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Ratings & reviews

4.08/20/2025

Makes learning a joyful experience.

4.05/21/2025

Brings real-world insights to the classroom.

5.03/31/2025

Encourages deep understanding and curiosity.

4.02/27/2025

Always goes the extra mile for students.

5.02/4/2025

Great Professor!

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About Harold

Harold Tarrant is Emeritus Professor in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Science, College of Human and Social Futures, at the University of Newcastle, where he joined in December 1993 from the School of Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Durham. Professor Tarrant has held positions as Head of the Department of Classics and Head of the School of Liberal Arts from 2002 to 2005, and he has served on various university committees while convening the post-2005 BA degree on multiple occasions. His main academic interests lie in Greek Philosophy, particularly ancient Platonism from Socrates to the Alexandrian Neoplatonists, encompassing the Academy in the time of Philo of Larissa, Thrasyllan Platonism and corpus organisation, Middle Platonism's interpretation of Plato, and Proclus' readings of Plato. Additional foci include the intersection of literature and philosophy in Platonic dialogues and commentaries by figures such as Plutarch, Apuleius, and later Neoplatonists, alongside aspects of Greek Comedy, especially Aristophanes, and the ancient Novel. He teaches Ancient Greek language, Greek Drama, and Greek conceptions of ethical and political questions.