Guidelines for Translation Exams in Ancient Greek and Latin
(Adopted by a vote of the Department of Classics faculty, February 9, 2005)
All students, regardless of their track (language and literature, ancient history, Mediterranean archaeology), must pass a translation exam. The translation exam is designed to serve a dual function, both to prepare the student for dissertation work and to demonstrate competence in the language. Each student will create a list of authors and texts, composed in consultation with his/her advisers. Although, as detailed below, there is a requirement for a minimum number of pages, more important is the selection of the texts, which should be chosen on the basis of the student’s research interests.
The exam (or, in the case of exams in the language in literature track, exam part) will be two hours long. It will consist of four passages from which the student will be required to translate three. There will be no sight passages.
Two members of the faculty (at least one of which represents the track in which the exam is being given) will grade each exam. The translations should show both a fundamental understanding of the grammar (morphology and syntax) and a familiarity with core vocabulary.
Language and Literature Track:
750 Oxford Classical Texts (OCT) pages, 500 in one language, 250 in the other: texts of ancient Greek and Latin literature.
Students in this track must take a two-part translation exam, each part of which lasts two hours, one in ancient Greek and one in Latin. The two parts of the exam may be taken on different days.
Ancient History Track:
250 OCT pages: texts of Greek and Roman historians. Ancient Greek and/or Latin inscriptions may be substituted for up to one-fifth of the whole.
Mediterranean Archaeology Track:
250 OCT pages: texts of ancient Greek and/or Latin literature. Ancient Greek and/or Latin inscriptions may be substituted for up to one-fifth of the whole.