Ancient greece
What Dominic Cummings could learn from Xenophon
On the subject of leadership, the Athenian soldier, historian, biographer and essayist Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) had much to say,…
A fantastic online show of Euripides's take on Helen of Troy
Everyone knows Helen of Troy. The feckless sex popsicle betrayed her husband, Menelaus, and ran off with the dashing Paris,…
The ancient Greek approach to mediation
Divorcing couples are being given vouchers worth £500 to settle their problems by mediation rather than going to court. It…
From ancient Greece to TikTok: a short history of the sea shanty
From ancient Greece to TikTok: Alexandra Coghlan on the pulling power of shanties
The ancients were defined by actions, not attributes
Diversity is ‘about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion,…
Modern historians take a Roman approach to history – whether they admit it or not
To what use does one put history? Romans thought it provided ‘lessons’. Modern historians rather sniff at the idea, but…
Should a Good Citizen snitch on neighbours?
If neighbours break whatever new Covid rules might soon emerge, it has been suggested that the Good Citizen might snitch…
How the Athenians would have handled the Lords
Arguments about the purpose or indeed very existence of anything resembling the House of Lords would have struck classical democratic…
How to fight a good war
Serifos There’s no high life here, only family life, so I’ve been hitting the books about great Greeks of…
Mixed messages about body weight are nothing new
Tackling obesity is the latest government initiative, universally condemned as nannying. Ask a Spartan. From an early age, Spartan children…
Does classical Athens give us a clue to China’s next move?
In 1984, China agreed a ‘one country, two systems’ treaty with the UK, designed to control the relationship between Hong…
Why stop at destroying statues?
The actor John Cleese has been wondering if we should destroy Greek statues because Greeks believed ‘a cultured society was…
Envy is the greatest blight of all
Gstaad Hippocrates is known as the father of Western medicine and he discovered and named a disease known as ‘micropoulaki’…
Movie-makers should look to the Athenians before cashing in on this crisis
Covid-19 has not yet reached its peak but already the moguls of the small screen are plotting how to monetise,…
The way Greece has conducted itself in this pandemic is an example to us all
Aristophanes was a comic genius long before the Marx Brothers, but he also gave good advice to the Athenians: stop…
Coronavirus and the lessons of the Athenian plague
Plagued by the past
Boris is taking an emperor’s approach to briefings
The PM is insisting that the briefings he finds in his red box every evening should be, well, brief, and…
Ancient Athens would have been horrified by Trump’s impeachment
An impeachment trial is overseen by Congress and Senate, who both make the law and (in this case) sit in…
What would the ancient Greeks have made of Megxit?
There are as many explanations for Harry and Meghan’s problems with the royal family as there are commentators. May as…
It’s science, not protest, that will save the planet
One might expect that the challenge of climate change would encourage many young people to take up Stem (science, technology,…
For the ancient Greeks, the only point in taking part was to win
The England team reached the final of the rugby world cup in Japan but they lost. As athletes, they knew…
Would the Athenians have held a second referendum?
The Athenians invented the referendum: after debate in the citizens’ assembly, they voted through all political decisions by a show…
Watching Stephen Fry was like being in the presence of a god
Stephen Fry lies prone on an empty stage. A red ball rolls in from the wings and bashes him in…
Boris is facing his Sparta moment
The PM’s hero is the Athenian statesman Pericles, and a Periclean crossroads is now approaching. According to the biographer Plutarch,…
Let’s choose our politicians by random selection
Athens Standing right below the Acropolis, where pure democracy began because public officials were elected by lot, I try to…
