Program Overview

Greek MA (Honours) 2025 entry

Overview

Knowledge of ancient Greek is the key not only to a literature of enormous richness but also to in-depth understanding of a fascinating culture. The MA (Hons) in Greek will develop your Greek language skills and will also develop skills of literary and cultural analysis which are important for understanding complex texts, arguments and problems in our own culture, too.

Entry Requirements

Standard Entry Grades

• SQA Highers: AAAB, including A in a foreign language
• GCE A-Levels: AAA, including A in a foreign language
• IB points: 36 (HL 6,6,5), including HL6 in a foreign language

Minimum Entry Grades

• SQA Highers: AABB, including B in a foreign language
• GCE A-Levels: ABB, including B in a foreign language
• IB points: 36 (HL 6,5,5), including HL5 in a foreign language

Gateway Entry Grades

• Applicants who have narrowly missed the minimum entry grades, but meet the University's contextual criteria, may be interested in one of the University’s Gateway programmes.

General Entry Requirements

• All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.
• SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing science
  • Geography
  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology
• GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computing Science
  • Geography
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Psychology

Course Details

Duration

• Four years full time

School

• School of Classics

Modules

• First year:
  • Greek Language for Beginners: provides a thorough grounding in the Greek language for beginners or near beginners.
  • Greek Literature for Beginners: prepares students for the challenge of reading and interpreting Greek literature.
• Second year:
  • The Landscape of Greek Prose (B): designed for students to follow on from 'Greek Literature for Beginners', this module examines a wide range of Greek prose texts and enhances Greek language skills through regular language classes.
  • The Landscape of Greek Poetry (B): following on from 'The Landscape of Greek Prose (B)', this module covers a diverse range of ancient poetry in the original Greek, starting with Homer’s Iliad, and enhances Greek language skills through regular language classes.
• Honours:
  • A wide choice of advanced options, including:
    • Diversity and Transformations: The Greek Language from the Hellenistic to the Early Modern Period
    • Greeks and Barbarians
    • Greeks on Education
    • Greek Tragedy
    • Hellenistic Poetry
    • Lies, History and Ideology
    • Picture This: Intermediality in Ancient Greek Literature and Culture
    • 'Satire', Sex and Society: Greek 'Old Comedy'
    • The Greek Novels: Identity, Desire and Literary Transformation
    • The Rest of the Story: Greek Epic after Homer

Teaching

• Teaching format: lectures, seminars, language classes, and set-text reading classes
• Assessment: coursework and examination
• Support: individual projects, group work, and oral and written expression

Fees

• Scotland: £1,820
• England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man: £9,535
• EU and overseas: £31,670

Joint Honours Degrees

• You can also take Greek as part of a joint Honours degree in which you will take core modules of your chosen subjects.
• Examples of joint Honours degrees:
  • French and Greek (With Integrated Year Abroad)
  • Greek and Spanish (With Integrated Year Abroad)
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Ancient History and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Art History and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Biblical Studies and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Classical Studies and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Comparative Literature and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) English and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) French and Greek
  • Master of Arts (Honours) Greek and Hebrew

Careers

• Traditional classical Greek courses have provided an entry to a wide range of careers and positions since employers have placed a premium on the combination of intellectual flexibility and rigour of Greek graduates.
• Graduate destinations include:
  • financial services
  • law
  • marketing and management
  • civil and armed services
  • journalism
  • museums, heritage and conservation
  • libraries and information management
  • teaching
  • further research or study

What to Do Next

• Online information events: join us for one of our information events where you can find out about different levels of study and specific courses we run.
• Undergraduate visiting days: we encourage all students who are thinking of applying to the University to attend one of our online or in-person visiting days.