This is the time of year – dark evenings, the strong urge to hibernate under a duvet – when I resort to comfort listening. So I am delighted to report that Radio 4 has found space in the schedule in-between analysis of the latest dire economic and geopolitical news for Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, which is also available in its entirety on BBC Sounds.
Haynes, who in 2002 was the first woman to be nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, has been described as a “rock star mythologist”, whatever that is. But she’s more like the history teacher you wish you’d had: bringing the classical world to life with a mix of close textual analysis and irreverent comedy. Each episode (there have been over 40 so far) takes as its subject a figure from antiquity, either real or mythological. The ninth series, which is the one being re-broadcast now, opens with Martial, a satirical poet whose work blends lofty musings on the state of Rome with filthy jokes about oral sex.
If that’s not to your taste, try the deep dive into the political machinations of Cleopatra – or, given the sudden frenzy of interest thanks to Christopher Nolan’s recently announced film, the whistlestop tour of Homer’s Odyssey. With the help of guests from academia and comedy, Haynes unravels what the ancient sources actually tell us and makes her audience fall in love with her subjects – and with classics in general.
I’m not alone in turning to the Greek and Romans when I need cheering up. Haynes reacted to the first lockdown in March 2020 by translating Ovid; thousands of people used to tune in for her video series Ovid Not Covid. When I interviewed her in 2021, she told me how “the idea that people were waiting, with a cup of tea and biscuit, for an Ovid poem” helped her get through the pandemic. So if your 2025 has got off to a bumpy start, may I recommend a cup of tea, a biscuit, and half an hour of stand-up about the Greek goddess Athena.
Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics
BBC Radio 4, 27 January, 4.30pm
[See also: The moderate voices of the English Civil War]
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This article appears in the 22 Jan 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Messiah Complex
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