Oxford has been accused of assuming state school students will "not be able to cope" with studying Homer and Virgil as it considers dropping the poets from its core Classics syllabus.

The university, which ranks second for Classics in the UK, is considering removing compulsory papers on the Greek and Latin greats during exams, known as Mods, at the end of Classics students' second year to end the gap between those who took Latin and Greek A-levels and those who did not.

Homer's poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are considered essential works of ancient Greek literature and Virgil's Aeneid is one of the most integral poems in Latin literature.

Image: Homer's Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem set during the Trojan War

They have been taught at the university for 900 years and would remain on the syllabus in a later part of the course, but would not be compulsory.

However, the texts are in Latin and ancient Greek and fewer schools teach the subjects, with hardly any state schools offering them.


Boris Johnson and J.R.R. Tolkien both studied Classics at Oxford.

Some dons fear students may miss out on the texts altogether if the papers are optional but the Faculty of Classics said it has to change with the times.

Dr Daisy Dunn, a historian and author who read Classics at Oxford, said cutting the two poets would put all students at a disadvantage.

It is like "cutting the Bible from theology", she told the Telegraph.

Image: Virgil's Aeneid is currently essential reading for Oxford Classics students

Jan Preiss, president of the Oxford Latinitas Project, has set up a petition to prevent the proposal being considered further as he said Homer and Virgil are "indispensable for the understanding of the Graeco-Roman world".

He said: "We believe the proposal to remove Homer from Mods is unfortunate in that it would only increase the disparity between incoming students, the very problem the reform attempts to address.

"There is no reason to believe the language learning abilities of undergraduates have changed in any way.

"What has changed are the demographics, with a much higher share of state school students.

"Hence, dropping a paper which for decades has been seen as adequate for beginners, with the argument that it is too difficult, at a time when the university endeavours to increase the intake of state school students, seems to implicitly assume that those students will not be able to cope.

"This belief is not only unfounded, but also patronising."

Image: Homer's texts have been the basis of Oxford's Classics degree since it started 900 years ago

Image: The opening lines of Virgil's Aeneid, a Latin epic poem which faces the axe from Oxford's Classics syllabus

His petition urges the Faculty of Classics to preserve the Iliad and the Aeneid "to allow future generations of Oxford Classicists, irrespective of their background, the same quality and depth of education from which many of you yourselves benefited".

A university spokeswoman said: "Over the last thirty years, the number of students starting the undergraduate Classics course with both A-level Latin and Ancient Greek has decreased, and the number of those acquiring one or both ancient languages while at Oxford has increased.

"The Faculty of Classics monitors these changes and keeps the course under review to keep it equally stimulating and engaging for all students.

"In this connection we are reviewing the first part of the course, called Honour Moderations in Classics.

"As part of this we are considering the question of whether Homer and Virgil are best studied in the first part of the course or the second.

"We are currently consulting staff and students and no final decision has been made."