Phillips Exeter Academy

Classical Languages

Greek Poetry – Intensive
Classical Languages

Depending on the interests of the students and instructor, this course offers readings in either Greek epic or lyric poetry. In the epic sequence, students will read at least two books of Homer’s Odyssey in their entirety and selections from the full...

Latin Elegy
Classical Languages

Quintilian famously said, “In elegy too we challenge the Greeks.” Although indebted to the Greeks, the Roman elegists created a kind of personal love poetry never seen before in literature: a cycle of poems describing a love affair with one woman...

Plato’s Republic
Classical Languages

A.N. Whitehead once said that all of Western philosophy was but a footnote to Plato. This course provides a close study of the Republic, perhaps Plato’s most important and influential work. Written as a dialogue between Socrates and others, including...

Latin Prose Composition
Classical Languages

In this course, students complete an intense review of Latin grammar while also reading selections of several Latin authors with an eye toward identifying the stylistic elements that make each author unique. Students then put their Latin knowledge to the...

Special Readings
Classical Languages

The following courses are those in the normal sequence that fulfill the language requirement. At times, based on the ability and training of students, the department may advance students to a higher-level...

Lucretius
Classical Languages

Vergil said of Lucretius: “Happy is he who could understand the causes of things.” Lucretius was an ardent Epicurean who believed that the world was composed of indivisible particles called atoms and that the soul, also composed of atoms, perished...

Elementary Latin
Classical Languages

This introduction to the study of Latin is for beginning students and for those who have previously studied some Latin but do not place into Latin 210 or TR1. The most common forms and syntax are covered, except for the subjunctive...

Plautus
Classical Languages

The comedies of Plautus are the earliest complete works of Latin literature we have. Adapting the plots of earlier Greek plays, Plautus made them his own by adding such distinctively Roman elements as the role of the clever slave, coarse Latin humor, and lots...

Intermediate Latin
Classical Languages

This sequence continues to introduce students to additional forms and syntax, including the subjunctive mood. After completion of this material, students will have their first taste of authentic, unadapted Latin prose. Not just a general, conqueror and...

Elementary Latin – Intensive
Classical Languages

This introductory sequence serves two purposes: First, it offers students who have studied Latin previously, but are not placed into LAT210, a slightly condensed and accelerated path through the material covered in LAT110-230. Second, it satisfies the Latin...