date. Furthermore, you will develop a more nuanced understanding of your own research practice, inspiring you to explore different approaches questions. In addition, you will develop an understanding of professional practice in areas such as:

• academic publishing
• knowledge exchange
• dissertation planning and writing
• professional communication

This module is worth 20 credits.

The Special Topic is an advanced module where you will:

• acquire detailed knowledge and understanding of the subject
• gain close familiarity with relevant ancient sources and material evidence, and engage critically with them
• gain close familiarity with modern scholarship and approaches to the subject, and engage critically with them

The topic will be based on a module from our undergraduate third year programme. You will attend the same lectures as an introduction to the subject but will have an MA specific seminar group. The focus and assessment will be at an appropriately advanced MA level.

You may take up to two 'Special Topic' modules. They are worth 20 credits each.

This module is for complete beginners. However, it is also suitable if you have already done some study of Latin or Classical Greek (up to GCSE level).

You may find it reassuring that, unlike modern language study, there is no speaking and listening element. The main focus will be on reading text.

This module offers an introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of your chosen language. You will be supported to analyse and understand basic sentences and to translate short passages.

This module is worth 20 credits.

"I see learning ancient languages like a puzzle, and I think that helps with problem solving. I have better initiative now, because I know how something fits in Latin and Greek and that can transfer to the everyday." - Chloë Choong

This module continues from ‘Beginners’ Latin or Greek 1’.

You will:

• Continue to study the structure of your chosen language, including all the major grammatical features
• Develop your reading skills until you can read almost unadapted passages from Latin or Classical Greek texts

This module is worth 20 credits.

At intermediate level, you will thoroughly consolidate the vocabulary and grammar of your chosen language and begin the detailed linguistic and literary study of an unadapted Latin or Greek text.

In Latin, you will typically read a text such as Cicero’s Pro Archia, or a book of Virgil or Ovid.

In Greek, the text might be a complete speech by Lysias or selections from a longer text such as the Odyssey or a Greek tragedy.

The assessment for these modules emphasises comprehension and analysis of grammatical structures over memorisation and translation.

Each module is worth 20 credits.

You will study prose and verse texts in your chosen language.

The modules may involve in-depth study of a single text, or may cover a group of texts representative of an author, genre, period, or theme. They will combine literary and linguistic discussion with consideration of the historical and social background.

The texts covered change each year. In Latin, recent modules have focused on the following topics:

• Flavian personal poetry (Martial and Statius)
• The emperor Claudius (Suetonius and Tacitus)
• The Cupid and Psyche story from Apuleius’ novel Metamorphoses
• Ethnicity and Empire in Latin Epic (Virgil and Silius Italicus)
• The Power of Love (Ovid and Propertius)

In Greek, recent topics have covered:

• Tragedy (Sophocles’ Antigone)
• Selections from Homer’s Iliad
• Longus’ novel Daphnis and Chloe
• Plutarch’s Life of Antony
• Paradoxography (a portfolio of texts exploring the weird and marvellous)

Each module is worth 20 credits.