All Courses

This course provides close reading and analysis of Aristophanes’ Frogs, focusing on the prescribed material for the OCR A-Level in Classical Greek. All passages are presented in the original Greek with a facing English translation, while...

In this course, we explore Aristophanes’ Clouds, thinking in particular about where the play sits in Aristophanes’ life and career, its distinctive structure and themes, the presentation of Socrates in the play, and what it is that makes the play...

In this course, Prof. Edith Hall (King's College, London) provides an introduction to the plays of Aristophanes, thinking in particular about the world that Aristophanes lived in and his comic output and focusing in particular on: the link between...

In this course, we explore Pat Barker’s ‘Regeneration’. Set in 1917 in Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, the novel follows psychiatrist William Rivers as he treats shell-shocked soldiers, including the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred...

In this course, Prof. Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge) explores the development and operation of Athenian democracy. In the first half of the course, we outline the major landmarks in the development of development of democracy, from ...

In this course, we explore Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. The first module provides some historical and literary context for the play; we introduce Tennessee Williams himself, and think about what kind...

In this course, we explore several aspects of Homer’s Iliad. The course begins with a consideration of one of the most fundamental questions asked of the Homeric epics – the so-called Homeric Question – which asks whether the Iliad was...

In this course, we explore The Revenger’s Tragedy, a play which was written in the early years of the seventeenth century, but whose author is unknown. In the first two modules, we think generally about the Early Modern stage, before...

In this course, we explore John Webster’s ‘The White Devil’, beginning by thinking about John Webster himself, before moving on to consider the play itself – its setting in Italy, and the presentation of the various male and female characters...

In this course, we explore the poetry of Thomas Hardy. Having introduced Hardy in the first module, we then go through eighteen of his poems in turn, reading each aloud, and providing in-depth, line-by-line commentary and analysis. The final...

In this course, we explore Philip Larkin’s 1964 collection of poetry, ‘The Whitsun Weddings’. Having introduced Larkin and his poetry in the first module, we then go through each poem in turn, reading it aloud and providing an in-depth,...

In this course, we explore the life, achievements, and legacy of Alexander the Great. In particular, we look at Alexander’s military career, his women and his relationship with the gods to ask the question, Alexander the Great – hero or...