Classical Civilisation event

On Wednesday 21 June Caitlin J., accompanied by Miss Heewon Park, teacher of Classics, attended an event for local Lower Sixth Classical Civilisation students at the Stephen Perse Foundation. The initial seminar focused on mixed interpretations; critically reading texts and moving past superficial readings and exploring different angles. The students were really engaged and spent time afterwards in small groups discussing complex themes with eloquence, from the comparison between the gods in the Iliad and Abrahamic gods, to how one moment in a Greek tragedy could retrospectively colour reading of the entire play. There was also an opportunity to read some poetry by Sappho, an ancient female poet, which is very rare! The group then enjoyed a very stimulating lecture from Dr Ingo Gildenhard University Reader in Classics and the Classical Tradition from King's College, University of Cambridge, titled 'Classical Lies: Are Homer and Virgil telling the truth?'. This extended students’ learning past the syllabus into university standard material, challenging them not to just accept the canonical view on texts but to probe further. It was also really interesting for attendees to meet many other students studying the subject and to discuss the texts they have just started studying in depth for A Level - lots of peer learning going on, and a very enjoyable morning by all accounts.