Classics Reading Competition

In November, around 40 students from LC3 to SFC1 competed in the annual Classics Reading Competition, hosted at College. Competitors also came from Dean Close, Cheltenham College, and King’s Gloucester. 

Students performed passages in either Greek or Latin, as well as translations from classical texts. Selections included an extract from Homer’s Odyssey, scenes from Euripides’ Medea and Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, Latin passages from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Virgil’s Aeneid, and Greek passages from the Iliad and Sophocles’ Electra. 

Queena Gu achieved outstanding success, winning the Senior Latin competition and placing second in Senior Greek. Grace Noel and Olynn Tang performed impressively in Intermediate Latin, while Siya Dutta was praised for her beautiful rendering of Ovid, securing first place. Zimo Fu achieved a commendable third place. 

In the Junior Class Civ event, Tahlia Crawford and Mimi Oritsegbone placed second, while Catherine Qi and Aveline Caulkin placed third, impressing the judge with their enthusiastic performances as Odysseus and the Cyclops. 

It was wonderful to hear students engaging with pronunciation in both Greek and Latin, and in some cases even the metre of the poetry. Equally enjoyable were the emotive readings of Homeric and tragic texts in English. Well done to all who took part.

Dr Wilkinson, Teacher of Classics