Charlotte Higgins

Book Shambles with guest co-host Natalie Haynes

This week it’s all about the classics as Robin is joined by two classicists, Natalie Haynes and Charlotte Higgins. They chat about the best translations of The Odyssey, how much filth the monks permitted, why the classics are frowned upon as ‘too high brow’ and good entry points for getting into these great Greek tales. Also, spoiler alert, this episode contains spoilers for a number of works written about 3000 years ago.

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Please note: Although discussed in the context of work written in the 8th century BC, this episode does contain mentions of sexual violence and suicide.

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Reading List

Charlotte recommends:

The Golden Ass by Apuleius

Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins

The poems of Catullus

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathon Shay

Robin recommends:

Red Thread: On Mazes and Labyrinths by Charlotte Higgins

The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes

Natalie recommends:

The Odyssey by Homer (Translated by Emily Wilson)

The Histories by Herodotus (Translated by Tom Holland)

Aeneid: Book 4 by Virgil

Medea by Euripides

Satires 6 by Juvenal

Hippolytus by Euripides

The Iliad by Homer

The Trojan Women by Euripides

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