* Classical Studies predictions / Discussion / Aftermath *

CPFC IRL

Heyas I thought there should be one of these threads for classics as its fast approaching

Classics is very difficult to predict but is there anything people are concentrating on or expecting to appear and does anyone else do augustan writers or greek art I seem like the only bleedin one

kt.alice

I do Alexander, Philosopher in Society, Greek Drama, and Ancient Epic.

I've a list of predictions for these, which I can put up later if anyone needs them.

And of course, anyone else's tips would be appreciated!

CPFC IRL

kt.alice wrote: »

I do Alexander, Philosopher in Society, Greek Drama, and Ancient Epic.

I've a list of predictions for these, which I can put up later if anyone needs them.

And of course, anyone else's tips would be appreciated!

What are you thinking for epic ive heard women in the odyssey and the fall of troy in the aeneid btw did u do the tain im wondering if anyone actually does it

For Alexander I reckon the hydaspes as its the battle due and the siege of tyre

Ciara0605

kt.alice wrote: »

I do Alexander, Philosopher in Society, Greek Drama, and Ancient Epic.

I've a list of predictions for these, which I can put up later if anyone needs them.

And of course, anyone else's tips would be appreciated!

yeah can you please put them up? Any bit of help would be much appreciated

Aoifums

I love Classics. We're all on the one thread and it's possible that we could all have different topics covered. I'm doing Alexander, Greek Dramas, Epics and Roman Art and Architecture (ick)
I'm trying to think of what my teacher said is coming up. All I can think of is children in Medea.

kt.alice

Ancient Epic:

• Compare & contrast Odysseus and Aeneas
• Nisus & Euryalus (Aeneid)
• Compare & contrast the role of the gods in the Aeneid & Odyssey
• Women in the Odyssey
• Compare & contrast Dido and Turnus (Aeneid)
• The Phaeician Episode (Odyssey)

Alexander the Great:

• The Northern Campaigns/Fall of Thebes
• Coastal Campaigns
• The battle of the Hydaspes
• Alexandria/Egypt
• The Sieges (Tyre/the three rocks)

The Philosopher in Society: (Plato's Republic)

• Treatment of women in the Republic
• The education of the philosopher ruler
• The Magnificent Myth
• The basic system of the class divisions
• The telling of stories and myths to children

There you go! Sorry I've nothing on Greek Drama, turns out. Might have on Monday though. And of course, I've nothing on the topics I'm not doing! :pac:

Hope this helps some of you!

Gem_Cat

Thank you so much for those predictions! I'm really not confident about Classics at all, especially as it's the first time for my teacher teaching the subject so I really didn't know what to expect. What a help, thanks!

Oenone

Hurrah thank the gods for this thread. I decided to self teach/learn this subject, but only began the course 4 days ago *facepalm*

So any predictions are very welcome

I'm doing;

Alexander the Great (apparently, he and Hephaestion were lovers)
Art and Architecture in Greek Society
The Philosopher in Society
Greek Drama

For the Greek drama, is it okay if I just study Medea and Oedipus Rex? I love Aristophanes and Aeschylus, but I'm a bit caught for time - my own fault but oh well.

Gem_Cat

Oenone wrote: »

Hurrah thank the gods for this thread. I decided to self teach/learn this subject, but only began the course 4 days ago *facepalm*

So any predictions are very welcome

I'm doing;

Alexander the Great (apparently, he and Hephaestion were lovers)
Art and Architecture in Greek Society
The Philosopher in Society
Greek Drama

For the Greek drama, is it okay if I just study Medea and Oedipus Rex? I love Aristophanes and Aeschylus, but I'm a bit caught for time - my own fault but oh well.

WOW four days ago? Fair play to you!! But yes doing just Medea and Oedipus is definitely sufficient. That's all we're doing and I think that's all most people do too. Plus you're guaranteed a question on each.

Oenone

Gem_Cat wrote: »

WOW four days ago? Fair play to you!! But yes doing just Medea and Oedipus is definitely sufficient. That's all we're doing and I think that's all most people do too. Plus you're guaranteed a question on each.

Well, I'm interested in Classics anyway, and obviously I've read all of the books (though some a long time ago) - I'm an eejit for leaving it so late though :pac:
And for Medea I presume the questions will be on themes such as feminism or misogyny? Even Freudian interpretations? I have no idea really, I have seen one past paper, it seemed very doable, but I am rather clueless as to what type of questions will appear
As for Oedipus Rex - I suppose the themes of divine determination versus human agency will be pretty likely? I guess the character questions too... I have no idea.
What do you think, since you've been studying it properly :pac:?

Gem_Cat

Oenone wrote: »

Well, I'm interested in Classics anyway, and obviously I've read all of the books (though some a long time ago) - I'm an eejit for leaving it so late though :pac:
And for Medea I presume the questions will be on themes such as feminism or misogyny? Even Freudian interpretations? I have no idea really, I have seen one past paper, it seemed very doable, but I am rather clueless as to what type of questions will appear
As for Oedipus Rex - I suppose the themes of divine determination versus human agency will be pretty likely? I guess the character questions too... I have no idea.
What do you think, since you've been studying it properly :pac:?

Well the questions really are quite random for both plays. I've done a lot of the past papers and some questions that I remember are:

For Medea - different views of marriage had by men and women in the play, specific encounters such as Medea and Jason's first encounter and the final scene, Euripides' understanding of the female psyche, the role of the chorus

And for Oedipus: his greatness as a ruler, the role of the chorus, the encounter between Oedipus and Tiresias, the relationship between Oedipus and Creon and the character of Jocasta

As you can see they can ask on pretty much anything, from characters, to relationships, to specific scenes. That's why I tend to not like Classics, it's so up in the air!! :P

CPFC IRL

How did you guys find it thought the Augustan Writers,Alexander and Ancient Epic were grand Hydaspes for Alexander came up luckily but thought the greek art was a bit ropey

Aoifums

I thought the Alexander questions were a little difficult. Maybe I just haven't studied him as much as I should have. The Darius question was fine but there wasn't a lot to write for part b.
The Greek Drama questions were nice. The Oedipus one looked niced and the Medea and Prometheus ones were lovely.
The Epics questions were alright. I loved the one to compare the two voyages, that exact question came up in my mock and I got 50 marks in it I wrote down the same answer so I should be good! The Phaeacians question was kinda odd. I pretty much made up the answer to b :rolleyes:
Roman Art and Architecture was alright. Pompeii is probably my least favourite town (I really wanted Londonium) but I managed. What emperor was that bust of? I couldn't think of it. And I felt a bit weird comparing a monument to a bust. They're very different things and there's not much to say about Augustus on the Ara Pacis since you can't really pick him out :rolleyes:

CdeP

Aoifums wrote: »

What emperor was that bust of? I couldn't think of it.

Commodus, although you probably would've got away with Joaquin Phoenix.

Quite a lot of the questions I did were structured differently to previous years, especially Roman Art and Architecture where I did two four part questions. Awkward enough at times. Probably has something to do with the fact we only had to answer six questions as opposed to eight.

Gem_Cat

I was sooo very happy with and relieved by it! I did the Phaeacians (and yeah part b was really weird but I think I managed), the Medea question, the Rock of Aornos and the Battle of the Hydaspes for Alexander and then the Magnificent Myth and education for Plato. I was really lucky with the questions that came up cos I could have done very badly if the wrongs kinds came up!

Aoifums

CdeP wrote: »

Commodus, although you probably would've got away with Joaquin Phoenix.

That name doesn't even ring a bell :eek:

RednaxelaB

What emperor was that bust of? I couldn't think of it. And I felt a bit weird comparing a monument to a bust. They're very different things and there's not much to say about Augustus on the Ara Pacis since you can't really pick him out

As people have already said, it was Commodus; as immortalised by Ridley Scott's Gladiator. :P Also you just answered the question yourself about comparing the two! Commodus can be clearly picked out, portraying the cult of the emperor. Augustus on the other hand is trying to portray peace and austerity and doesn't want to be seen as an 'all mighty ruler', rather that of 'primes inter pares' or the first among equals. Then you could have talked about how Commodus depicts violence, while (as I already said) Augustus depicts peace, prosperity, etc.
The Phaeacian part b was an odd one. I did eight questions just to have two back ups in case I messed up... though I did one of them (The Medea question) in about twenty seconds. :P Overall I thought it was a lovely paper. Most questions were rather general which didn't block you out. Specific questions are irksome when it comes to Classics.

Oenone

It is sad that this thread is dying

There should be more classicists in the world

randylonghorn

Oenone wrote: »

It is sad that this thread is dying

There should be more classicists in the world

How did you get on with the paper?

Oenone

randylonghorn wrote: »

How did you get on with the paper?

Ah well it was a bit of an unknown, as I had only seen one past paper, and well... I procrastinated rather too much!

So strangely enough, I really enjoyed it, especially the section on Plato, as I love Plato :pac:

What about thyself?

randylonghorn

Oh, I wasn't doing it (slightly past LC myself) but I noticed you saying that you had launched into it solo at the last minute, and was wondering how it turned out for you.

Oenone

randylonghorn wrote: »

Oh, I wasn't doing it (slightly past LC myself) but I noticed you saying that you had launched into it solo at the last minute, and was wondering how it turned out for you.

Ah I see
Well I hope I got an A1 but I do not know. I sort of bluffed madly for Medea and the Odyssey/Aeneid comparison. And I hadn't even planned on doing the Ancient Epic section - I was going to do Greek Art and Architecture, but in the end I was too disheartened to learn it - but I think it went well.

Hopefully.

I completely catastrophised my chemistry exam by refusing to learn anything - dire chemistry teacher who destroys souls - but perhaps the classics shall remedy my points :pac:

CdeP

Oenone wrote: »

There should be more classicists in the world

I agree!

CdeP

Anyone know if there's anywhere to discuss matters classics on boards?

There's some stuff over in Mythology but that's all I've been able to find.

Oenone

CdeP wrote: »

Anyone know if there's anywhere to discuss matters classics on boards?

There's some stuff over in Mythology but that's all I've been able to find.

I suggest that we make a thread in the Arts section perhaps?

CdeP

Oenone wrote: »

I suggest that we make a thread in the Arts section perhaps?

What do you mean by thread? An entirely new forum? Considering there have been maybe 20 replies to this thread I wouldn't say there is enough demand so I can't see that happening unfortunately.

Is that what you were thinking of?

CdeP

Alternatively, we could turn this into a classics discussion thread and the mods could move it to wherever they think it should be.

Sorry for hijacking the thread OP...

CdeP

CdeP proceeded to make a final, desperate (some might say pathetic) attempt to keep this thread alive...

Is anyone considering doing something classics related in university? I like the look of Classical Civilisation as part of a TSM at Trinity although the points could be very high.

Oenone

CdeP wrote: »

CdeP proceeded to make a final, desperate (some might say pathetic) attempt to keep this thread alive...

Is anyone considering doing something classics related in university? I like the look of Classical Civilisation as part of a TSM at Trinity although the points could be very high.

I shall join thee in this brave attempt

This is what I have on my splendiferous CAO form;
(All at Trinity College Dublin)
-English Lit/Greek
-English Lit/Philosophy
-English Studies
-Classical Civilisation/English Lit
-Ancient History and Archaeology/English Lit
-English Lit/History
-English Lit/Psychology

So yes indeed :pac:

By the way, are you a Hellenist or a Romanist :cool:? The answer determines your life

CdeP

Oenone wrote: »

I shall join thee in this brave attempt

This is what I have on my splendiferous CAO form;
(All at Trinity College Dublin)
-English Lit/Greek
-English Lit/Philosophy
-English Studies
-Classical Civilisation/English Lit
-Ancient History and Archaeology/English Lit
-English Lit/History
-English Lit/Psychology

So yes indeed :pac:

By the way, are you a Hellenist or a Romanist :cool:? The answer determines your life

So as to avoid death I shall say neither and both.

I like the look of your choices. A lady of words it seems.

Oenone

CdeP wrote: »

So as to avoid death I shall say neither and both.

I like the look of your choices. A lady of words it seems.

You seem to be rather diplomatic, so I shall dub thee a Hellenist :pac:

Yes, I like my choices too, strangely enough It is a pain in the derrière that the TSM English course is studied in less depth however. What aspects of Classics do you like, and what choices do you have down on the CAO, if you don't mind me asking?

CdeP

Oenone wrote: »

You seem to be rather diplomatic, so I shall dub thee a Hellenist :pac:

Yes, I like my choices too, strangely enough It is a pain in the derrière that the TSM English course is studied in less depth however. What aspects of Classics do you like, and what choices do you have down on the CAO, if you don't mind me asking?

That's a tough question to answer. There isn't much a don't like really. I think it's important to study Classics and the fact I also find it fascinating is but a lovely wee bonus.

I'm considering quite a few courses which would allow me to satiate my voracious lust for Classics and English. Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology is another one I like the look of as is European Studies. Something involving French aswell perhaps although that would probably be relegated to the lower echelons of my choices.

Oenone

CdeP wrote: »

That's a tough question to answer. There isn't much a don't like really. I think it's important to study Classics and the fact I also find it fascinating is but a lovely wee bonus.

I'm considering quite a few courses which would allow me to satiate my voracious lust for Classics and English. Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology is another one I like the look of as is European Studies. Something involving French aswell perhaps although that would probably be relegated to the lower echelons of my choices.

Hmm well, for me, it would be more the philosophical and the theological aspects of Classical culture. Thucydides' dense droning is brain numbing - he is not a favourite I especially like, okay this sounds odd, but the cults - you know, such as the Pythagoreans, the Orphics and Mithraism to name the ones better known. But then, I am obsessed with the various philosophers, playwrights, poets, HOMER of course I am glad that you think it's important - it is so important, and yet it's all about "study biology, chemistry, physics" in schools/universities today.

PPES eh? The grandmother of all humanities it seems. I'm not very interested in politicking really. However, I too was going to put down something to do with French, but there is sort of a transition option - with the English/Greek course - to go to France in second year, I think. So I could be gobbling English books, declaiming in Ancient Greek, and be all existentialist at the same time, whilst sipping a cappuccino on the left side of the Seine :cool:

CdeP

Oenone wrote: »

Hmm well, for me, it would be more the philosophical and the theological aspects of Classical culture. Thucydides' dense droning is brain numbing - he is not a favourite I especially like, okay this sounds odd, but the cults - you know, such as the Pythagoreans, the Orphics and Mithraism to name the ones better known. But then, I am obsessed with the various philosophers, playwrights, poets, HOMER of course I am glad that you think it's important - it is so important, and yet it's all about "study biology, chemistry, physics" in schools/universities today.

PPES eh? The grandmother of all humanities it seems. I'm not very interested in politicking really. However, I too was going to put down something to do with French, but there is sort of a transition option - with the English/Greek course - to go to France in second year, I think. So I could be gobbling English books, declaiming in Ancient Greek, and be all existentialist at the same time, whilst sipping a cappuccino on the left side of the Seine :cool:

I think I misinterpreted your initial question. I thought you were asking what it was I liked about Classics as a whole as opposed to specific aspects which is why I found it so difficult to answer! Pretty much all of the above would be my answer. I would, however, add to your list the art and architecture of the time. Love an auld bust so I do.

I can't say that I know a great deal about the "cults" which you mentioned. I am, however, intrigued. Any recommended reading?

Oenone

CdeP wrote: »

I think I misinterpreted your initial question. I thought you were asking what it was I liked about Classics as a whole as opposed to specific aspects which is why I found it so difficult to answer! Pretty much all of the above would be my answer. I would, however, add to your list the art and architecture of the time. Love an auld bust so I do.

I can't say that I know a great deal about the "cults" which you mentioned. I am, however, intrigued. Any recommended reading?

Hahaha - yes, the auld busts are quite delicious :pac: Especially Alexander's.

As for the cults - well, "The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries" by Ulansey is quite good, as is the "Gardens of Adonis" by Marcel Detienne - that is quite deconstructionalist though, it is very interesting. The book, "The Greeks and Greek Love", contains some interesting information on cults - and erm, Greek love :cool:

CdeP

How did everyone get on in Classics?

kt.alice

CdeP wrote: »

How did everyone get on in Classics?

B3. Not very happy with that at all, and seriously considering getting it rechecked. Almost managed the A in my mocks (84%) and honestly thought the real thing went much better

How'd you do?