Classics is the study of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. This includes their literature, religion, mythology, history, philosophy and art, and their physical settings, their interactions with surrounding societies, and their influence on later cultures to the present day. The scope of the discipline is vast both in space (not just the territories of the modern states of Greece and Italy but most of western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa) and time (a period of at least two thousand years, from the start of the Bronze Age in Europe in the second millennium B.C. to the dawn of the Middle Ages). Classics at the University of Toronto is not just looking at the past but engaging with issues of compelling and enduring relevance, including: gender and sexuality; the nature of freedom and the basis of political power and legitimacy; how relationships should and do work between parents and children; whether democracy is compatible with imperialism; what it means to be in love; how people cope with the fear of death; and when, if ever, it is right to go to war.

The Department of Classics welcomes students of all academic backgrounds who wish to take courses in the field but do not wish to specialize in Classical Studies. Even without knowing Greek or Latin, students can profitably study Greek and Roman history or Greek and Latin literature in translation - two areas combined under the designation CLA (for Classical Civilization courses) below. Similarly, the Major and Minor Programs in Classical Civilization presuppose no knowledge of the classical languages.