Reading Classical Greek: Advanced

Course programme

Friday

Please plan to arrive between 16:30 and 18:30. You can meet other course members in the bar which opens at 18:15. Tea and coffee making facilities are available in the study bedrooms.

19:00 Dinner
20:30 Session 1
22:00 Terrace bar open for informal discussion

Saturday

07:30 Breakfast
09:00 Session 2
10:30 Coffee
11:00 Session 3
12:30 Free
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Free
16:00 Tea
16:30 Session 4
18:30 Dinner
20:00 Professor Pat Easterling: ‘'Greek tragedy and the many meanings of Ajax'
21:30 Terrace bar open for informal discussion

Sunday

07:30 Breakfast
09:00 Session 6
10:30 Coffee
11:00 Session 7
12:30 Free
12:45 Lunch

The course will disperse after lunch.

Dietary Requirements
If you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies please inform our Admissions Team on ice.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262 if you have not already advised us of your requirements.

Additional Requirements
Further information about student support.

This course takes place at Madingley Hall, home to the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.

As a student at Madingley Hall, you will enjoy award-winning cuisine in our elegant Dining Hall and first-rate facilities in an atmospheric and inspiring setting. You can choose to stay at the Hall in comfortable en-suite accommodation for the duration of your course, or attend as a non-resident.

Residential fees cover tuition, accommodation and full board, including morning coffee and afternoon tea during teaching hours, and travel on excursions. The non-residential fee includes all meals on the course except breakfast.

About Madingley Hall

Built in the 16th century, Madingley Hall is a Grade 1 listed building, and is set in eight acres of landscaped gardens designed in the 18th century by ‘Capability’ Brown. It is just four miles from the centre of Cambridge, and only 60 minutes from London, with excellent links to London airports.

Directions to Madingley Hall

For those arriving by train, we have an arrangement with a local taxi company to collect students from Cambridge railway station for a small fee of £4.

Accommodation

Accommodation for residential students is provided in single, twin or double study bedrooms in the Hall, with attractive views over the woods, gardens and courtyard.

Each room has internet access, digital television and a direct-dial telephone, as well as tea- and coffee-making facilities and a safe for your valuables. Rooms are centrally heated and all have en-suite facilities.

A special lift gives access to two rooms adapted for wheelchair users, and all areas on the ground floor can be reached once inside the building. If you would like us to make any special provision for your stay, please contact us beforehand and we will be happy to discuss your requirements.

We are usually able to offer accommodation before and after your course should you wish to extend your stay. Please indicate if you would like to stay an extra night when booking your place.

Meals

You will enjoy fresh, locally-sourced food from our award-winning kitchen, served in the elegant, oak-panelled Dining Hall. We are very happy to accommodate special dietary requirements – please let us know when booking your place.

This course level is aimed at those who have a confident grasp of the fundamentals of the ancient Greek language and who want to explore a wide range of Greek texts in their original form.Over the course of the academic year we will read Sophocles' Ajax, a selection from Lucian of Samosata's works (Dialogues of the Sea Gods and The Dream), and Homer's Iliad, Book III. In the process of reading these texts we will concentrate on securing and developing the fundamentals of the language through an examination of the ancient Greeks and their literature.

The set text for November is: Sophocles Ajax. Recommended editions: W.B. Stanford (ed.) Sophocles: Ajax (Bristol Classical Press, 1991); A.F. Garvie Sophocles: Ajax (Aris & Phillips Classical Texts, 1998). The passages to be covered this weekend are: lines 1-133, 284-355, 430-551, 646-92, 784-865, 891-924, 950-1020, 1047-1135 (if time is pressing, could be omitted: 1066-91, 1105-17), 1159-1184, 1222-1401 (could be omitted: 1246-63, 1290-1315)

Details of the texts for February and May will be published on the website in the weeks leading up to the course.

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language in order to get the maximum benefit from the course