Classics

The Classics Department at St. Mark’s School offers courses emphasizing the cultural heritage of the Classical world as seen through the writings of those men of genius—Homer, Plato, Cicero, Vergil—who created the patterns that Western thought and literature have since followed. While mastery of the languages themselves is our chief aim, we regularly pause to consider the Classical achievement in such areas as art, architecture, athletics, poetry, history, drama, oratory, philosophy, government, and law. All the while, we endeavor to develop in our students those critical abilities that conduce to success in any humanistic field—to think clearly, argue logically, speak powerfully, and write concisely.

We offer Latin through the AP level and Greek through the third year. Students who successfully complete three years of one language and two of the other earn the distinction of the Classics Diploma and the honor of wearing a laurel wreath on Prize Day. (We also accept credits in either language earned prior to entrance to St. Mark’s.) Those interested in exploring the ancient world beyond the classroom have the opportunity to participate in the Classics Club, to join one of our regular trips to Italy or Greece, and to spend a year in Viterbo, Italy, with the School Year Abroad program.