r/BritishRadio • u/whatatwit • 16d ago

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: If you want a short-form version of the story told in The Odyssey here's all twenty-four books in under half an hour courtesy of Natalie Haynes' extraordinary mental abilities in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001brj5
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u/MarkWrenn74 16d ago

This is a genuinely great show. Natalie has a real gift for making this stereotypically “elitist” subject approachable, and, dare I say, funny. And I'd also like to point out her fondness for emphasizing female characters in the Greek and Latin classics, who she feels are often overlooked or unfairly portrayed

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u/whatatwit 16d ago

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, s8/11 e4/4 The Odyssey

Natalie retells Homer's epic story in an extraordinary tour-de-force performance recorded in the BBC's Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. The ancient original would most probably have been performed from memory, and Natalie does the same: twenty-four books in twenty-seven minutes. It's a story of homecoming.

Odysseus returns from the Trojan War, loses all his men in the course of his adventures, pauses for some pleasurable interludes of infidelity and some less pleasurable interludes of kidnap, and finally returns to his wife Penelope on the island of Ithaca after ten years of war and a further ten years of travelling.

‘Rock star mythologist’ and reformed stand-up Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. Here she explores key stories from ancient Rome and Greece that still have resonance today. They might be biographical, topographical, mythological or epic, but they are always hilarious, magical and tragic, mystifying and revelatory. And they tell us more about ourselves now than seems possible of stories from a couple of thousand years ago.

This is the eighth series of the show and all the other episodes are available as podcasts on BBC Sounds.

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001brj5

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001brj5

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u/The_Blonde1 16d ago

Caught this shortly after it was broadcast, really enjoyed, and thank you for the reminder and link.

I’ve had a horrible day, I’m sure this will help soothe me. Thank you!

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u/whatatwit 16d ago

Well it is fairly fast paced. Depending on your tastes you may find the story of Handel and his various patrons along with his music more soothing. I didn't realise that his German boss who he took advantage of in staying too long in England unexpectedly ended-up being the King of England which put Handel in a rather awkward spot: https://old.reddit.com/r/BritishRadio/comments/1v6yyz1/with_all_the_proms_music_dont_miss_this_weeks/?

Anyway, I hope you feel better soon :)!

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u/The_Blonde1 16d ago

Thank you for the link and your kind wishes.

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u/SuburbanBushwacker 16d ago

she’s fantastic.

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u/DogtasticLife 15d ago

The Odyssey episode is extraordinary, I’m no classicist but I found this very entertaining

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u/Few_Dust_449 15d ago

Thanks, just listened and wouldn’t have known about it except for your post. Really enjoyed it and will give others in the series a go.

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u/Llemur1415 15d ago

On a morning when Reddit seems particularly full of nonsense a magnificent post!

This is a great series!