Instant Classics

In this Clacton byelection special, Count Binface takes a break from the campaign trail and zooms in from his spaceship to chat with Mary and Charlotte about his deep interest in Ancient Greece and Rome.

While denying all connection with an earthling called Jon Harvey who studied Classics at Oxford, Binface reveals the lessons he has learned by studying classical writers, like the Greek satirist Lucian, the failings of Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism, and his views on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

All of which begs the question: will Count Binface make compulsory Latin in state primary schools a central pledge in his manifesto? Listen to find out!

Further reading:

If you are confused about who Count Binface is, there’s a piece in the Guardian that explains it all…

Binface’s review of the Odyssey (paywalled)

And a link to Jon Harvey’s broadcasting including his BBC Radio 4 series, Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain?

For all the candidates in this byelection: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckge923jk3vo

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@insta_classics for X

email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson

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Last week, actor Tom Hiddleston launched his new series - not the further adventures of Loki (at least, not yet), but Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston. Mary and Charlotte talk to Tom who reveals his life-long fascination with the ancient world, including a degree in Classics at Cambridge where he attended the lectures of one Professor Mary Beard.

Tom talks about the impact Mary’s teaching had on him and how that fascination for the Classics has never gone away. His new series, available to watch on Disney+ and National Geographic, focuses on several real people and the decisions they made in the hours before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. It draws on new research and technology to uncover the hidden lives of some of those who survived - and some who didn’t.

Further reading

Mary Beard’s book Pompeii is strongly recommended by Charlotte! And there is a recent book by Jess Venner, The Lost Voices of Pompeii (Harper Collins, 2026), which picks up and develops some of the same themes.

In one of his first roles, Tom appeared in the Cambridge Greek play. You can find out more about this marvellous institution here: https://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/prospective/undergraduate/greek-play

and here: https://www.cambridgegreekplay.classics.cam.ac.uk/

@instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube

@insta_classics for X

email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson

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Last week, Mary and Charlotte gave their instant verdict on Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey only hours after emerging from the premiere, dazzled somewhat by the proximity of so much A-list talent. A week later… they unleash their inner nerds to quibble with some of the decisions and omissions Nolan made in adapting Homer.

Their biggest gripe is the treatment of the female characters. Nausicaa and the ghost of Odysseus’ mother didn’t make the edit. Helen of Troy is robbed of agency and becomes a victim. The Gods are mostly cut and there’s even the implication that some of the more magical elements of the story might simply be a figment of the imagination resulting from too much lotus eating. Odysseus himself has become a bit of a goody two-shoes, only lying when he really has to and wracked by guilt of all the things he did at Troy, unlike Homer’s Odysseus who doesn’t think twice about ransacking innocent people.

It’s not all moan moan moan though. Who can disapprove of the enhanced role that Odysseus’ loyal dog Argus is given, complete with his own backstory, and the power of the canine performance? Give that dog an Oscar. Or better yet, a nice meaty bone.

Mary and Charlotte recommend:

No more reading than we suggested last week (except to urge people back to Homer itself). BUT if you haven't seen the film, you can see Argus the dog here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sxgHV-BmNrI⁠

@instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube@insta_classics for Xemail: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson

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Mary and Charlotte emerge from the premiere of The Odyssey, pausing only for a night’s rest, before regathering in the morning with strong coffees to give their instant verdict on Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster.

Headlines

Winners: Complicated, twisty-turny timelines; multiculturalism; Samantha Morton; Charlotte Higgins

Losers: Feminism; humour; The Gods; Mary Beard

To find out what all this means, listen to the episode!

Further reading (and watching):

The basic message here is “go watch the movie”. Mary is perhaps less keen overall, but still urges you to go see. It is also worth having a look at (and comparing) Ubert Pasolni’s The Return which is focussed on the second half of the poem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_(2024_film)

Charlotte mentioned Colm Tóibín’s novel House of Names.

@instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube

@insta_classics for X

email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson



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Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey - the most eagerly anticipated event since Odysseus spied the shores of Ithaca - is almost with us at last. Mary and Charlotte have been exploring Homer’s epic over the last year in the Instant Classics Book Club, but if you’re time poor or just want a little refresher, then you’ll find the basics in this pre-screening primer. 

In the first half, they run through what actually happens in The Odyssey, as Odysseus, a twisty-turny man, makes his twisty-turny way back home. In the second, they pull out some of the big themes from the book - the problems of homecoming, post-traumatic disorder, the cost of war, growing up, fidelity, colonisation, and the thin line between so-called civilisation and so-called barbarism. This poem really does have everything, yet manages to be poetic and hugely entertaining while about it. In theory, it’s the perfect material for Christopher Nolan, who has long been fascinated with non-linear story-telling, the effects of war, and journeys. But whether he succeeds will be the subject of next week’s episode… 

Further reading

Charlotte and Mary usually quote from Emily Wilson’s translation of the poem (W. W. Norton, 2018), but another good recent translation is by Daniel Mendelsohn (Chicago UP and Penguin Classics, 2025). But there are many translations on offer which will not mislead – so do not get too anxious about getting the “right” one.

Approachable introductions to the poem include:

Barbara Graziosi, Homer: a very short introduction (Oxford UP, 2019)

Edith Hall, The Return of Ulysses (I. B. Tauris, 2012)

Elton Barker and Joel Christensen, Homer: a beginner’s guide (Oneworld, 2013)

Moses Finley, The World of Odysseus is an old favourite (reissued by New York Review of Books, 2002)

@instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube

@insta_classics for X

email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole 

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson

 

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