Classics is not a field in which one can coast and then get by with a reading period splurge. Few of the courses have formal lectures, and there are nightly assignments in classical texts in which it is well, if not essential, to keep up.

Serious interest in the field, reflected in the large number of honors candidates, is also dictated to some extent by the nature of the work, which has never been considered light.

Basic courses in Latin and Greek are highly condensed, with considerable written work. Few concentrators find the going easy in the early stages, but once proficiency is gained in the languages, the work broadens out into interpretive rather than syntactical reading of texts.

Most concentrators agree that a happy balance is maintained between the emphasis on text and on literature.

Small Classes

Classes are generally small, and this permits a great deal of general discussion. It also means that the field offers large opportunity for personal contact between students and instructors, and all concentrators can get individual or group tutorial as early as the sophomore year.

Classics offers ample opportunity for variety of concentration. One can major in Greek and Latin, or in one as a major with a minor in the other. Classics can also be combined with a related language or field, like History, Fine Arts, or Philosophy.

Six courses in the field are required of straight Classics concentrators; seven for honors candidates. Depending on the major, honors candidates either write a thesis or take an exam in competition.

The faculty is considered excellent, John H. Finley's courses always draw large crowds, and Cedric H. Whitman and John P. Elder--two "young men" in the field--rate high with students.

Mason Hammond will be on leave next year; William C. Greene and Arthur Darby Nock will be away in the spring; Herbert Bloch will be back after a year's absence.