Classics then and now

Past and present come together as PhD student Anna Judson (2007) talks about Classics at Pembroke.

John Edwin Clapham Jukes matriculated in 1898 as a Foundation Scholar reading Classics; a year later, he became the winner of this impressive medal, which was recently donated to the College by his son. The medal is for the Porson Prize, still offered annually for the best translation of a piece of English verse into Greek tragic verse (in 1899, a passage from a Jacobean tragicomedy, ‘The Renegado’ by Philip Massinger). Jukes went on to obtain a first-class result in the Classical Tripos in 1900 and to win one of the two Chancellor’s Classical Medals awarded in 1902, and later had a highly successful career in the Indian Civil Service: in 1930 he was given the prestigious honour of being made a Companion of the Order of the Star of India.

Nowadays Pembroke still has plenty of Classics students around: we regularly admit between four and seven undergraduates per year, and generally have several MPhil and PhD students. One of the most interesting aspects of Classics is how varied and interdisciplinary it is: as well as Greek and Latin language and literature, it covers ancient history, art and archaeology, philosophy, and historical linguistics. Pembroke manages to showcase this perfectly: our current group of postgraduates, for instance, are researching topics ranging from ancient Greek religion to Roman bakers, from Aristotelian mathematics and Plato’s dialogues to the Bronze Age Greek ‘Linear B’ script.

With such a wide range of subjects being studied in a single faculty, it can be easy to lose track of what people outside your own specialisation are doing – so Classics postgraduates in particular have a range of ways of keeping up-to-date on each other’s work, from the weekly Graduate Interdisciplinary Seminar (and pub trip) to reading groups, blogging, or just chatting over tea and cake. (Something Pembroke and the Classics Faculty have in common is a plentiful supply of tea and baked goods for graduates, whether that’s in the form of this term’s Pembroke Graduate Bake-Off or a series of Classics-themed cakes!) Meanwhile, in College, the highlight of the social calendar is of course the termly Classics Drinks Party, a chance for undergraduates, postgraduates and Fellows to catch up over a drink (or several).

So more than a century after Jukes won his prize, Classics in Pembroke is still going strong. And though classicists tend to spend rather less (if any) time these days on Greek poetry composition, the Porson Prize is still offered, so who knows – we may see more medals like this one in College yet!

Anna Judson (2007) read for her BA and MPhil in Classics at Pembroke and is now a PhD student.

With thanks to Jayne Ringrose for information on J E C Jukes’ University and College records.