Classics
Explore the dynamic world of the Ancient Mediterranean.
Ancient Ideas, Modern Perspectives
Ancient Art at the Allen
The Allen Museum includes a wide-ranging collection of ancient works from Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, and Rome, as well as objects from Hittite, Sumerian, Persian, and Etruscan cultures.
Language is Culture
The power to communicate is the most fundamental human skill. Oberlin offers programs in over a dozen languages.
Undergraduate Research
I really enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of my research. It’s exhilarating to take pieces of evidence from seminal works across different fields to craft something new.
Featured Courses
Magic & Mystery
Long before Harry Potter, Greeks and Romans brewed potions, cursed their enemies using lead sheets, and protected themselves with amulets made of gems, gold, or even wolf teeth. This course explores ancient belief in the unseen world, delving into witches and ghosts, magical spells and objects, and the esoteric traditions of the ancient Mediterranean.
- Taught by
- Andrew (Drew) Wilburn
Ancient Greek and Roman Sexuality
This course takes place at the intersection of ancient Mediterranean culture and modern Queer Theory. We study a range of ancient texts and images that represent sex, sexual desire, and gender presentation, and we compare them to contemporary ideas of sexual identity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- Taught by
- Kirk Ormand
The Ancient and Modern Novel
In this course we compare five modern novels to five of their ancient Greek and Latin predecessors. The course studies literary theories of the novel as a genre, including the novelistic body, novelistic time and space, and novelistic language.
- Taught by
- Benjamin (Ben) Lee
Ancient Science
Learn the science behind the world views of the Greeks and Romans. What did they think of fossils? Earthquakes? Comets? This class surveys ancient scientific texts and ideas and allows students to engage with the material in an active manner (past students have made their own aqueducts and musical instruments).
- Taught by
- Chris Trinacty
Student Profiles
Athenian Women
Lexi Trikoulis ’20, a Classics and Creative Writing double major, received a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship for her project on women and magic in Classical Athens.
Classicist and Athlete
JT Godfrey ’20 talks with Professor Chris Trinacty about life in the Classics Department and his work on Julius Caesar.
From Oberlin to Vox
After majoring in Classics, Rani Molla '08 went on to Columbia Journalism School. She is now a senior data reporter for Vox and Recode.