Classics | The Guardian (original) (raw)
April 2026
Dame Averil Cameron obituary
Historian whose sparky, innovative Byzantines challenged the stereotype of a stagnant society with nothing new to offer
September 2025
‘The man who came to read the metre’: Yorkshire poet Tony Harrison was the National Theatre bard
Book of the day
No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes review – a thrilling take on the Golden Fleece myth
August 2025
Other lives
Christopher Rowe obituary
Other lives: Linguist, translator and philosopher known for his work on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
June 2025
Is it OK to read Infinite Jest in public? Why the internet hates ‘performative reading’
Posts mocking strangers for cracking open classics have become popular. So where are we supposed to read them?
April 2025
In brief: The Homemade God; Mythica; There Are Rivers in the Sky – review
Long-buried truths leave siblings reeling when their father dies; a fascinating reclamation of Homer’s forgotten women; and still waters run deep in a centuries-spanning novel
March 2025
‘At 60, the bulk of your life is lived. What’s left now?’ Ralph Fiennes and Uberto Pasolini on their ripped and radical take on The Odyssey
The actor and director on why The Return took 30 years to make, their joy at persuading Juliette Binoche to join them – and the punishing regime that earned Fiennes his battle-scarred physique
December 2024
Other lives
Keith Rutter obituary
Other lives: Historian and numismatist of ancient Greece and wrote the standard work on the coinages of ancient Naples and Campania
November 2024
Other lives
Alexander Garvie obituary
Other lives: Glasgow University professor who specialised in the study of the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus
October 2024
Audiobook of the week
Odyssey by Stephen Fry audiobook review – one hell of a trip
Book of the day
Odyssey by Stephen Fry review – a jaunty version of Homer
September 2024
In brief: Odyssey; Good Nature; Listen for the Lie – review
Stephen Fry is at his best in the last of his quartet of Greek myths; new insights into how the natural world boosts our health; and a suspected killer is the subject of small-town gossip
July 2024
Mogens Herman Hansen obituary
Danish historian who transformed our understanding of the way Athenian democracy functioned
June 2024
The French rose from Manchester: in search of Proust’s forgotten muse
The poignant story of the Englishwoman Marie Nordlinger is told in a new book about her life with the writer
April 2024
Audiobook of the week
1984 by George Orwell audiobook review – a starry cast drive this powerful dramatisation
Tom Hardy, Cynthia Erivo and Andrew Scott conjure menace and melodrama in this 75th-anniversary remake of Orwell’s classic
January 2024
Book of the day
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes review – wonder lust
From the Great Pyramid at Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a thrilling journey in the footsteps of the ancients
October 2023
Book of the day
Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard review – imperial exploits
An enthralling analysis of the wild stories that circulated about Rome’s ruthless rulers
September 2023
Book of the day
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson review – a bravura feat
Six years on from her translation of the Odyssey, Wilson revels in the clarity and emotional clout of Homer’s battlefield epic
‘We’re not the first generation to wonder how genuine our leaders are’: Mary Beard on politicians as performers
From Nero to Sunak, leaders have always put on a show for the public. The scholar explores the notorious Roman emperor’s fondness for acting and how the stage became a metaphor for power itself
‘The Iliad may be ancient – but it’s not far away’: Emily Wilson on Homer’s blood-soaked epic
Following her acclaimed translation of the Odyssey, Wilson has turned to Homer’s other, darker poem. She explains how she got stuck for six months – and why it speaks to today’s era of conflict
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