Classics and German

Classics and German brings together two of the great intellectual traditions of Europe, one rooted in the ancient Mediterranean and the other in the modern German-speaking world, both rich in philosophy, literature, and cultural achievement. Classics opens the civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome through their original languages, texts, and material remains. German is the language of Goethe, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Brecht, and of Europe's largest economy, a living tradition with a complex and important modern history.

At the University of Oxford this four-year full-time programme develops both disciplines to a high level, combining rigorous training in ancient languages (Greek and Latin) with the development of high-level German linguistic proficiency and the study of German literature and culture. In classics you will read Homer, Thucydides, Virgil, and Tacitus in the original, alongside philosophy, history, and material culture. In German you will engage with literature, intellectual history, and contemporary culture, from the Romantic period through to the present.

Oxford's tutorial system means regular one-to-one or small-group teaching with expert tutors, close feedback, and the expectation that you develop and defend original arguments.

The breadth of this combination, from ancient to modern, from the literary to the philosophical, trains a set of analytical and communicative skills of unusual depth.

Graduates go on to careers in academia, law, the civil service, journalism, publishing, international business, diplomacy, and the arts. The combination of ancient learning and modern European linguistic competence is distinctive and valued in competitive professional and academic environments. Many continue to postgraduate study in classics, German, European intellectual history, or related disciplines.