Greats (Oxford)

Greats (Oxford) is the colloquial name for the undergraduate course Literae Humaniores at the University of Oxford, a long-established programme combining the study of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Classical philology, Ancient philosophy, and Classical history. The course is noted for producing figures prominent across British public life, including statesmen, judges, scholars, and writers connected with institutions such as Downing Street, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Royal Society, and the British Museum. Its curriculum and traditions intersect with colleges like Balliol College, Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford, Magdalen College, Oxford, and New College, Oxford.

History

Greats traces roots to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century reform of classical learning at the University of Oxford and the codification of undergraduate examinations influenced by figures such as Thomas Arnold and administrators associated with the Oxford Movement. Reforms in the nineteenth century, including those advocated by Benjamin Jowett and enacted under Vice-Chancellors linked to colleges like Balliol College, Oxford and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, reshaped classical instruction alongside the expansion of the university system that involved colleges such as Merton College, Oxford and Exeter College, Oxford. The 1850s and 1860s saw the formalisation of Moderations and Finals, with examination practices later influenced by scholars from Trinity College, Cambridge and debates involving proponents of German philology such as Friedrich August Wolf. Twentieth-century developments responded to the impacts of the First World War and the Second World War, drawing on returning intellectuals whose careers intersected with institutions like the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence, and museums such as the Ashmolean Museum. Postwar curricular adjustments reflected broader trends in humanities at universities including Cambridge and Harvard University.

Curriculum and Structure

The course, administered by the Faculty of Classics (University of Oxford), traditionally divides into two phases: Honour Moderations (Mods) focusing on language and texts, and Finals emphasising philosophy and history linked to figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil, Thucydides, and Tacitus. Students read primary texts in Ancient Greek language and Latin language with philological tools developed in the tradition of scholars like Augustus Boeckh and Richard Bentley. Options permit specialised study of ancient authors and areas including Hellenistic historiography, Roman law tied to jurists such as Justinian I, ancient science reflecting work by Galen and Hippocrates, and classical reception that connects to modern writers like John Milton, T.S. Eliot, Matthew Arnold, and A.E. Housman. Colleges such as Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and St John's College, Oxford provide tutorials and small-group teaching reflecting pedagogical models associated with F. W. Maitland and E. R. Dodds. The degree culminates in Finals examinations assessing philology, prose composition, verse composition, philosophical essays on figures like Epicurus and Stoicism, and historical papers covering events such as the Peloponnesian War and the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Admissions and Examinations

Admissions are competitive and normally require proficiency in Latin language and Ancient Greek language at A-level or equivalent, with some applicants admitted via conversion pathways similar to schemes at King's College London and UCL. Colleges administer interviews drawing on classical texts and philosophical problems in the manner of other selective programmes at universities such as Cambridge, Princeton University, and Yale University. The examination framework includes Honour Moderations, often held in the second year, and Finals in the fourth year for the four-year course or third year for the three-year variant; assessment practices have historical antecedents in nineteenth-century examination reforms connected to figures like Sir William Hamilton and administrators in Oxford governance. Successful candidates receive the BA and may proceed to the Oxford MA in accordance with university statutes paralleling traditions at institutions like St Andrews.

Notable Tutors and Alumni

Tutors and examiners associated with the course have included prominent classicists and philosophers such as Benjamin Jowett, E. R. Dodds, G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, R. G. Collingwood, John Cook Wilson, and Edith Hall. Alumni have occupied leading roles: politicians including Winston Churchill, A. J. Balfour, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Clement Attlee; philosophers and theorists like Isaiah Berlin, F. H. Bradley, Bertrand Russell, Gilbert Ryle, A. J. Ayer; historians and classicists such as M. I. Finley, Mary Beard, Donald Kagan, Robin Lane Fox; jurists like Viscount Haldane and judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom; writers and poets including T. E. Lawrence, John Betjeman, W. H. Auden, Philip Larkin, and literary scholars connected to Oxford University Press. Other figures span the Diplomatic Service, the BBC, the Civil Service, and academic appointments at Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Cambridge, and the École Normale Supérieure.

Influence and Legacy

Greats has exerted cultural and intellectual influence on British public life, shaping thought in departments like Philosophy, History, and Classics across universities including Cambridge and Edinburgh. Its alumni have influenced policy in cabinets based at 10 Downing Street and jurisprudence in courts such as the House of Lords (UK) and the European Court of Human Rights. The course's philological and philosophical rigour contributed to debates involving figures like John Stuart Mill and the reception of classical antiquity in movements such as Neoclassicism and twentieth-century modernism associated with writers like T. S. Eliot and institutions like the British Academy. Contemporary discussions about curriculum reform and outreach echo wider higher-education debates involving stakeholders such as the Office for Students and philanthropic foundations like the Leverhulme Trust.

Category:University of Oxford