Classics For Adults

I offer bespoke Classical language and literature education to adults either 1-1 or in small groups. I’m passionate about life-long learning and that everyone should have the chance to discover the riches of the Classical World.

Language sessions are pitched at the appropriate level - whether you’re an absolute beginner or have some prior knowledge.

Re literature, it can feel understandably daunting to know where to enter the Classical canon. And daunting to read texts in translation where an awareness of context is so essential for full appreciation. Together we read and discuss your selected text(s) in a weekly educative book-club fashion.

So if you’ve ever wanted to learn Latin or Greek and/or read one of the selected texts/authors below, please do get in touch. Your mind and soul will be the better for it, trust me - and the Oxford neuroscientist Baroness Greenfield as recently cited in The Times…

LITERATURE OPTIONS

EPIC

  • Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

  • Virgil’s Aeneid

  • Ovid’s Metamorphosis

GREEK TRAGEDY

  • Aeschylus’ Oresteia

  • Sophocles’ Antigone

  • Euripides’ Medea

POETRY

  • Sappho

  • Horace

  • Catullus

  • Ovid’s Amores, Heroides, Ars Amatoria

LANGUAGE OPTIONS

  • Beginners’ Latin and/or Greek

  • Refresher course for those with some prior language knowledge

  • Advanced sessions once refreshed!

I gave up on Latin at school and always slightly regretted it. I was reconciled to have missed my chance for life until I was recommended Melissa. I’m so grateful as it’s been such a source of enrichment and mental stimulation. Melissa is a fantastic teacher - so clear, patient, warm and passionate. It’s been wonderful to start to read Ovid in the original and discover his wit and mischief. I’ll be forever grateful to Melissa that she opened up the world for me in a new way. (Ben)

Melissa’s and my weekly chats about Homer’s Iliad have become an essential staple of my week! Our sessions are a mental haven where I escape the practicalities and demands of life and immerse myself in another time and world. Melissa has a wonderful way of bringing Homer to life and helping me appreciate the complexities of the characters and story in a way I could never get on my own. I’d tried and failed to read the Iliad twice - and now I can’t believe I almost missed out on knowing such an extraordinary work. The Odyssey next! (Margot)