This year’s Greek and Latin reading competition was very successful for the school, and an extremely enjoyable experience all round. Multiple students, from Year 10 to Year 13, were given passages from classical texts, which they learned and practised in the run up to the competition. We were given lots of guidance from the Classics department, as well as time to practise one-on-one with teachers, which was extremely useful. Before the actual competition, we were allowed to explore the Classics Faculty’s cast gallery.

The competition began with a Latin prose reading from Pliny’s letters, describing the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius. All the competitors were extremely skilled and spoke excellently, but especially Amnay B (Year 10), who achieved second place thanks to his expression and fluency. The Latin verse, a poem by Catullus, was similarly well-read, and a pleasure to listen to. Melissa F (Year 11) was awarded second place in this category, a very well-deserved reward for her fantastic reading. In the Greek reading, the prose was a passage from Xenophon, detailing the surrender of the Athenians to the Spartans. In this category, first prize was awarded to Alec L (Year 11) for an enthralling and highly skilled reading, which was very worthy of first place. I personally participated in the Greek verse, and although it was frightening, I found it a greatly enjoyable experience. We were reading a section from Sophocles’ Electra describing a chariot race. Molly R (Year 11) was awarded second place for an amazing, confident performance, and I achieved first place.

There were also multiple winners in the Sixth Form for the senior passages. Marina K (Year 12) was awarded second place for an incredibly entertaining performance of a section of Virgil’s Aeneid, spoken with enthusiasm and fluency. Elliott S (Year 13) performed a flawless section of Herodotus with confidence, earning him a well-deserved first prize for Senior Greek Prose, and Clara B (Year 13) recited a section from Homer’s Odyssey brilliantly, resulting in second place. Although they did not win a prize, special mentions are also deserved for Astrid OM (Year 10), Henry G (Year 10), Saskia SH (Year 13) and Grace N (Year 11), who put lots of time and effort into learning their pieces, and performed well on the night. Of course, this couldn’t have been done without the amazing Classics Department and all of the teachers who helped us before the competition. It is amazing to be given these wonderful opportunities, and I believe that everyone had an extremely enjoyable time.