The St John’s College Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition will be running for the fourteenth time during the academic year 2023/24, with apologies for the slightly later schedule than usual.
The competition is open to all students currently studying at a UK School or College, in Year 12 (Lower Sixth) or equivalent, whether or not they are currently studying a Classical or Ancient subject.
Each student may submit one essay (only) of up to 2,000 words on any of the following four questions:
· 1 Classical Literature: '“You wander to and fro... but all you achieve is to make the problem worse” (Seneca, Letter 28). Is travel in ancient literature always a bad idea?'
· 2 Ancient History: ‘How far did ancient Greek and Roman travellers go, and why did they not get any further?’
· 3 Ancient Philosophy: ‘Early Greek philosophers treat motion as identical to change. Are they right?’
· 4 Archaeology: ‘How and why did similar images or artistic motifs move in the ancient world? (Please focus in your answer on transmission between media/material/type of object, or across time, or between different places.)’
The deadline for submission of the essays is Friday 8th March.
Prizes Awarded
A £100 book token will be awarded to the best essay in each category and an additional £75 book token to the overall winner. A further £75 book token will be awarded to the best essay submitted by a pupil who has not previously studied a Classical or Ancient subject. All applicants will receive a certificate of entry.
Visit St John's - Subject Exploration Day
All students who submit an entry to the Classics Essay Competition are invited to our Classics and Ancient History Subject Exploration Day on Wed 1st May. This is a chance to visit St John's College and sample lectures delivered by our resident tutors.
For further guidance, details of how to join, and a report on the last year’s competition, which highlights the strengths of the winning essays, please see https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/access-and-outreach/our-programmes-sjc/subject-exploration-days/classics-essay-competition-2024/.
(I have attached the poster to advertise the competition to students).
After a long interruption due to Covid, this unique and exciting event is making its return.
It will take place on the 27th March 2024 and last time we had over 25 schools taking place. It will be great to get as many schools as possible on board.
Wishing to keep it simple, please see below some of main rules of the competition.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Pantelis Iakovou at p.iakovou@harrischaffordhundred.org.uk if you have any further questions.