Classics - Latin and Ancient Greek
 |
Events
Visit to Greece, October 2009
Thirty-one girls set off for Athens straight after Open Evening under the watchful eye of Mrs Bennett, Miss Beslika and Mrs Hook. We were going to visit the ‘golden greats’ of Classical Greece: Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae, Epidauros and Corinth. Our hotels were great, especially the one in Tolon near Nauplion: the food was top class, a genuine Greek menu with endless second helpings!
While in Athens we walked a lot and used the Metro too, examining the little ‘in station’ museums at Akropoli and Syntagma in transit. As well as the Acropolis and Agora we visited the Pnyx and the Kerameikos, we found the Trieres at its mooring and we drove out to Sounion. The classic national Archaeological Museum is still unbeaten for the sheer glory of its collection – Mycenaean gold, Cycladic statues – but the brand new Akropolis Museum is a wonder of translucent glass, juxtaposing the actual Parthenon visually with the sculptured remains (except of course those in the British Museum).
In Delphi alas more than half the upper site was closed because of rock falls (more expected) but the improvised oracular consultations were intriguing and the lower site had its own amusement, with races run in the stadium and songs sung around an ancient olive tree.
On to Olympia, with a guide to help us appreciate the complex and large site. Lunch overlooking the vast original Olympic Stadium – and more races – ended an excellent visit.
The long drive across Greece to Tolon showed us why Greece is termed the most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland: perilous road-side drops and switch-back turns took us up and down mountains through the centre of Greece. Our first evening in Tolon was lovely – at last, three days to relax, with sea and sight-seeing – and also, as it turned out, sunshine (after day one).
At Mycenae it rained but even that could not spoil it. The bravest climbed down the hundred-plus steps to the ancient water cisterns, and we started to get the feel of ancient Mycenaean citadel life. On that day we also visited Tiryns, a smaller citadel with extraordinarily fat walls containing tiny rooms and corridors. The most out of the way visit we made was to the Sanctuary of Hera at Argos – the Heraion. It is enormous and empty of other tourists, giving a chance to feel the atmosphere and clamber about uninterrupted. In Argos itself we paid a short visit to the museum to see the geometric pot with Odysseus and the Cyclops on its neck.
Epidauros, with its wide fanned theatre, took everyone’s breath away. We arrived early enough for several girls to try out the acoustics with poetry or song, and those on the top row could hear beautifully. In Nauplion we did some classy shopping (Tolon had a few shops, all much the same) and drove up to the top of the Palamedi Fortress for the view.
On the final morning we visited the Roman city of Corinth. There were computer terminals around the site for guiding but they were so well disguised that we did not find them until the end. Our Guide Books, however, took us safely round with detailed help at every turn. With time to spare before going to the airport, our coach driver suggested we drive up to Akrocorinth. This was extremely exciting and dizzy in its height. We all walked up a little from the coach park, then some elected to stop and lunch and sunbathe. About half continued the climb up. And achieved the top of the rocky site at the near end from where the view rewarded them. That was probably the most exciting and unpredictably enjoyable day, despite being the last day of the visit.
Discoveries of the visit:
-Every OHS girl has a soppy side where baby animals are concerned: tortoises (Athens Kerameikos), kittens (Delphi), and puppies (Corinth).
-Whatever they say, food matters a lot!
Hadrian's Wall 2009
The week went very well and the devised activities have never worked better. The Classics Department’s beautifully designed work-book guided the girls through the week, giving information and guidance for every subject activity and keeping the girls secure in knowing what came next. The girls were also busy with independent observation, sketching and writing.
Many subjects were covered over the week:
English: there were three tasks: sensory poems up on Walltown Crags on the first afternoon, thinking about the meaning of walls and separation, then writing AS the wall, up by Steel Rigg (Tuesday), and finally Hadrian’s Wall Blues up at Housesteads Fort on Thursday, where they wrote in role as a poor wretched Brit from back then. The girls enjoyed the activities and were seriously inspired. Several teachers even wrote poems from the three perspectives at the three different sites! The girls loved the opportunities and my group certainly enjoyed listening to each others’ writing and commenting on it.
Geography: Miss Gandell’s physical geography exercise about the formation of the Whin Sill was terrific – very demanding, so that the girls had to think hard and observe closely.
Classics / History: Mrs Bowden’s booklet was the foundation-stone for this. The underlying subject matter for the English creative writing was Roman, so the girls absorbed in and breathed out Roman history much of the time without thinking about it! We started with the accessible Roman Army Museum, where they show an excellent video with reconstructions and much aerial photography. On day two girls spent half a day at Vindolanda, with its fabulous museum and all the info about the writing tablets (now the centre piece in the British Museum’s Roman Room). Much sketching was done here. Finally they researched Housesteads Fort, exploring every excavated building on the site, including the best-preserved Roman latrines in Europe... The poetry writing as one of the ‘Britunculi’ (wretched little Brits) was based in the knowledge they had acquired from exploring the Fort and environs.
Maths: Mr Nicholl’s Maths Challenge was brilliant both in its conception mathematically and in the way it made the girls communicate when split up within their groups, sharing information and solutions in order to get points for the whole group. Teachers and sixth formers were only allowed to say ‘yes’ and ’no’ to possible solutions – no helping, since many were unable to! Even the scoring system worked this time and there was a clear winner.
Science: the emphasis was on biology– natural history in general – and geology. Mrs Stone had organised a round walk on Lindisfarne, with comments to be made about the island’s structure. It is part of the SAME Whin Sill as at Walltown Crags and the whole Wall. (This was news to us). Then we went on to the boat trip to the Farne Islands, looking at seals and birds on the way. We put in on Inner Farne, where the girls saw terns, guillemots, cormorants, shags and puffins at close quarters (some too close – terns were very aggressive). The girls loved the boat trip.
Art: the girls sketched constantly – wild life at Walltown Crags (orchids, yellow flags), and on the Farne Islands (birds and cliffs); archaeological finds at Vindolanda (brooches, weapons, shoes), and buildings and views at Housesteads.
PE: the sixth form, ably led by Livvy Elder, organised Rounders for the Year 8s twice (Monday evening after supper, Tuesday evening after supper), with some less formal football afterwards for sixth form and staff (a few!). Swimming on Tuesday was excellent – it had been a very hot day and all but three Year 8s swam. On the final morning all but seven girls walked from Steel Rigg to Housesteads along the Wall path – about four miles.
We were really proud of the girls and felt that the trip has been educationally extremely worthwhile.
Classical Reading Competition
Above: Two of our prize winners
This March, as in most years, the Classics Department took more than 40 girls to compete in the Oxford Classical Reading Competition, in which students from a variety of Oxfordshire schools recite Latin and Greek to a board of judges from the University. We enjoyed a stroll through North Oxford to St Giles' church where many of our girls performed their passages while we waited for the event to start. Finally we made our way to the very impressive Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies to meet up with the other schools. There were fantastic recitations from many students including our girls which ensured an enjoyable event. We were very pleased with the number of our girls who gained prizes!
Year 8 Trip to Corinium - March 2009
This was our second attempt of this trip this term - the first was prevented by the snow - and this time we were very lucky with the weather. Beautiful sunshine!
The girls had much fun sketching the mosaics and artefacts and dressing up as Romans in preparation for their project on Roman Life.
We were even able to translate some real tombstone inscriptions!
Visit to South Italy,
October 2008
Forty-five girls have just returned from Pompeii, spending seven whole days exploring the area around Napoli. The weather was beautiful and the sites as wonderful as ever; the only regrets were the endless (mad) traffic and the hotel food, which was adequate rather than inspired.
You can find highlights in the pictures below:
- The Villa Oplontis with extraordinary perspective paintings;
- Herculaneum, seventy foot down and full of houses with mosaics and carbonised furniture;
- the Museo Nazionale, full of the art works from Pompeii and Herculaneum;
- the vast amphitheatre at Capua, the sub-terranean parts a ready made adventure playground;
- the church of Sant'Angelo in Formis with the 12th century frescoes by the painters of Monte Cassino;
- Il Vesuvio, smoking gently in the afternoon light (and quite a long climb up..);
- Capri - a magic day spent in the sun, climbing up to Tiberius' villa and paddling on the beach with an octopus;
- Pompeii itself - five hours spent exploring the town in groups, finding mosaics and good-luck signs and their favourite water features, and gazing at the plaster casts;
- the Greek city of Velia - rather a long way but a great tower to climb, and Paestum - a wonderful vista of temples and the marvellous painted tombs.
- Finally, Cumae and the cave of the Sibyl, followed by the Piscina Mirabilis (this is celebrated in the opening of Robert Harris's novel 'Pompeii' as the first place the eruption was noticed).
Next year - Greece!
Year 9 visit to Fishbourne and Portchester - September 2008
Oxbridge Open Day – May 2008
This year the event was held in Cambridge – which was lucky for us, as the whole of Oxfordshire was covered with a big cloud and East Anglia was due to be beautifully sunny and hot! We took four of our potential Classicists to visit the city and had a fantastic day exploring the colleges, listening to lectures, lunching in Magdalene, visiting the Cast Gallery and talking to current students and Directors of Studies. The four came back thoroughly inspired…and comforted by the fact that Classicists really did seem to be quite normal people!
Turkey – October 2007
Here are some pictures from the recent Classics trip to Turkey.
Visit to the Cambridge Greek Play – October 2007
On a brisk sunny day a group of 30 Greek students set out to Cambridge for a fun-filled day of a lecture, a play (this year it was Medea) and sightseeing. Who would have thought that 60 miles could take so long! After the trip where the coach averaged 30 miles an hour, we settled down to listen to the lecture given by one of the Cambridge Classics Lecturers. She discussed the interesting topic of how Euripides created sympathy for Medea in his play and gave us a fitting introduction to the afternoon event. After a lunch in one of the colleges, we wandered round various other colleges, comparing them to ones in Oxford. Finally we went to the Cambridge Arts Theatre to see the tragedy, which was an interesting interpretation, picking up on the fact that one of Medea’s speeches had been used frequently by the Suffragette movement. We all had different opinions about the effectiveness of having the chorus dressed as Suffragettes, but all agreed that it had been an exciting day.
Year 9 visit to Fishbourne and Portchester – September 2007
On a beautifully sunny (but definitely autumnal) day, Year 9 set out to Fishbourne to visit the palace of King Cogidubnus (or Togidubnus) as featured in their text book. It was lovely weather to be out wandering round the Roman garden, sketching the herbs while noting their uses (not everyone was sure what flatulence was, though!). The girls were also impressively focused while drawing the many mosaics in the North Wing of the palace.
At Portchester, girls spent time exploring the Roman fort/Norman castle/prison. They walked round the walls, admiring the fort’s position next to the water and its view of Portsmouth’s spinnaker tower. They still had their trip to Hadrian’s Wall very much in mind and were good at looking out for evidence of the Romans. We finished the day exhausted but with a clearer picture of life in Roman Britain.
Mrs Deborah Bennett (Head of Department) teaches both Latin and Greek (Years 8 to 13). She enjoys
metre and reading Greek and Latin aloud, Greek prose composition and planning Classical visits.
When she is not planning Classical visits, she is planning Rock festivals. Mrs Emily Bowden, the teacher formerly known as “Miss Scarlett”, teaches both Latin
and Greek to year 8 to 13 (full time). She enjoys Latin prose composition, Greek tragedy and going
on Mrs Bennett’s Classical visits. She also takes part in many musical activities and repeats
the daily mantra “I’m in the Classics department, NOT the Music department”. Miss Regina Fijalkowski teaches Latin and French to year 8 to 12 (part time). She particularly
enjoys Latin verse literature and French cinema, and is looking forward to the next Classical visit.
She likes to sing hymns in lots of different languages. We have three well-equipped rooms, including one specifically for Greek and sixth-form teaching.
We have a computer with an advanced Greek font in one of the classrooms and we regularly take girls
to the ICT rooms. Next year we shall have a data projector installed in the main teaching room. Latin and Ancient Greek are not in the least dead at OHS: the department offers a colourful and
vigorous introduction to the Classical world encompassing both language and culture, reinforcing
both with lectures, visits and performances. Every girl in the school learns Latin for two years (Years 8 & 9) and has the opportunity to
make innumerable discoveries: the logic of Latin grammar, the truth about the last day of Pompeii,
the story of Achilles and Troy and the Wooden Horse (timeo Danaos et dona ferentes), the upbringing
and inspiration of the poets Horace and Vergil, why the Romans loved to imitate the Greeks, how
the Roman army machine conquered the known world (including Britain) and of course how Latin feeds
into the English and romance languages. By the end of Year 9 girls will have come across all of
these and more, thinking about the foundation which the classical world has given to Western thought
and science. Latin GCSE is an option chosen by many girls since they perceive it as both interesting
in itself and also excellent as foundation backing for numerous courses of study. If girls want to discover about the language and culture of Homer, Plato, Sophocles and Herodotus
they may choose to study Ancient Greek in Year 9, choosing again after one year if they wish to
study the subject for GCSE. To study Greek is to become part of a group of enthusiasts: the number
is small but the rewards of this fascinating subject are great. In the Sixth Form we offer full Latin and Greek AS and A2 and we find that a small but well-motivated
cohort continue to A level, and that several of them will study Classical subjects at university. We regularly host and attend Classical lectures at GCSE and A level. In addition we have an active
Classical Society organised by girls in Year 12 and 13. Year Seven have their own Classics Club
run by Miss Scarlett. We meet on a weekly basis and enjoy such pursuits as making up our own plays
of the Greek myths, singing Latin carols and designing Greek vases! The department is keen to give pupils experience of sites and museums in England. Currently there
are visits in place for Year 8 (Hadrian’s Wall), Year 9 (Fishbourne and Portchester and Roman
Bath) and Year 10 (the British Museum). We also organise theatre visits for Classical productions both in the original languages and in
English. The study of Latin Language begins in Year 8 with the Cambridge Latin Course I. This exciting course
follows the life of Pompeian citizens in the months before the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius
which destroyed their city. It uses archaeological evidence discovered at Pompeii to give pupils
a fascinating insight into the Roman world. In Year 9 we move on to book 2 of the course where the
story moves to Roman Britain and Alexandria. In both books there is an abundance of reading material,
cultural topics and grammar. We also add a more traditional approach to grammar learning and some
sentence writing. You can visit the CLC website (see Website Resources) if you want to find out
more about the course. Every year at least 10 girls choose to learn Greek for Year 9. This year we have 23 girls! We use
the Athenaze course which follows the life of the farmer Dikaeopolis and his family. The course
also looks at the rise of Persia and Athens as powerful forces. Girls really enjoy working in a
new alphabet: it is very useful when wanting to communicate in secret! Latin and Greek are the only subjects apart from English where girls can read and study LITERATURE
before the sixth form. This is very exciting! There are TWO sets of Latin at GCSE and generally about 40 girls take it. Language work continues
and we follow the OCR syllabus (web address in the Website Resources) which shares the emphasis
between language and literature. Girls do not have course work. There is a Defined Vocabulary list
which is both very hard work but also re-assuring. Literature study begins in February of Year 10 with the verse set book: starting at this point
enables girls to revise for a proper literature exam in the summer; this gives them confidence.
We complete the second set book by the end of the spring term of Year 11. Latin GCSE is an excellent preparation for many sixth form courses: the language work is detailed,
requiring accuracy and firm application, and the nature of the subject is recognised. Its relevance
to the humanities is obvious but it is also a good support subject for the aspiring scientist. We organise Classics trips abroad to Italy and Greece for girls in Year 10 and above. The next
one is due to take place in October 2005. Dear Student Reader, The transition from GCSE to working at AS and A2 level contains no nasty surprises but plenty of
new opportunities. The continued study of language does not change direction but becomes ever more
sophisticated and the intricacies and verbal usage often give an insight into prevailing cultural
attitudes. If “otium” means “leisure” and “negotium” means “business”
which did a Roman think was the natural condition? Why does Latin use “in matrimonium ducere”
for a man marrying but “nubere”+ dative for a woman? The prospect of translating continuous English prose into Latin or Greek seems daunting at first
but to find, as you will do with practice, that you can do this accurately and then with an increasing
confidence that what you are writing is at least an approximation to the Latin that Caesar or the
Greek that Xenophon wrote is a heady feeling. Not only is this a new challenge but it also enormously
helps your ability to translate what Greeks and Romans wrote, which is your only way into their
hearts and minds. The years of reading synthetic Latin and Greek are now past and in years 12&13 you will read
selections from many of the major authors: Caesar, Livy, Tacitus, Horace, Ovid and Virgil in Latin
and Homer, Euripides, Plato, Xenophon, Herodotus and Thucydides in Greek. Some of these you will
study in depth as set texts for examinations, some you will read in preparation for unseen translation
examinations and some for pure enjoyment but all will raise as many questions about life in these
ancient societies as they will answer. Often the remaining evidence is tantalisingly fragmented
but to attempt to reconstruct how these peoples lived, what they thought, what moral values they
had, what their intellectual interests were, what questions they asked about the physical world
and what their answers were, what caused their wars is a wonderful exercise of the imagination based
on historical evidence. You will have 7 lessons in both languages in year 12 & 13; there will be one language task
every week and preparation before each lesson in which you read Latin or Greek. The AS examination
consists of three papers each one hour in length: in paper 1 you will answer two context questions
on two set texts, which are similar to but more detailed than at GCSE; in paper 2 you are required
to translate passages from the prepared set texts and to write an essay on one of them; in paper
3 you translate a piece of Latin unseen. At A2 there are also three papers; a set text paper which
extends your understanding of literature, a further unseen translation paper and a language paper
(for details see the OCR syllabus) Most people find the experience of being taught in a small group hugely enjoyable and it certainly
offers plenty of opportunities for interesting digressions of every kind imaginable! VIVAMUS ATQUE AMEMUS….. GAUDEAMUS IGITUR… Caroline Mayr-Harting
Past Trips
CLICK HERE TO SHOW
Personnel
Facilities
Greece - October 2005Curriculum
Italy - October 2004Extra-curricular
LATIN: Years 8 and 9
Hadrian's WallGREEK: Year 9
LATIN and GREEK: Years 10–11 (GCSE)
Year 10 Visit The Ashmolean MuseumLATIN and GREEK: Years 12–13 (AS/A2)
After
last year’s spell binding experience of listening to Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden tell the
stories of the Trojan War, we couldn’t resist taking the girls to see their version of Ovid’s
Metamorphoses. The performance contained some of the most famous myths from Ovid’s stories
about transformation and again held us mesmerised. Our favourite tales included Echo & Narcissus,
Midas, Semele, Baucis & Philemon and Orpheus. The Year 13s particularly enjoyed hearing about
Orpheus as they have been reading that very story in Latin. The Year 9 Greek set were inspired by
the experience to create a mythological Greek alphabet.
