Senior Cycle – Classical Studies

A copy of the new curriculum (from 2021/22 academic year) for Senior Cycle Classical Studies can be found here.

Strand 1: The World of Heroes

  • Homer’s Odyssey and 
  • Virgil’s Aeneid (1-6)

Strand 2: Drama and Spectacle

  • Athenian drama
  • Roman spectacle

Strand 3: Power and Identity

  • Alexander the Great
  • Julius Caesar

Strand 4: Gods and Humans

  • Stories
  • Beliefs
  • Living Well

Resources

Click on the images below to download a copy of the documents

Strand 2: The stages of a funeral in ancient Greece

This PowerPoint takes you through the basic structure of a Greek funeral – prothesis, ekphora and burial/cremation.

Strand 4: Ancient Greek theatre

This PowerPoint takes you through the context of theatre in ancient Greece, for example the City Dionysia and the staging of the plays. For a video version, check out the resources for Senior Cycle – Classical Studies (current)

Senior Cycle Empowering Students

  • Critical and Creative Thinking: Critical thinking lies at the heart of Classical Studies as students are asked to evaluate the reliability of sources and think creatively in connecting diverse pieces of information and filling in gaps. Students are encouraged to reimagine cultures, day-to-day activities, buildings and concepts from times long past. You cannot study the ancient world without opening yourself to creative and imaginative thinking.
  • Communicating: Classical Studies encourages debate and the respectful exchange of opinion. The sometimes-controversial concepts and opinions which we encounter when studying the history, philosophy and daily lives of the those in the ancient world call for students to engage one other in debate, to develop and argue for their own points of view and to respectfully listen to and learn from those of others.
  • Information Processing: Classical Studies asks students to analyse, evaluate, synthesise and record a significant amount of data from diverse sources, such as historical and literary works, philosophy, art and architecture. Students must approach the information with an open and inquisitive mind, and develop and apply skills of problem-solving and critical questioning.
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Being Personally Effective: Classical Studies encourages students to evaluate their own world, decisions and identity through considering and discussing important topics such as the nature of entertainment, power, politics, religious beliefs and the interplay between society and mythology in the ancient world. Examining cultures and times which are very different, and yet familiar in many ways, allows students to (re)evaluate their own relationship with the world and others, while the diversity of sources examined encourages students to consider their methods of learning and their personal strengths and weaknesses in this regard.  

Working With Others: The multidisciplinary nature of Classical Studies encourages group work that calls upon different student strengths, thereby allowing students to both learn with and from others, effectively creating respectful team work and collaboration.