Master List of Museums with Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and/or Near Eastern Antiquities in the United States of America

This post was originally posted on Tumblr, October 16, 2018, at this URL: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179105816745/master-list-of-museums-with-greek-roman 

These collections may not be extensive or on display (and may contain only one culture from the above list), and I am including museums with minimal collections as well; please check with the museum before you visit or check their collections search online if the object(s) you wish to see is/are on view.

Feel free to message me if I’ve missed a museum! I’ll be constantly updating this post. (Initial Post: October 16, 2018; First Update: October 16, 2018, 2:18 p.m. Pacific; Second Update: October 16, 2018, 7:15 p.m. Pacific; Third Update: October 17, 2018, 6:29 p.m.; Fourth Update: October 21, 2018, 10:36 p.m.; Fifth Update: November 4, 2018, 9:06 a.m.)





Alabama:

• Anniston Museum of Natural History (Anniston, AL) 
• Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, AL) 

California:

• Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology (Berkeley, CA) 
• Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University (Stanford, CA) 
• J. Paul Getty Museum (“the Getty” which includes the Getty Center and the Getty Villa) (Los Angeles, CA) 
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA) 
• Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) 
• Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA) at the California State University, San Bernardino (San Bernardino, CA) 
• Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (REM) (San José, CA) 
• San Diego Museum of Man (San Diego, CA) 
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art (Santa Barbara, CA) (Collection for Greek and Roman Art not on view, but can be found in Collections Search) 

Colorado:

• Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Denver, CO) 
• University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum (Boulder, CO) 

Florida:

• The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art at Florida State University (Sarasota, FL) 
• Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) 
• Museum of Dinosaurs and Ancient Cultures (Cocoa Beach, FL) 
• Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, FL) 
• Tampa Museum of Art (Tampa, FL) 

Georgia:

• Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) 

Illinois:

• The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL) 
• The Field Museum (Chicago, IL) 
• The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) 
• Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, IL) 
• Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL) 

Indiana:

• Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) 
• Gustav Jeeninga Museum of Bible & Near Eastern Studies at Anderson University (Anderson, IN) 

Kansas:

• Museum of World Treasures (Wichita, KS) 

Maryland:

• Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD) 
• John Hopkins Archaeological Museum (Baltimore, MD) 
• Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, MD) 

Massachusetts:

• Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) 
• Berkshire Museum (Pittsfield, MA) 
• Fitchburg Art Museum (Fitchburg, MA) 
• The Harvard Semitic Museum (Cambridge, MA) 
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA) 
• The New Bedford Museum of Glass (New Bedford, MA) 
• Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) 
• Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, MA) 

Michigan:

• Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI) 
• Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI) 
• Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) 

Minnesota:

• Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, MN) 

Mississippi:

• The Lois Dowdle Cobb Museum of Archaeology at Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, MS) 
• The University of Mississippi Museum (Oxford, MS) 

Missouri:

• Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO) 
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO) 
• Saint Louis Art Museum (St. Louis, MO) 

Nevada:

• Las Vegas Natural History Museum (Las Vegas, NV) (Note: the artifacts are replicas of the tomb of Tutankhamun and other Egyptian antiquities and are one of only two sets that were authorized by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities) 

New Hampshire:

• Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) 

New Jersey:

• Newark Museum (Newark, NJ) 
• Princeton University Art Museum (Princeton, NJ) 

New York:

• The Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY) 
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY) 
• The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, NY) 
• Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art in the William D. Walsh Family Library at Fordham University (New York, NY) 
• Onassis Cultural Center (New York, NY) (Note: exhibitions vary but may contain art from Ancient Greece) 
• Steinberg Museum of Art at Long Island University (Brookville, NY) 

North Carolina:

• Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC) 
• Gregg Museum of Art & Design at North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) 
• Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, NC) 
• North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC) 

Ohio:

• Cincinnati Art Museum (Cincinnati, OH) 
• Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH) 
• Museum of Classical Archaeology at Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) 
• Museum of Natural History & Science (Cincinnati, OH) 
• Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH) 

Oklahoma:

• Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art (Shawnee, OK) 

Oregon:

• Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University (Salem, OR) 
• Prewitt–Allen Archaeological Museum at Corban University (Salem, OR) 

Pennsylvania:

• Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia, PA) 
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, PA) 
• Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology at the Pittsburg Theological Seminary (Pittsburgh, PA) 
• Reading Public Museum (West Reading, PA) 
• University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Philadelphia, PA) 

Rhode Island:

• Rhode Island School of Design Museum (Providence, RI) 

Tennessee:

• Art Museum of the University of Memphis (Memphis, TN) 
• Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum at Southern Adventist University (Collegedale, TN) 
• McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) 
• The Parthenon (Nashville, TN) (Note: the Parthenon is more like a building of art itself as it’s a replica and the art in its galleries are not from the ancient world) 

Texas:

• Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, TX) 
• The Houston Museum of Natural Science (Houston, TX) 
• Kimbell Art Museum (Forth Worth, TX) 
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, TX) 
• San Antonio Museum of Art (San Antonio, TX) 

Utah:

• Utah Museum of Fine Arts (Salt Lake City, UT) 
• Utah State University Museum of Anthropology (Logan, UT) 

Vermont:

• Fleming Museum of Art at the University of Vermont (Burlington, VT) 
• Middlebury College Museum of Art (Middlebury, VT) 

Virginia:

• Chrysler Museum of Art (Norfolk, VA) 
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA) 

Washington:

• Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA) 

Washington, D.C.:

• Freer Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) 

West Virginia:

• Huntington Museum of Art (Huntington, WV) 

Wisconsin:

• Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College (St. Beloit, WI) 
• Milwaukee Art Museum (Milwaukee, WI)

A "Useless" Degree

This post was originally published on Tumblr, November 20, 2018, at this URL: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/180334541050/a-useless-degree 

It’s something that a lot of us hear - or dread hearing - when we’re starting off in university. “What are you going to do with a useless degree like that?” Some variation of this question will be said, whether it’s by a friend, a family member, or even a perfect stranger who decided that they knew better about your future than you do.

Here’s the thing about academia - all degrees have value, but the amount it’s worth is always going to be up to you. Did you go into your university career with a different major than you have now? I did. This degree was less lucrative, less “useful” than my previous major would have been. But I excelled in the classes, and I enjoyed them, which was not what I was doing in my previous program.

The experience you have while you’re studying at the undergraduate, or even graduate, level does not just have to extend to coursework, but to other things as well. Did you make new friends? Did you uncover an interest you might have not otherwise known about had you not taken that class? Did you overcome a fear? Did you read more books than you ever thought possible? Did you learn something new about yourself? Did you have fun? Did you laugh? Do you have a professor who will stand out in your mind forever because of their literal catchphrase? (Mine was a Medieval professor who started every first day of class with: “There is no use of the F-word in my class! You can fuck all you want, but noooooooooooo feudalism!” - I had him for three different Medieval courses and looked forward to the reactions every single time.)

Your program is there to help you learn and become a better scholar, but it is also to help you grow as a person. To me, there is no such thing as a useless degree - I get more out of my degrees than most people would expect. Do I need to indicate that I have a Creative Writing degree on my CV for my museum work? No, but I claimed it as a double major because I wanted to do it for my own enrichment, my own enjoyment, and if you’re doing something that makes you feel good, then it’s not useless.

If you have fun, your degree is worthwhile.

If you’ve made friends, your degree is worthwhile.

If you have memories you’ll never forget, your degree is worthwhile.

If you learned anything during your program, your degree is worthwhile.

If you found yourself during your program, your degree is worthwhile.

Remember, there is no such thing as a “useless” degree. If you’re enjoying it, if you love it, and you’re studying it because you want to, that’s more than enough for your degree to be worthwhile. Let no one stop you from doing what you love.

Academic Advice Given on Tumblr - Backup

This ask was originally posted on Tumblr, November 6, 2018, at this URL: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179847323830/hi-im-a-high-schooler-who-wants-to-pursue-a

Original Ask: hi! i'm a high-schooler who wants to pursue a career in classics and ancient history and you're a massive inspiration to me, I was wondering if you have any advice for an aspiring classicist

My Answer:
Hey! I’m glad to be an inspiration :3

So, the first thing I would suggest is to read, read, read. I know it’s expensive to get a lot of books, but remember that public libraries (and check your high school library, too!) might have many of the books you might want to read before you head into a Classics program.

If you would prefer to have these things online so you can access a lot of different things, here are my favorite websites to refer to:

• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
• https://www.gutenberg.org/
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/search.htm

The next thing to remember is that if you’re an undergraduate student, you’re not going to know everything in every class. Be open to exploring - take courses that have a focus on the ancient world, but don’t be afraid to stray into other courses (I took enough Medieval courses (history, literature, art history) that I was one course away from a minor). One of the things that I would recommend is searching for schools that have a program you think you’ll enjoy and e-mail the professors! I e-mailed the director of the Classical Studies department at Villanova University back and forth for a long time before I applied to the graduate program and she was quite supportive and explained things well to me. This was a big reason I decided that I decided that Villanova was right for me. The professors and how they interact with potential students will tell you a lot about the faculty as well as the program. Look through the potential courses at the universities you’re interested in, and whether they have all the courses, you would be interested in, including courses for other aspects of the field.

Classics courses can be under Anthropology or Archaeology, Art History, English/Literature, Greek/Latin, Library Sciences, Law, Museum Studies, Theatre, etc. If you’re interested in exploring any of these areas of Classics, I would suggest exploring these courses if the university offers them as well. This would also help you hone in on what area of the field you might be most interested in pursuing - a lot of people who go into Classics either end up teaching or working in a museum, from my experience. However, those aren’t your only choices, and we’ll get back to that more towards the end :3

If you’re not sure if you’d like archaeology, if you can afford an archaeological field school, I would say try to participate in one when you’re an undergraduate student, or if you can’t, see if your local state parks have any need for archaeological volunteers. That’s something that I’ve been investigating in Las Vegas (where I live); this isn’t Classics specifically, but much of the work will be similar so you can gauge whether you like digging enough to do it for a living. This past summer I did my first archaeological field school (three years after I completed my B.A. in History/Classics), so if you wait a little longer, that’s okay, too. But, I loved it, and I definitely want to dig again, so I think that it’s important to find a way to pursue those opportunities when you can (I was lucky to get a full-time job a year before I went and was able to save up - I didn’t take any vacation time in the year and a half from when I was hired until after the field school). There are field school scholarships that you can apply to, like the Jane C. Waldbaum Archaeological Field School Scholarship (https://www.archaeological.org/grants/708), that are for students pursuing their first field school, amongst other funding, so make sure you look everywhere and ask your university if they have a database for field school funding. A lot of your anthropology and archaeology professors will be helpful in asking about this. Your university might also have archaeology opportunities on campus as well; my alma mater, the University of Delaware, had an Archaeology Laboratory that I volunteered in for extra credit and continued to do so once my course was over because I enjoyed it so much. See what’s around and how you can help out!

In the same vein, if you’re interested in museum work, look to see if you can volunteer over the summer, or once you’re a university student, see if you can enroll in an internship for credit. Sometimes your university galleries and museums might have a program, so look into that, too! I did a Curatorial Apprenticeship Program at the University of Delaware and was able to conduct an Independent Study for credit through the museum program (now the University of Delaware has a Museum Studies minor). I’ve always known that my end goal was to be a curator, but there’s plenty of other aspects of museums you can explore: education, administration, museum libraries, and a lot of other departments, depending on the size of the institution. If you’re in the U.S., you can check my museum post to see if your state has ancient art (https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179105816745/master-list-of-museums-with-greek-roman), and if you’re in another country, don’t worry, I’m working on master lists for other countries, too.

Many courses may be taught in translation (especially if you’re taking it as an English Literature or Foreign Language in Translation course), so see if you can find the best or most highly recommended translations by professors. See what the book lists are for the courses at the universities you’re looking at and try to find your favorite translation. I just bought the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey, which I have a feeling will be my favorite translation. This is The Iliad translation I have (http://www.librarything.com/work/3426497/book/161094444), The Aeneid (http://www.librarything.com/work/11862/book/161072440), Metamorphoses (http://www.librarything.com/work/3439/book/161072432), and The Love Songs of Sappho (http://www.librarything.com/work/237534/book/161093187). All of these were assigned textbooks for my Biblical and Classical Literature and Mythology courses at the University of Delaware between 2007-2015 (those links take you to my LibraryThing, which will tell you most of the books that I own or I have on my wishlist, if you want to check them out; I haven’t finished organizing their categories yet, though, so it’s a WIP).

If you haven’t been exposed to Ancient Greek or Latin at the high school level and university will be the first time you encounter these languages (as was true for me), you don’t necessarily have to know anything by the first day of class. However, if you would like a head start, here are some lessons on Ancient Greek in YouTube format (http://www.openculture.com/2016/08/learn-ancient-greek-in-64-free-lessons-from-brandeis-harvard.html) and in text format (https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/grkol). Latin, unsurprisingly, has a lot more resources for free online learning (I even bought a Udemy course to review my Latin): The University of Texas at Austin: https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/latol, http://learn101.org/latin.php, and this list is good to consult: https://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/latinapps.htm. I haven’t used all of these myself, so explore and see which ones would be best for you and works best for how you learn.

If you decide to continue with Classics into the graduate level, keep in mind that you’ll need German AND French or Italian. I took both French and Italian as an undergraduate and I can read French pretty well because I took it for four years in high school and studied abroad in Caen for five weeks as an undergraduate. Italian I can kind of read alright, but I know no German, which I need to work on. So, if you have a language requirement and your Latin or Greek does not count, keep those languages in mind. (Sometimes you have to take a certain amount of Latin or Ancient Greek for it to count, and your program may not require as many ancient language courses for your major as the language requirement for the university, etc. I only needed to take Ancient Greek or Latin, but I decided I wanted to do both.)

Classics is an extremely interdisciplinary field, so you have a lot of options, both as an undergraduate and a graduate student. You don’t necessarily need to go straight into graduate school, either. You can teach at the high school level, you can go into archaeology fieldwork or museum work, or do a variety of other things. It’s up to you. I took a year off, got a different Master of Arts degree before I applied to my M.A. in Classical Studies. It’s different for everyone. I’ll be 30 when I get my M.A. in Classical Studies, so take your time and explore things that call to you. Don’t rush things and have fun!

Of course, I’m sure you want to know “What can I do with a Classics degree?” Luckily, many places have already made lists like this! Here they are:

• https://www.angelo.edu/services/career/majors/classics.php
• https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/careers/subjects/classics/
• https://classicalstudies.org/education/careers-for-classicists/an-undergraduate-degree-in-the-classics
• https://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/careersandemployability/subjectfactsheets/subjectfacsheets/2016ese030_Classics_st1.pdf
• http://loveofhistory.com/what-jobs-can-you-get-with-an-ancient-history-and-classics-degree/
• https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/classics

And I made a post with different places that post Classics positions as well, for when you’re ready to look for those (I check them regularly to see the requirements people want for these positions to either match up or if I need further training or credentials): https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/178955792555/since-im-still-in-my-ma-program-for-classical

TLDR & recap:

• Read, read, read 
• Research your potential schools 
• Volunteer 
• Explore aspects of the field 
• Have fun! 

Additionally, I found this list of people that have Classics degrees :3 https://rogueclassicism.com/folks-you-didnt-know-maybe-had-classics-degrees/

I hope you found this helpful and I apologize for the length, but feel free to drop me a line whenever you like if you need more advice or would like me to expand on any of my experiences!

All the best,
The Ancient Geeko-Roman

P.S. Folklore Fiancé wanted to make sure I didn’t overwhelm you and wanted to encourage you to make sure you take your time and take breaks when studying. Don’t overwhelm yourself with your research; take your time to explore different areas and don’t tackle too many things at once. *takes off parent hat*





This ask was originally posted on Tumblr, November 8, 2018, at this URL: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179914532575/hi-so-im-a-high-school-freshman-rn-lol-but-i-want 

Original Ask: Hi so I'm a high school freshman rn lol but I want to study archaeology, and in my country they don't teach that, like it's not a career, there's only anthropology. So I've been researching a lot and I found out that La Sapienza in Rome teaches it. But idk do you think that it would be fine to go and study it abroad? Also, should I learn latin or ancient greek?

My Answer:
Hello!
Anthropology is a good way to start and get to archaeology - the University of Delaware (my alma mater in the U.S.A.) just has Anthropology, but under that department, there are archaeology courses. One of my courses was Prehistoric Archaeology (which was one of my favorite classes!) listed as an Anthropology class. Also, remember that if you study a related program as an undergraduate, getting a graduate degree in Archaeology is possible. My undergraduate degree was in History with a concentration in Classics, so it was relevant for my Classical Studies MA, and then my Ph.D. is going to be specific to ancient art and archaeology (once I get in, that is!) A lot of different subjects are relevant to archaeology, so you don’t necessarily need to study it as an undergraduate. You can major in a relevant but different program, and go to archaeological field schools to gain archaeology experience. One of the most important things to remember about archaeology is that, from what I have been told, is that the most important aspect of archaeology is the experience. The more you dig, the better! Potential employers, at least in the United States, look more at how much you have dug in the past - it’s great to have the education - but finding digs you can participate in (and if you decide to go to Italy, there will be no shortage of digs you might be able to participate in). But there’s nothing wrong with wanting to major in Archaeology specifically before you start digging.

However, if you really want to do a program abroad, do some research on the program. If you’re proficient in Italian, then I don’t think that would be an issue - but remember, studying abroad for a long period of time or for a full program is much different than short-term studying abroad. If your country does not have archaeology as a career, you should assess where you might want to go if that’s your career goal. It does make it easier when you’ve studied in that country to get a position as a professional there once you’ve completed the program. I’ve studied abroad four times, but it was always between two and five weeks, so I can’t speak too much on doing a full program abroad (anyone who is doing their program abroad and wants to add some specific advice to this, please do!)

The other thing you really should consider with studying abroad is funding; make sure you look into the funding available for foreign/EU students (depending on where you live). See what the university offers and search to see if there are any exchange programs between your country and Italy that might provide you with a fellowship/scholarship. Outside scholarships for exchange students are out there as well, so make sure you look everywhere for them! Unfortunately, since I’m U.S.-based, I’m not sure if your country does things quite the same way, but see if you can find scholarship search engines. I use things like FastWeb on a regular basis, but also Unigo, Cappex, and ScholarshipDetective. Smaller scholarships are always good to look for (I was awarded a $600 scholarship from Mensa in my last program, and all I was able to do was buy my books for two semesters, so it wasn’t a lot, but every little bit helps!) Look locally and at the university you’re applying to, and you can always e-mail the person listed on the funding page of the university and ask them questions about your concerns. I did this with the University of Wales Trinity St. David when I considered going there for Ancient Religions (and honestly I might take some of the classes for fun when I have the time and money because I don’t have enough courses about Ancient Religion), but the amount of funding that would be available for a distance student from the U.S.A. wasn’t enough for me to even take one course, so I looked for different options.

I would advise looking into other schools as well! If you’re proficient in Italian, you can look into other schools, too. You don’t necessarily have to stick to just La Sapienza, but I would suggest researching all possible options and perhaps compare them in terms of the specializations of the professors (if you want to study something that’s a research interest of a professor, you can e-mail them and discuss your desire to apply to the program), compare the weather for the university with the weather to what you’re used to and make sure you can handle the change or are at least prepared for it! I’m a beach baby who ended up in the desert, and I was not prepared. If you’re able to, I would visit the university as well, because I think visiting and getting to see the campus facilities (classrooms, dorms, library (libraries, if there’s more than one), dining halls, etc.) is important. This is where you’re going to study for a couple of years, it would be good to visit to get familiar with the campus and gauge if you feel that it’s a right fit for you.

So, in sum, I do think it’s totally fine to go abroad for your degree. I think studying abroad is really beneficial to people who do it, but the main concern for that is usually funding. If you would be comfortable living in a different country, I think you should do it, absolutely. As I said, I’ve only done short-term study abroad courses, so I can’t speak to semester/year/degree-length study abroad experiences, but if I had the chance myself, I would take it. Just do your research, e-mail potential professors, and consider whether you would like to stay at the university for a graduate program or to find archaeology as a career.

As for whether you should take Latin or Ancient Greek, that depends on a couple of things: your potential research interests, where you want to dig, and finally, what you think you will enjoy the most! My program only required me to take either Latin up to the 600 level (6 semesters for a new student), Ancient Greek up to the 600 level (6 semesters for a new student), or a combination of both Latin and Ancient Greek (a total of 8 classes). Since I didn’t know which one I would like better, I took both, so I could only take 4 semesters to complete the requirement because I took Ancient Greek and Latin at the same time. So, if you’re going to school for archaeology in Italy and you want to dig in the same place, Latin would make more sense. If you’re interested in digging in any of the ancient Greek areas (I dug in an ancient Greek and Thracian area of Bulgaria this past summer), then ancient Greek would be good to study. Part of the areas I visited in Bulgaria was inscribed with Latin, too, so it is prominent in a lot of places. Part of the reason I took both was because part of my research interest includes ancient religions and how they evolved, so I needed Ancient Greek and Latin and languages I haven’t even started looking at yet.

If you’re still not sure about whether to take Ancient Greek or Latin, I would read some of the Classical texts that are on reading lists in your native language, decide which texts you liked the best and decide from there whether you want to read those texts in their original language! For reference of what texts you should read in translation to decide, here is the link to the Yale list of reading for Classics: https://classics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/downloads/YaleUndergraduateReadingList.pdf and here is one from Balliol College, University of Oxford: https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/classics-reading-lists. These would be a great place to start, and if you’ve already read a lot of or a decent amount of them, think of which ones you liked more.

Finally, if you want to study both and are able to, study both! If you think you’ll like Ancient Greek more, then go for that one. I’m personally better at Latin, but I like Ancient Greek more. This might also depend on your program as well, how much they offer, and how far they expect you to go for your program. This would be another thing to add to your research list when looking into potential programs.

I wish you all the best, and I hope this helps! If you would like me to clarify or expand on anything I’ve said here, don’t hesitate to drop me a line!

-The Ancient Geeko-Roman





This ask was originally posted on Tumblr, November 10, 2018, at this URL: https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179972282550/hey-sorry-to-bother-you-but-i-recently-went-to-a

Original Ask: Hey sorry to bother you but I recently went to a classics uni taster course and sat there completely overwhelmed because whilst the actual lessons given were tailored to potential students who have never studied classics before (me), nearly everyone else there had and were engaging with the material in a way I simply couldn’t understand. Do you have a recommended reading list I could use over summer so that I don’t completely go in the deep end? :) thanks so much!

My Answer:
You’re not a bother at all, friend!

It is really overwhelming when you’re not used to it - and don’t worry, I have a whole degree in Classics, and I still get overwhelmed! It’s perfectly normal. There’s a lot of information and the Classical world spans so many locations and time periods, it’s a lot to take in. Everyone is going to be at different levels and remember - you can always learn. Your point of view and your voice is important, so if you have trouble engaging in the material how others are presenting it, think of how you engage with the material and how you would present it to others. You might be giving a lot of people another aspect of the material that they themselves had not considered.

Anyway!

So, before I went into my Classics degree, I had only read The Iliad and The Odyssey, and I didn’t even read them all the way through, but that’s where I would begin!

The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid are the “big 3″ that I had to keep reading over and over again, no matter what level of Classics I was in. However, there is a lot more reading!

The recommended reading list for Classics undergraduates from Yale University is found here (https://classics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/downloads/YaleUndergraduateReadingList.pdf) and is as follows (and please remember that this is for the whole of your undergraduate career, not what you should have done before you start):

Ancient Greek:

• Homer’s The Iliad: 1, 6, 9 (Ancient Greek), all of it in English 
• Homer’s The Odyssey: 4, 9 (Ancient Greek), all of it in English 
• Homeric Hymns: Demeter in Ancient Greek; Aphrodite, Apollo, and Hermes in English 
• Hesiod’s Works and Days 1-247 (Ancient Greek), all of it in English 
• Hesiod’s Theogony 1-232 (Ancient Greek), all of it in English 
• Archilochus 1, 2, 3, 6, 22, 74 (Ancient Greek), the English recommended is A. Miller’s Greek Lyric (I have never read this author at all, myself) 
• Sappho 1, 16, 31, 44 (Ancient Greek), English: A. Miller’s Greek Lyric is listed here again, and I would also recommend The Love Songs of Sappho, which is what I used in my course and enjoyed (https://www.amazon.com/Love-Songs-Sappho-Literary-Classics/dp/157392251X/) 
• Solon 1, 24 (Ancient Greek), A. Miller’s Greek Lyric selections in English (I have never read this author, either) 
• Simonides 542, 121D, 92D (Ancient Greek), A. Miller’s Greek Lyric selections in English (I have never read this author, either) 
• Bacchylides 3, 18 (Ancient Greek), A. Miller’s Greek Lyric selections in English 
• Pindar Ol. 1: In English: selections of Odes in A. Miller, Greek Lyric: Olympian 2, 12, 13, 14, Pythian 1, 3, 8, 10, Nemean 5, 10, Isthmian 5, 6, 7 
• Aeschylus’s Eumenides (Ancient Greek) 
• Aeschylus’s Oresteia (English) 
• Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex (Ancient Greek) 
• Sophocles in English: Ajax, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus 
• Euripides’s Medea (Ancient Greek) - one of my favorites 
• Euripides in English: Hippolytus and Bacchae 
• Aristophanes’s Clouds (Ancient Greek) 
• Aristophanes in English: Frogs, Birds, and Lysistrata (I performed Lysistrata when I was an undergraduate and played Kinesias. It was amazing and one of my favorite plays.) 
• Herodotus 1.192 (Ancient Greek), 6-9 in English 
• Thucydides 2.1-65 (Ancient Greek), 1, the rest of 2, 6, and 7 in English 
• Plato’s Republic I, Ion, Crito (Ancient Greek), Republic, Apology, and Symposium in English 
• Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics 1 (Ancient Greek), all of Poetics in English 
• Lysias 1 (Ancient Greek), Lysias 12 in English 
• Demosthenes’s First Philippic (Ancient Greek) 
• Apollonius’s Argonautica selections in N. Hopkinson, A Hellenistic Anthology: 1.536-58, 1.1153-71, 3.744-824, 4.1629-88 (Ancient Greek); all of the Argonautica in English 
• Callimachus: selections in N. Hopkinson, A Hellenistic Anthology: Reply to the Telchines (fr. 1), Acontius and Cydippe (frr. 67+75), The Bath of Pallas (Hymn 5), The Hymn to Zeus (Hymn 1) (Ancient Greek) 
• Theocritus 1, 15 (Ancient Greek), 7 and 11 in English 
• Plutarch’s Alcibiades (Ancient Greek) and in English: Alexander, Coriolanus & Comparison of Coriolanus and Alcibiades 

Additional English Readings:

• Lyric poetry, selections of Alcman, Alcaeus, Anacreon, and Theognis from A. Miller, Greek Lyric 
• Tetralogies by Antiphon 
• Dyscolus by Menander 
• Lucian: selected Dialogues of the Gods in L. Casson, Selected Satires of Lucian, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 20, 24; The Dream or Lucian’s Career, The Death of Peregrinus 
• Daphnis and Chloe by Longus 

That sure is a lot! But, again, remember, this is the reading list from which most undergraduates would be working off of for their final and comprehensive examinations, if your university conducts those types of requirements. This isn’t a list of things you should know before you’re in your program, but moreso what you should know at the end of it. So, here’s my recommendations from that list that I would suggest for you to read before you begin your program (in English, but if you have some knowledge of Ancient Greek, it would be good to give it a go for the recommendations listed here! But don’t worry, you don’t need to know everything before the first day of class).

Ancient Greek Readings (My Recommendations from the List Above):

• The Iliad 
• The Odyssey 
• Homeric Hymns 
• Theogony 
• Sappho (all) 
• Oresteia 
• Oedipus Rex 
• Antigone 
• Medea 
• Clouds and Lysistrata 
• Argonautica 

These are the ones I would start with; it’ll get you familiar with the type of readings you will have, it’s a little less overwhelming than the first list, and I’m going to be perfectly honest with you that I’ve not read a good chunk of the people on the list myself. But, I think that my recommendations are a little easier to digest and easier to get through than trying to read the whole list recommended for undergraduates. Onward we go!

Latin:

• Plautus’s Menaechmi (Latin), Aulularia and Amphitryo in English (the first time I read Amphitryo was as a graduate student) 
• Terence’s Adelphoe (Latin) (another one I didn’t read until I was a graduate student) 
• Ennius's Annales 34-50, 72-91, 96, 268-286 (as numbered in O. Skutsch’s Annals of Quintus Ennius) (Latin) 
• Catullus 1-16, 22, 28, 30-36, 44-46, 49-51, 58, 62-64, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 82-87, 92, 93, 95, 96, 99, 101, 109 (Latin), (I love his poetry ngl) 
• Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura I.1-448 (Latin) 
• Caesar’s Bellum Civile I (Latin) 
• Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae (Latin) 
• Cicero’s In Catilinam 1, Somnium Scipionis, Letters 1, 3, 6, 15, 18, 19, 20, 24, 27, 33, 34, 38, 52, 63, 67-69 (ed. Shackleton Bailey) (Latin), Brutus, Penguin Classics On the Good Life (Trans. Grant) in English 
• Horace’s Satires 1, Odes 1, Epistles 1 (Latin), Ars Poetica in English 
• Virgil’s Eclogues, Aeneid I, IV, VI, XII (Latin), Georgics and Aeneid (all) in English 
• Tibullus I.1, 3, 5 (Latin) 
• Propertius I.1, 3,5, 6, 11, 18-20; IV. 7-11 (Latin) 
• Nepos’s Atticus (Latin) 
• Ovid’s Amores 1, Metamorphoses 1 (Latin), Ars I and Metamorphoses (all) in English 
• Livy praef., I.1-16 (Latin), Books I and XXI in English 
• Res Gestae Divi Augusti 
• Seneca’s Phaedra, Letters 7, 47, 56 (Latin), Apocolocyntosis, Octavia in English 
• Lucan’s Bellum Civile I.1-182 (Latin); Books I and VII in English 
• Persius’s Satire 1 (Latin) 
• Petronius’s Satyricon chapters 26-78 in Latin, the rest in English 
• Martial’s De Spec. 31 and 34; Book I.1-4, 13, 16, 29, 32, 38 (Latin) 
• Pliny’s letters I.9, VI.16, VII.33, X.96-97 (Latin) 
• Tacitus’s Agricola 1-4, 42-46 and Annales I (Latin), Annales (all) in English (I’m literally reading these right now lol) 
• Juvenal’s Satires 1, 3 (Latin), 6, 10 (English) 
• Suetonius (in English): Augustus, Nero, Domitian 
• Apuleius Metamorphoses 1 (Latin), Metamorphoses (all) in English 
• Ammianus XVI.1, 5, 10; XXXI.16.7 (Latin), XIV.5.6-XV.8.16, XVI (all) in English 
• Augustine’s Confessions I.VIII(13)-XIV(23) (Latin), Confessions I (all) in English 
• Claudian’s In Eutropium I (English) 
• Boethius Consolatio Philosphiae 1 (English) (I never read this for a Classics course, but did have it in a Medieval Literature course in English) 
• Quintilian Instit. X.1.85-131 (English) 

Quite a lot here, too! From what I had to read in school as an undergraduate, I will give you a few recommendations for the Latin readings you might want to explore in English before you dive in to the works in Latin (again, if you are familiar with Latin, feel free to try and work through some of the recommendations above!)

Latin Readings (My Recommendations from the List Above):

• Ennius’s Annales 
• Catullus (all) 
• De Rerum Natura 
• Bellum Civile 
• Bellum Catilinae 
• In Catilinam 
• The Aeneid 
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses 
• Pliny’s letters 

Remember, these are all to start you off, and if you complete all of the readings I recommended, you can explore the expanded list and see what’s interesting to you. The recommendations I’ve made on what to read before you go into your program is based on what I read as an undergraduate and whether I had read it at all before I began graduate school. If anyone wants to specifically recommend anything I didn’t list as a must before beginning a program, please add it!

Here are the best places to find translations of these works, in case you cannot find them in your local library or don’t have the money to invest in all of them:

• http://classics.mit.edu/index.html
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
• https://www.sacred-texts.com/

I hope this helps and please let me know if you would like me to expand on anything else for you. Happy reading!

All the best,
The Ancient Geeko-Roman





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