The Homeric World: Study Guide for GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation

J199/21

Component Group 2: Literature and Culture

4 activity types:
  1. Example questions
  2. Guided activities
  3. Consolidation tasks
  4. Independent research

Students will experience life in the Mycenaean age through visual and literary sources in this comprehensive study guide.

  • Delve into Mycenaean architecture, its legendary founders, features and purposes – including the Cyclopean Walls.
  • Explore key artefacts, from jewellery and pottery to tombs and death masks with accompanying images

Plus! A full-colour PDF is included so that students can benefit from looking at the visual sources in colour!

This easy-to-use pack in two sections covers all prescribed sources, and varied unseen sources, such as additional Mycenaean sites and the Postern Gate.

Prescribed Sources
Culture Literature
  • The site of Mycenae
  • The site of Tiryns
  • Evidence for the site of Troy
  • Dagger blade showing hunting scene from Grave Circle A, Mycenae
  • Fresco of Mycenaean lady holding a necklace, House of the Chief Priest, Mycenae
  • Gold death mask of Agamemnon from Shaft Grave V, Mycenae • Gold pyxis from Grave Circle A, Shaft Grave V, Mycenae • Gold Rhyton from Grave Circle A, Mycenae
  • Mycenaean warrior vase, House of the Warrior, Mycenae
  • Linear B tablet showing the word “tripod” in syllabic and ideogram forms, Pylos
  • Homer’s Odyssey Books: 9, 10, 19, 21, 22

Sources for success

Key exam requirements covered:
  • Understand literary and visual/material sources
  • Use source materials to understand social, historical and cultural contexts
  • Convey significance of these contexts through informed judgement
  • Understand possible interpretations from different audiences

GCSE-friendly notes and varied activities enable core skills development in the use of sources for the GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation ‘Thematic Study’ and ‘Literature and Culture’ components.

Students learn how to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the prescribed material and draw informed conclusions through examples and guidance.

After building confidence, students challenge themselves with independent research tasks, practice questions and unseen sources.

Comprehensive coverage of source types:
  • Literary
  • Visual/material
  • Prescribed
  • Unseen

What do teachers say about this resource? (11261)

This resource represents an invaluable companion to the OCR textbook for the course. It is aligned exactly with the OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation specification. The author understands the underpinning concepts exactly. More than that, the author explicitly explains these in the resource. It adds valuable supplementary material to that presented in the original book.This resource follows exactly the plan of the OCR textbook; this is convenient;
It is written in plain English and explains content and concepts clearly;
In the ‘Culture’ section, this resource provides supplementary material under nearly every heading;
Information is more detailed and more clearly presented than in the textbook;
There are plentiful images, plans and diagrams;
There are links to useful external resources available on YouTube;
There is a wealth of learning activities, many in the style of GCSE examination questions. I really could not improve on this resource; indeed I would suggest that it is not only necessary, but on its own sufficient for all students aiming to achieve an excellent grade at GCSE.

J King, Head of Classics & Peer Reviewer

I think it is a valuable high-standard resource. Apart from the official Bloomsbury textbook, there is very little for teachers to go on to adequately prepare students for an examination. It provides a clear introduction that introduces the student to the requirements and skills for the exam. The evaluation of sources, as opposed to simple learning, is not necessarily something that will come naturally to students. In this regard, the resource provides ample practice. It provides very useful additional material which would allow the teacher to follow this resource along with the official textbook. With the two combined, students should be well prepared for assessment. The resource provides a well balanced and complete presentation of the specification. It gives an appropriate and proportionate amount of material for students to study. It rightly focuses on source questions, particularly in section A.

S Tanner, Classics Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I was really excited about this resource. Lots of teachers feel the archeaology section of this exam is outside their area of expertise so something is definitely needed which helps with teaching this part of the syllabus.
This guide definitely adds a lot to the OCR book. In bite sized chunks, with clear signposting of terminolgy it takes you logically through the material. This is valuable as a resource for both teachers and students. It gives teachers the confidence to teach areas of the module they may be less certain about and it guides students through the syllabus in a very structured way. I think this is very good indeed.

C Bird, PrivateTutor & Peer Reviewer

An excellent resource. It had a clear introduction and helpful web links eg p4 and put Mycenae in an informative chronological background, p5. References to YouTube eg p17,26,45,54,59, (as were links, not just to YouTube eg p19, indicating the writer’s familiarity with the subject) and activities were integrated, and commentary on answers was user/student friendly ... I particularly liked the independent learning sections ... useful in lockdown, and the fact that prescribed material was labelled ... It enhances learning by being easy to read, with key terms and phrases highlighted/explained. The visual content eg images, photos are featured to also improve learning. Its educational value is partly to provide students with greater confidence, as while there are many guides to the Odyssey (though mainly A Level standard) there is very little on the Mycenaean background

L Ashley, Head of Classics & Peer Reviewer