Classics

Exam Board: OCR

Why Study Classics?

The great philanthropist John Paul Getty, when asked why he preferred Classicists as his senior executives, simply replied ‘They sell more oil’. For ‘oil’ read ‘renewable energy’ and you have a modern mantra that explains why Classicists are so highly employable: they are trained to think analytically; they have studied human nature, politics, art, science, linguistics, rhetoric, poetry, drama and philosophy over the course of an empire that lasted for a thousand years; and they have a breadth of vision to which no other subject even comes close.