JC Classics case studies
JC Classics · Put your knowledge to work in context.
JC Classics is a multiple-choice examination in classical studies, aimed at candidates who have studied Greek and Roman civilisation at a pre-university or early undergraduate level and want an external, structured way to demonstrate that knowledge. It suits students preparing for university classics courses, teachers refreshing subject breadth, and independent readers of Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides and Plato who want their understanding tested against a syllabus rather than their own reading list. The JC Classics case studies are 5 cases and about 3,041 words.
1Judgment of Paris on a South Italian Krater
A student's coursework portfolio on the Judgment of Paris compares two objects: an Apulian red-figure volute krater of about 350 BCE showing Paris seated, Hermes leading three goddesses, and painted name labels; and a fourth-century CE Roman villa mosaic showing a similar scene with a different arrangement and an apple. The student writes: 'The krater proves that the Homeric version, in which Aphrodite offers Helen, was the standard Greek myth, and the mosaic simply copies Homer.' The teacher knows that the Judgment is not narrated in the Iliad; it is alluded to there and handled in other archaic poetry.
643 words, about 3 min2Choosing a Translation of Iliad 1 for the Syllabus
A curriculum committee must replace its translation of Iliad 1 for 17-year-old students. Three sample renderings of the proem are on the table.
639 words, about 3 min3The 55-Minute Frogs
A school plans a 55-minute production of Aristophanes' Frogs; the original is about 1,400 lines. The director cuts the parabasis, most of the contest between Aeschylus and Euripides, and every reference to Alcibiades, keeping the journey, the frog chorus and Dionysus' final choice of Aeschylus.
631 words, about 3 min4The 'Truest Cause' in a Student Essay
A student essay begins: 'Thucydides proves that the Peloponnesian War was caused by Spartan fear of Athenian growth. His statement of the truest cause in Book 1 is eyewitness evidence, so it is more reliable than the Corinthians' complaints.' The essay then treats the Corinthian speech as a verbatim record of what was said at Sparta.
553 words, about 3 min5The Unprovenanced Portrait Head
A donor gives a school a marble head of a bearded man, described as Roman, second century CE, bought at auction in the 1980s. There is no export licence, findspot or documented chain of ownership.
575 words, about 3 min