The Classical Tripos is the taught course in
classics at the
Faculty of Classics,
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. It is equivalent to
Literae Humaniores at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied Latin and Greek, a four-year course has been introduced. It is not essential to have a Greek
A-Level to study for the three-year degree as intensive Greek teaching is available, but most students will have a Latin A-Level.
Classics at Cambridge consists of language (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
),
classical literature,
ancient history
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
,
classical art
Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic d ...
and
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
,
classical philosophy
This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, namely philosophical thought extending as far as early post-classical history ().
Overview
Genuine philosophical thought, depending upon original individual insights, arose in many cultures ...
, and
linguistics
Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...
.
Parts of the degree
Prelims to Part I
Taken by those doing the four-year course, this is an introduction to Latin, with Greek being taken up in Part IA.
Part IA
During the first year, undergraduates take subjects to gain a general idea of the ancient world and to discover which area is most appealing to them. Much of the work is language based; written texts are a major source of evidence for classical antiquity and so there is an emphasis in Part I on developing fluent, accurate reading skills in both Greek and Latin.
Although roughly three-quarters of the course is taken up with developing language skills, both centred on the set texts and in unseen translation, students are also expected to study literature, philosophy, history, linguistics and philology, and art and archaeology.
Part IB
There is a wider choice in the second year and undergraduates narrow down their field of study. Whilst they have to study Language and Literature, the choice of Literature is wider, and they choose two out of History, Art and Archaeology, Philosophy and Linguistics.
Part II
Part II gives the widest choice. It is possible to completely focus on one subject, or to choose a broad range of subjects. Candidates take four papers, although one of these papers may be substituted by a 10,000-word
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
.
History
The classical tripos was created in 1822 for students who had high honours in mathematics or those who were the sons of
peers. This restriction ended around 1850.
Women
Women were first allowed to sit the examination at the end of the nineteenth century.
In 1887,
Agnata Butler ( Ramsay), a student at
Girton College
Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...
, was the only candidate to be placed in the top division of the first class in Classical Tripos examinations – thereby being placed above all of the men in her year. It was marked with a cartoon in
''Punch'' which was entitled 'Honour to Agnata Frances Ramsay' and showed her boarding a train's first-class compartment marked 'For Ladies Only'.
References
Sources
*
*
*{{citation , url=http://www-mcr.girton.cam.ac.uk/college.html , title=The history of Girton College , first=Aislinn , last=Muller , year=2014 , access-date=2017-03-25 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207012714/http://www-mcr.girton.cam.ac.uk/college.html , archive-date=2017-12-07 , url-status=dead
External links
Tripos Examinations
Academic courses at the University of Cambridge
Tripos
At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...
Classical studies