VCE Classical Studies

Classical Works Lists 2012

Classical works for study in Units 3 and 4 have been chosen according to the following guidelines:

• Classical works studied in Units 3 and 4 will be drawn from two Lists published annually by the VCAA.
• List 1 will consist of individual works and List 2 will consist of pairs of works.
• The Lists will be reviewed every year on the basis of retaining at least 50% of the prescribed works.

List 1 applies to Area of Study 1 in Units 3 and 4.

It comprises:

• eight individual classical works comprising four Greek works and four Roman works
• works from a range of forms.

Teachers must select at least two works from List 1, one to be studied in Unit 3 Area of Study 1 and one to be studied in Unit 4 Area of Study 1.

List 2 applies to Area of Study 2 in Units 3 and 4.

It comprises:

• seven pairs of classical works which contain three pairs of Greek works, three pairs of Roman works and one Greek/Roman pair
• works able to be compared in terms of ideas and techniques.

Teachers must select at least two pairs of works from List 2, one pair to be studied in Unit 3, Area of Study 2 and one pair to be studied in Unit 4 Area of Study 2.

 

 

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List 1: Individual works

Greece: Individual works

Homer, Iliad Book 16
Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics, 1998

Sophocles, Oedipus the King from The Three Theban Plays
Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics, 1984

Teachers should be aware that there is a similarly named translation of these plays by E F Watling. Please take care to ensure you are using the translation by Robert Fagles.

Plato, The Apology from The Last Days of Socrates
Translated by Hugo Tredennick and revised by Harold Tarrant, Penguin Classics, 2003

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia (including its sculptures)
Teachers should note that there is no requirement that any specific art text is used. Suggested resources are available on the Classical Studies page of the VCAA website.

Rome: Individual works

Virgil, The Aeneid Book 8
Translated by David West, Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, 2003

Cicero, In Defence of Marcus Caelius Rufusfrom Selected Political Speeches
Translated by Michael Grant, Penguin Classics Revised Edition, 1973

Ovid, Metamorphoses
Translated by Mary Innes, Penguin, 1955

The myths of Daphne (pp. 41–44); Actaeon (pp. 77–80); Echo and Narcissus (pp. 83–87); Pyramus and Thisbe (pp. 95–98); Tereus, Procne and Philomela (pp. 145–153); Daedalus and Icarus (pp. 183–186); Meleager and the Calydonian Boar (pp. 186–193); Iphis (pp. 221–224); Pygmalion (pp. 231–232).

The Colosseum
Teachers should note that there is no requirement that any specific art text is used. Suggested resources are available on the Classical Studies page of the VCAA website.

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List 2: Paired works

Greece: Pairs
Herodotus, The Histories
Translated by Aubrey de Selincourt and Revised by John Marincola, Penguin Classics, 2003.
p. 340 (5.78); pp. 394–402 (6.94–117); pp. 413–431 (7.1–39); pp. 448–450 (7.101–105); pp. 487–500 (7.204–239); pp. 537–540 (8.107–112); pp. 548–553 (8.135–144).

and

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Translated by Rex Warner, Penguin Classics, 1963
pp. 414–429; pp. 516 (7.59)–537

Aeschylus, Agamemnon from The Oresteia
Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics, 1977

and

Euripides, Medea from Medea and Other Plays
Translated by Philip Vellacott, Penguin Classics, 1963

Homer, The Odyssey Book 11
Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics, 1998

and

Aristophanes, Frogs from The Frogs and Other Plays
Translated by Shomit Dutta, Penguin Classics, 2007

Rome: Pairs
Cicero, First Philippic fromSelected Political Speeches
Translated by Michael Grant, Penguin Classics, 1973

and

Plutarch, Mark Antony from The Makers of Rome
Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin Classics, 1975

Livy, The Rise of Rome
Translated by T J Luce, Oxford World’s Classics, 1998
Preface pp. 3 and 4 and pp. 54 (1.46)–87 (2.15)

and

Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome
Translated by Michael Grant, Penguin Classics, 1996
pp. 31–34; pp. 245–251; pp. 336–344

Juvenal, Satires, 1, 6 and 10 in The Sixteen Satires
Translated by Peter Green, 3rd Ed., Penguin, 1998

and

Petronius, Dinner with Trimalchio in The Satyricon
Translated by J P Sullivan, Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, 1986

Greek and Roman Pair
Homer, Iliad Book 22
Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics, 1998

and

Virgil, The Aeneid Book 12
Translated by David West, Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, 2003