At The Classical Institute, The Great Books examines the Western literary tradition through sustained engagement with its most influential texts. From Ancient Greece onwards, participants explore epic, tragedy, and philosophical writing as part of a continuous intellectual inheritance, attending closely to how these works reflect on human life, reason, justice, and meaning across time.
The Great Books: A Journey through 2,500 Years of the West’s Classic Literature
Programme Overview
This programme examines major works of Western literature from their origins in Ancient Greece, tracing how foundational texts have shaped intellectual, moral, and imaginative life across centuries. Through sustained engagement with epic, tragedy, and philosophical writing, participants will explore how enduring questions concerning human nature, justice, suffering, reason, and meaning are articulated and reworked within the Western literary tradition.
The programme follows The Great Books: A Journey through 2,500 Years of the West’s Classic Literature and adopts its sequence and interpretive approach as the organising framework for the course. Texts are read in close relation to their historical and cultural contexts, with attention to the ways in which later works respond to, develop, and contest earlier ones. Emphasis is placed on careful reading of primary sources and on understanding literature as part of a continuous intellectual conversation rather than as isolated works.
Textbook
The Great Books: A Journey through 2,500 Years of the West’s Classic Literature by Professor Anthony O’Hear.
Participants are required to obtain a copy of the textbook prior to the start of the programme.
Day & Time
Mondays, 8:00-9:30pm (UK Time)
Commencing Monday 16 February 2026
Delivery & Schedule
Online | Live teaching
Six-week programme
Fees and Financial Support
The Classical Institute is committed to ensuring that access to this programme is not restricted by financial circumstances. Fee waivers are available for eligible undergraduate and postgraduate students. A limited number of scholarships are also available to support participation in the programme.
Applicants wishing to be considered for a fee waiver or scholarship should indicate this at the point of application. All applications are considered on an individual basis.
Admissions
Admission to this programme is open to all applicants with an interest in literature, philosophy, and the history of ideas. No prior academic study of the texts is required. Participants should, however, be prepared for sustained reading and serious intellectual engagement.
Registration is required. Attendance is compulsory, and participants are expected to attend all sessions without exception.
Professor
Professor Anthony O’Hear