A year of Greek or Latin does satisfy Haverford's language requirement.
Classics Navigation
Department of Classics
New Students & Placement
(2023-2024)
The Department of Classics offers two types of courses.
- courses in Classical Studies (CSTS) on Greco-Roman culture that are taught exclusively in English.
- courses in Ancient Greek and Latin language and literature (GREK and LATN); see below (III) for information about placement and beginning a language at Haverford
First-Year Students
First-Year students are invited to complete the Classical Department Placement Questionnaire. This questionnaire and short placement activity will help us advise you about which classes match your interests, goals, and levels of expertise.
Who should consider taking Greek or Latin?
In addition to students who are interested in Greco-Roman antiquity and the classical tradition, students with interests in Comparative Literature, English, History, Philosophy, and Religion (among other disciplines) may find their studies complemented by learning Greek or Latin.
Classics courses are listed in the Course Guide under separate headings: Classics & Classical Studies, Greek, and Latin. Courses of interest can also be found under “Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology.”
Courses designed to be introductions to the study of Greco-Roman Antiquity
For additional courses on Greco-Roman antiquity, see the handbook and the departments of Archaeology at Bryn Mawr, Religion at Haverford, and Philosophy at Haverford and Bryn Mawr.
Placement Guidelines for Greek and Latin
Most students begin their studies at the Elementary (001–002) or Intermediate (101–102) levels. We offer below general guidelines for Greek and Latin courses, but students should complete the questionnaire and plan to speak with Prof. Roberts to determine which course is right for them.
|
Student has… |
Latin |
Greek |
|---|---|---|
|
Little or no previous experience |
Should take LATN 001-002 (Elementary Latin), taught by Prof. Silverblank. This is a year-long course: the first semester combines an introduction to grammar and syntax with brief readings from ancient authors, and in the second semester the class will finish the basics of the language and read longer selections in prose and poetry. Students may also consider the equivalent course at Bryn Mawr. |
Should normally take GREK 001-002 (Elementary Greek), taught by Prof. Farmer. Learning Ancient Greek opens up a vast world that stretches from Homer's epics to Lucian's faked moon landing, from Sappho's burning verses to the graffiti of freed slaves carved onto the walls at Delphi, from the curse-spells of neoplatonic wizards to the sublime agonies of Sophoclean tragedy. At Haverford, Greek begins in the spring semester, which combines an introduction to the language with brief readings across the spectrum of Greek literature. In the second (fall) semester, students finish learning the basics of the language, and move into reading longer texts, typically beginning with a dialogue by the philosopher Plato. Students may also consider Bryn Mawr’s course in elementary Greek, GREK 010, which starts in the Fall Semester. |
|
High school background but needs substantial review |
May try LATN 101 or Bryn Mawr’s LATN 110 (see below), but might be better served by starting afresh in LATN 001-002. Students in this situation should complete the questionnaire and plan to speak with Prof. Roberts or another member of the department to figure out where they should start. |
|
|
Strong high school preparation |
Students should complete the questionnaire and plan to speak with Prof. Roberts to determine which course is right for them. Students with this level of experience will normally take LATN102: Love–Magic– How do you identify yourself—as a human, as a person from a specific time and place, as a person with particular needs and desires? As that identity evolves, do you remain the same person? How much control can you have over the way others identify you? Do your pets secretly talk when you're not around? Why can you love a person and loath them at the same time? In this course, we will meet a set of ancient Roman authors who were as consumed by questions of love and identity as we are in our lives today. First, we will settle back into reading Latin with a selection of fables about talking animals. We will then read excerpts from Apuleius' Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass; written by an African philosopher who was once put on trial for sorcery, this novel traces the adventures of a man cursed to become a donkey. Finally, we'll read the poems of the great Catullus, as famous for their beauty as for their explicit sexuality and biting attacks on Catullus' artistic and erotic rivals. This intermediate Latin course offers students a chance to develop their skills in reading and analyzing prose and poetry. There will be something for everyone! LATN 1021 may be followed in the spring either by LATN 104: Friends and Enemies of Rome at Haverford or by LATN 112: Horace and Livy at Bryn Mawr. |
Students should complete the questionnaire and plan to speak with Prof. Roberts to determine which course is right for them. They may be able to take GREK 101: Introduction to Greek Literature: Worlds of Wonder. This course is followed in the spring semester by GREK 102: Homer. This intermediate ancient Greek course offers students a chance to develop their skills in reading literary, historical, and philosophical prose. Students will continue to build grammar, vocabulary, and facility with different Greek dialects through the reading of extensive passages from authors including Herodotus, Plato, Plutarch, Lucian, Palaephatus, and others. Readings will be thematically organized around the concepts of wonder, marvel, world-building, travel, ethnography, and cultural identity. |
|
Exceptionally extensive preparation |
In very rare cases, students with exceptionally extensive HS preparation (well beyond the levels above) have begun their studies at the 200-level. Students who think they may qualify for this level should complete the Classics Department Questionnaire and consult with Professor Roberts before attending class. |
|
Starting language in Spring Semester
If students have prior experience with Latin, even if they have not taken a language course in the fall, they may be able to resume their studies in the spring. Students should speak to the instructors as soon as possible:
- Students with 3+ years of Latin, or more but with a significant hiatus in instruction, should see Professor Mulligan to discuss taking LATN 002.
- Students with very strong HS Latin should see Professor Roberts to discuss LATN 102.
Roman Friends and Enemies is both an intermediate Latin course and a further introduction to the study of Latin literature and culture. We will read a range of works in prose and poetry, decipher inscriptions and other material evidence for Roman culture, and learn the essential elements of studying ancient culture in a collegiate setting. We will investigate who the Romans were—their hopes, fears, achievements, and follies—by studying how they described friendship and their friends, and those who resisted the Roman order, from the founding of the city, through its near destruction by Hannibal, and its cannibalization during the Civil Wars. The course will conclude with a brief historical simulation in which you will debate the fate of Rome as a Roman senator.