Reading Lists
Ph.D. in Classics | Ph.D. with a Historical Emphasis | Ph.D. in Classical and Medieval Latin
Faculty prepared these lists for the guidance of students reading for the Ph.D. translation, written, and oral examinations. Insofar as possible, the three types of examinations should be prepared for simultaneously: thus reading Homer should prepare one to translate Homer, to discuss his poetry and thought, and to examine the implications of the oral theory of composition and the evidence for the Mycenaean age in the epic. The lists reflect a consensus as to which works a student should have read in the original language for a strong preparation in the various areas. The faculty strongly recommend that as many other ancient works as possible be read in English translation, as appropriate to the various programs. While preparing their Greek reading, for example, students should read in English those parts of Homer which they have not read in Greek.
A feature of the Ph.D. reading lists is the designation of a core list. Authors and works on the Ph.D. reading list are indicated by an asterisk (*). Substitution of equivalent material for works not marked with an asterisk requires the prior approval of the director of graduate studies.
Master of Arts (Greek or Latin)
Greek
| Homer | Iliad 1, 9, 16, 22, 24; Odyssey 1, 6, 9, 19, 23 |
| Hesiod | Theogony |
| Lyric Poetry | Campbell's selection of Solon, Sappho, and Simonides |
| Sophocles | Oedipus Tyrannus |
| Euripides | Bacchae |
| Aristophanes | Frogs |
| Herodotus | 1.1-130, 3.1-87 |
| Thucydides | 1, 2.34-65 |
| Plato | Apology, Republic 2 |
| Aristotle | Poetics |
| Lysias | 12 |
| Demosthenes | 3rd Philippic |
| Theocritus | Idyll 15 |
Latin
| Plautus | Menaechmi |
| Terence | Adelphoe |
| Lucretius | Book 1 |
| Catullus | Entire |
| Cicero | In Catilinam 1 and 4, Pro Caelio, Stockton's Thirty-Five Letters |
| Caesar | de Bello Gallico 1 |
| Sallust | Catilina |
| Vergil | Aeneid 1-6 |
| Horace | Odes, Book 1 |
| Ovid | Metamorphoses 1, Amores 1, Ars Amatoria 1 |
| Tibullus | Book 1 |
| Propertius | Book 1 |
| Livy | Books 1 and 21 |
| Seneca | Epistulae Morales 47 |
| Petronius | Cena Trimalchionis |
| Tacitus | Annals 1 and 14, Agricola |
| Lucan | Book 1 |
| Juvenal | Satires 1, 3, 10 |
PhD (Classics)
Greek
| Homer* | Iliad 1-3, 6, 9, 16, 18, 22-24; Odyssey 1, 5-6, 9, 11-12, 19, 21-23 |
| Hesiod | Theogony, Works and Days* 1-662 |
| Lyric & Elegy | David Campbell’s selection of Archilochus, Tyrtaeus, Alcman, Solon, Sappho, Alcaeus, Anacreon, Xenophanes, Simonides, and Theognis |
| Pindar* | Olympians 1, 7, 14; Pythians 1, 8, 10; Nemean 5, Isthmian 5 |
| Aeschylus | Agamemnon*, Choephoroi, Eumenides* |
| Sophocles | Antigone*, Oedipus Rex*, Philoctetes |
| Euripides | Medea*, Hippolytus, Bacchae* |
| Herodotus | 1.1-130*, 3.1-87, 7.1-58*, 8.18-99 |
| Aristophanes | Clouds*, Birds, Frogs* |
| Presocratics | The selection of Anaximander, Heraclitus, Empedocles, and Democritus included by Kirk, Raven, and Schofield in The Presocratic Philosophers |
| Thucydides | 1*, 2.34-65*, 3.35-85, 5.26, 84-116*, 6.8-32.3, 7.84-87* |
| Lysias* | 12 |
| Plato* | Apology, Republic 2 and 10, Symposium, Phaedrus |
| Xenophon* | Hellenica 1-2.2 |
| Aristotle* | Poetics, Nicomachean Ethics 1, Rhetoric 1 |
| Demosthenes | On the Crown, Philippics 3* |
| Menander* | Dyscolus |
| Apollonius* | Argonautica 3.1-298, 439-470, 616-1162 |
| Theocritus* | 1, 7, 11, 15 |
| Callimachus* | Hymn 2, Aetia Frs. 1-2, 67-75, 110 |
| Longinus | On the Sublime |
| Plutarch* | Pericles |
| Inscriptions | Meiggs and Lewis, Greek Historical Inscriptions, Nos. 1, 5, 23*, 27, 52, 73 |
| Hellenistic | In Long and Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers, the section on Stoic Philosophers’ ethics |
Latin
| Livius Andronicus* | Fragments |
| Naevius | Longer fragments |
| Ennius* | Longer fragments |
| Pacuvius | Longer fragments |
| Plautus* | Menaechmi |
| Terence* | Adelphoe |
| Lucretius* | Books 1 and 5 |
| Catullus* | All |
| Cicero | Catilinarians 1* and 4*, Pro Murena, Pro Caelio*, De Officiis 1, De Oratore 1, Brutus*, Stockton's Thirty-Five Letters* |
| Caesar | Civil War 1, Gallic War 1 and 6 |
| Sallust* | Catiline |
| Vergil | Eclogues, Georgics 1 and 4, Aeneid* |
| Horace* | Satires 1, Odes (all), Epistles 2, Ars Poetica |
| Ovid | Ars Amatoria 1, Metamorphoses 1* and 5*, Amores 1, Tristia 4.10*, Heroides 1, 3, and 7 |
| Tibullus | Book 1 |
| Propertius | Book 1 |
| Livy | Books 1*, 21*, and 22 |
| Augustus | Res Gestae Divi Augusti |
| Lucan | Book 1 |
| Seneca | Phaedra, Epistles 40, 47, 77, 79, 88, 90, 114 |
| Petronius | Cena Trimalchionis |
| Martial | Book 1, epigrams in Post (1-4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, 25, 27, 29, 32, 33, 38, 41-43, 47, 53, 61, 66, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 85, 88, 89, 93, 98, 100, 102, 103, 107, 109, 113, and 117) |
| Quintilian | Book 10, ch.1 and 2; Book 12, preface and ch.1 and 10 |
| Tacitus | Annals 1*, 14*, and 15, Agricola, Histories 1* |
| Pliny the Younger | 5.10, 6.16 an 20*, 10.96* and 97* |
| Juvenal | Satires 1*, 3, 7, and 10 |
| Suetonius | Nero |
| Apuleius* | Metamorphoses 1 |
| Augustine | Confessions 3 and 8* |
PhD (Historical Emphasis)
Greek
| Homer | Iliad 1, 2, 6, 9, 16, 18, 22, 24; Odyssey 1, 2, 7, 11, 19, 22 |
| Hesiod* | Works and Days |
| Lyric & Elegy* | David Campbell’s selection of Archilochus, Tyrtaeus, Alcman, Solon, Sappho, Alcaeus, Anacreon, Xenophanes, Simonides, and Theognis |
| Pindar* | Olympians 1, 7, 14; Pythians 1, 8, 10; Nemean 5, Isthmian 5 |
| Aeschylus* | Agamemnon, Persians |
| Sophocles* | Antigone, Oedipus Rex |
| Euripides | Medea, Trojan Women* |
| Aristophanes | Acharnians, Wasps* |
| Herodotus* | 1.1-130, 3.1-87, 5.28-96, 6.94-120, 7-8 |
| Thucydides* | 1, 2.1-65, 3, 5.26, 84-116, 6.1-32.3, 7.84-87* |
| Lysias* | 12 |
| Plato | Apology*, Crito, Republic 2 and 8, Gorgias* |
| Xenophon | Anabasis 1, Hellenica 1-2* |
| Aristotle | Constitution of the Athenians*, Politics 1 |
| Demosthenes* | Philippics 1-3, On the Crown |
| Isocrates | Panegyricus |
| Xenophon | Constitution of the Athenians |
| Polybius* | 6 |
| Plutarch | Pericles, Cicero |
| Appian | Bellum Civile 1 |
| Herodian | 7 |
| Dio Cassius | 48, 53 |
| Inscriptions | Meiggs and Lewis, Greek Historical Inscriptions, Nos. 1, 5, 23, 27, 39, 52, 73 |
Latin
| Plautus | Menaechmi |
| Terence | Adelphoe |
| Lucretius | Book 1 |
| Catullus | 1-17, 29*, 51, 57*, 64, 101 |
| Cicero | Catilinarians*, Pro Caelio*, De Imperio Cn. Pompei*, De Re Publica*, Stockton's Thirty-Five Letters*, Second Philippic*, De Officiis 1 |
| Caesar* | Civil War 1 and 3, Gallic War 1 and 6 |
| Sallust* | Catiline, Jugurtha, major fragments |
| Vergil | Eclogues 1 and 9, Aeneid 1-8, 12 (1*, 6*, and 8* are core) |
| Horace | Satires, Books 1 and 2, Odes, Books 1 and 3 |
| Ovid | Ars Amatoria 1 |
| Livy* | Books 1, 5, 21, 22, and 30 |
| Augustus* | Res Gestae Divi Augusti |
| Lucan | Books 1 and 7 |
| Seneca | Any five letters, Apocolocyntosis* |
| Petronius | Cena Trimalchionis |
| Tacitus* | Agricola, Germania, Histories 1 and 3, Annals 1, 4, 11, 14, and 15 |
| Pliny the Younger | Book 10* (all), other letters in Sherwin-White, Fifty Letters |
| Martial | Any 25 epigrams |
| Juvenal* | Satires 1, 3, and 4 |
| Suetonius | Julius*, Augustus*, Nero, and Vespasian |
| Historia Augusta | Hadrianus* |
| Ammianus* | 14, 16.1-10, 25.1-4 |
| Inscriptions* | Laudatio Turiae, S.C. de Pisone, Lex de Imperio Vespasiani, S.C. de Bacchanalibus |
PhD (Classical and Medieval Latin)
Classical Latin
| Livius Andronicus* | Fragments |
| Naevius | Longer fragments |
| Ennius* | Longer fragments |
| Pacuvius | Longer fragments |
| Plautus* | Menaechmi |
| Terence* | Adelphoe |
| Lucretius* | Books 1 and 5 |
| Catullus* | All |
| Cicero | Catilinarians 1* and 4*, Pro Murena, Pro Caelio*, De Officiis 1, De Oratore 1, Brutus*, Stockton's Thirty-Five Letters* |
| Caesar | Civil War 1, Gallic War 1 and 6 |
| Sallust* | Catiline |
| Vergil | Eclogues, Georgics 1 and 4, Aeneid* |
| Horace* | Satires 1, Odes (all), Epistles 2 |
| Ovid | Ars Amatoria 1, Metamorphoses 1* and 5*, Amores 1, Tristia 4.10*, Heroides 1, 3, and 7 |
| Tibullus | Book 1 |
| Propertius | Book 1 |
| Livy | Books 1*, 21*, and 22 |
| Augustus | Res Gestae Divi Augusti |
| Lucan | Book 1 |
| Seneca | Phaedra, Epistles 40, 47, 77, 79, 88, 90, 114 |
| Petronius | Cena Trimalchionis |
| Martial | Book 1, epigrams in Post (1-4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, 25, 27, 29, 32, 33, 38, 41-43, 47, 53, 61, 66, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 85, 88, 89, 93, 98, 100, 102, 103, 107, 109, 113, and 117) |
| Quintilian | Book 10, ch.1 and 2; Book 12, preface and ch.1 and 10 |
| Tacitus | Annals 1*, 14*, and 15, Agricola, Histories 1* |
| Pliny the Younger | 5.10, 6.16 an 20*, 10.96* and 97* |
| Juvenal | Satires 1*, 3, 7, and 10 |
| Suetonius | Nero |
| Apuleius* | Metamorphoses 1 |
| Augustine | Confessions 3 and 8* |
Medieval Latin
| Biblia Sacra (ed. R. Weber) | Ecclesiastes, Liber Psalmorum, Evangelium Marci |
| Augustine | Confessions (at least 1, 8, and 10); De Civitate Dei 19, De Doctrina Christiana 4 (all in Corpus Christianorum = C.C.) |
| Jerome | Epistolae 14, 22, 104, and 105 (ed. J. Labourt) |
| Macrobius | In Somnium Scipionis (ed. J. Willis) |
| Prudentius | Cathemerinon, Praefatio & 9, Psychomachia, vv. 107-177 and 800-end, Itinerarium Egeriae (C.C.) |
| Boethius | De Consolatione Philosophiae, Books 1 and 3 (C.C.) |
| Cassiodorus | Institutiones 2 (ed. Mynors) |
| Benedict | Regula (ed. de Vogue) |
| Gregory the Great | Dialogi 2 (ed. de Vogue) |
| Gregory of Tours | Historia Francorum 5 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica = M.G.H.) |
| Venantius Fortunatus | Carmina 3.2 and Book 7 (M.G.H.) |
| Bede | Historia Ecclesiastica 3 (edd. Colgrave and Mynors) |
| Alcuin | Carmina 1 and 45 (M.G.H.) |
| Einhard | Vita Karoli Magni (M.G.H.) |
| Lupus of Ferrieres | Epistolae 1 and 133 (ed. L. Levillain), Waltharius (M.G.H.) |
| Hrosvitha | Paphnutius or Abraham (M.G.H. or ed. H. Homeyer) |
| Liutprand | Antapodosis 5 (M.G.H.) |
| Carmina Cantabrigiensia | 9-11, 24, 27, 40, and 48 (M.G.H.) |
| Anselm | Proslogion (ed. F. Schmitt) |
| Hildebert | Carmina Minora 22, 36, 38 (ed. A.B. Scott) |
| Hugh of St. Victor | Didascalicon (ed. C.H. Buttimer) |
| Abelard | Historia Calamitatum (ed. J. Monfrin) |
| Suger | Vita Hlodovici (ed. H. Wacquet) |
| Bernard of Clairvaux | Sermo super Cantica 26, De Diligendo Deo (ed. J. Leclercq) |
| Bernardus Silvestris | Cosmographia (ed. P. Dronke) |
| John of Salisbury | Metalogicon 2 or Policraticus 5 (ed. C. Webb) |
| Alanus ab Insulis | De Planctu Naturae (ed. N. Haring, Studi Medievali 3, 19 (1978) pp. 806-831) |
| Carmina Burana | 1.1 (all), 3.227 (Ludus de Antichristo) (edd. Hilka, Schumann, and Bischoff) |
| One book of a medieval historian, for example: | |
| Adam of Bremen | Gesta Episcoporum 4 (M.G.H.) |
| William of Malmesbury | Historia Regum 4 (ed. W. Stubbs) |
| Ordericus Vitalis | (ed. M. Chibnall) |
| Lampert of Hersfeld | Annales (M.G.H.) |
| Otto of Freising | De Duabus Civitatibus (M.G.H.) |
| Giraldus Cambrensis | Topographia Hiberniae (ed. A.B. Scott) |