Classical Studies Minor

A grasp of the languages of Rome and of ancient Greece is of course of immense benefit for the understanding of our English language, a tongue very deeply in their debt. No less evident is the fact that Latin and Greek are the keys to direct experience and enjoyment of a treasure trove of masterworks in areas such as literature, mythology, law, medicine, religion, philosophy, and history-works whose influence have been very much alive throughout the intervening centuries and into our own time. But not only does knowledge of Latin or Greek provide intimate access to worlds and worldviews that resemble our own, although seen in a distant mirror. The study of the classical authors and their contexts also reveals worlds and worldviews that are profoundly "other" than our own, thus providing a richly stimulating contrast to and enlargement of our own culture's norms of thinking and feeling.