The Parthenon with scaffolding in front of it

Classics

Explore ancient languages and cultures and better understand your own.

Classics has been a cornerstone of the liberal arts and continues to play an important role in that tradition. The idea of liberal study had its beginning and initial elaboration in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. As that idea has expanded in theory and practice over history, the study of classics has remained one of its components, and students of classics have embraced liberal education’s wider aims: to provide the perspective and intellectual skills which enable a person to learn deeply and widely, to think clearly and productively, and to communicate effectively. Its skills include analysis, synthesis, critique, and creativity. It aims at appreciation of the cultural expressions and aspirations of humankind, as well as scientific knowledge. Liberal education is therefore an ideal complement to study of a particular field and preparation for a career.

In pursuit of the liberal arts, scholars and students of classics ask enduring and novel questions about the languages, literature, cultures, history, art, archaeology, mythology, and philosophy of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Our holistic approach to these areas informs our understanding of the modern world and antiquity’s multifaceted influence on it. Students pursue these topics in classes, both at Grinnell and abroad, and through independent research mentored by faculty. Classics majors emerge well prepared for graduate study — in the humanities, law, and medicine — as well as for careers in business, education, service, technology, and many others.

Why Study Classics?

  • Britney, a classics major

    Classics at Grinnell: Students’ Own Words

    I study classics for two reasons.

    The first word: experience.

    And the second: for the content itself, having that perspective into history.

    — Britney He ’22

  • A student analyzing a Greek vase

    Valuable Perspective

    Put lessons from the past into practice today.

    Because of their continuity and comparability, the ancient and modern worlds offer valuable perspectives on one another. You’ll be asked to apply what you learn about ancient Greece and Rome to what you learn in history, the physical and social sciences, philosophy, literature, and the arts as taught from more recent points of view.

  • Spring Fresco at Akrotiri in Santorini

    Liberal Arts Education

    A view from all vantage points.

    As a student of classics, you’ll cultivate complex thought and close attention to detail. You’ll embrace liberal education’s wider aims of developing the perspective and intellectual skills needed to learn deeply and widely, to think clearly and productively, and to communicate effectively.

  • Archival text

    Interdisciplinary Study

    Complement your studies in other disciplines.

    You’ll gain a mastery of the Greco-Latinate vocabulary of English, develop a deeper understanding of grammar, and achieve greater sophistication in speaking and writing, all within offerings designed with the diverse needs, interests, and goals of students in mind. You’ll find the study of classics is a particular asset for the study of the health sciences, law, literature, art history, religion, and many other fields as well.

Featured Courses

A professor talks with students gathered around a table.

An Exploration of the Ancient Greeks

As a student in the course titled the Ancient Greek World, you’ll learn to read and analyze ancient Greek texts closely to extract the implicit from the explicit.
A professor and students gather for discussion around a table.

Lessons from Ancient Greece

History of Ancient Greece traces the history of Ancient Greece from 3000 to 323 BCE, covering the rise of the Greek city-state and the simultaneous development of the Athenian empire and its domestic democracy.
A professor and student examine a marble Roman portrait head, believed to be from 1st century, in the print study room of the Burling Library

Roman Life Through Art

As student in Roman Archaeology and Art (CLS 250), you will come to better understand Roman culture and private life through its art and architecture.

Alumni Stories

Tad Boehmer
Answering the Call of Rare Books

Tad Boehmer ’12 discovered his own love of classics at Grinnell, thanks to impassioned faculty members who breathed life into these ancient texts.

First-Year Tutorials Offered by Classics Professors

Two sides of an ancient coin: a third-century BCE coin depicting, on one side, Alexander the Great as the Egyptian god Amun and, on the other, the Greek goddess Athena holding the goddess Nike (Victory)

Immortality

Fall 2021

In this tutorial with Professor Dixon, students will trace the phenomenon of immortality across five continents from antiquity (in the literature and art of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome) to today (in science fiction films).

Red room at the Palace at Knossos, Crete

Epic Heroes’ Journeys

Fall 2020

With his students, Professor Mercado explored the stories of the sons of Pāṇḍu and of Odysseus, heroes of Indic and Greek epic known the world over who journey to find home or found a new one.

Silhouhette of a man and woman on an ancient Greek piece of pottery

Humanities I: The Ancient Greek World

Fall 2020

Professor Joe Cummins offered his students an introduction to poetry, history, and philosophy by way of some of the most famous works produced in ancient Greece.

Department News

Athena Itonia profile on a coin

Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess

With Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (Brill, 2019) Gerald V. Lalonde, Benedict Professor Emeritus of Classics, offers the first comprehensive history of the martial cult of Athena Itonia, from its origins in Greek prehistory to its demise in the Roman imperial age. This will be an indispensable volume for all interested in the social, political, and military uses of ancient Greek religious cult and the geography, chronology, and circumstances of its propagation among Greek poleis and federations.

Nora and Ben place a greek vase in a spectrometer machine

Chemical Connections: Classics and Chemistry Collide with Research on Greek Vase

What’s the connection between olive oil, an ancient Greek vase, and X-ray fluorescence analysis? That’s exactly what Nora Madrigal ’19 and Ben Hoekstra ’19 sought to find out from a research project in their Chemistry 358: Instrumental Analysis class.

More Courses in Classics

  • Students and Professor Monessa Cummins with the Athenian Acropolis behind them

    Whose Sculptures Are They?

    Learning to think critically and creatively about the nuances of a complex issue

    Does the chance to study a complex, international, and emotionally charged issue intrigue you?

    What if you were able to tackle that issue with two experts? And travel with them to London and Greece to examine the heart of the dispute?

    During spring 2019, 16 students snapped up that global learning opportunity. They enrolled in Greek Architectural Sculpture: Style, Context, and Ownership, an upper-level classics and art history cross-listed course.

  • Young woman working on a laptop at the library

    Read Homer, Sappho, and Plato in Their Original Language

    Become a more meticulous thinker and writer by studying ancient Greek

    You’ve heard of those famous one-name people — Homer, Sappho, Plato. Maybe you’ve read some of their work in translation.

    But what’s it like to study such classics of literature in the original Greek?

    For one thing, you won’t learn to converse in the language as you would in a modern language class. Instead, you’ll focus on learning to read, interpret, and enjoy Greek literature.

Department Chair

Angelo O Mercado

Contact Information

Phone
641-269-3157

Humanities and Social Studies Center
1226 Park St.
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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