Letter from the Editor, Daisy Dunn
Christopher Nolan's blockbuster was dividing viewers months before it was even released. The first still, the first trailer, the first whispers about The Odyssey attracted a level of commentary wholly incommensurate with the materials available. The determination in certain quarters of the media to slate the film before it was complete seemed to be driven by a near-fanatical desire to 'protect' or 'safeguard' a text long hailed as a cornerstone of Western civilisation. (continue reading)
ANCIENT
PAUL CARTLEDGE argues that, from his politics to his city- planning, Pericles was suggestible - and more than a little eccentric
JOHN DAVIE extols the virtues of vase-painter extraordinaire Exekias - and his curious preoccupation with the underdog
EWEN BOWIE reflects on the life and work of the fascinating man behind one of the most spectacular theatres in Athens
TOBY BENDLE examines the brutal ancient sport of Pankration in which rules were few, but casualties plentiful
LINA MARANDET, joint winner of this year's Essay Competition, is grateful for the lost texts rediscovered through a Greek writer with a passion for food
PHILIP DE SOUZA assesses the problems and perks afforded by piracy in antiquity, 2,100 years after Julius Caesar was captured near Rhodes
CLASSICAL RECEPTION
JAN PARKER is prompted by Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey to question Homer's own ending
HARVEY BENNETT is intrigued by the similarity between scenes in an ancient work on Alexander the Great and Shakespeare's Henry V
DIANA BENTLEY, a former lawyer, learns that the site of Gortyn has a multifaceted history, and endorses its Law Code as the most celebrated of its remains
SOCIETY
HELLENIC SOCIETY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
FIONA HAARER explores Percy Gardner's shaping of the Hellenic Society in its early years
MODERN
OSWYN MURRAY reflects on the significance of French thinkers to the history of scholarship - and indeed to history itself
PAUL WATKINS pays tribute to George Psychoundakis, hero of the Cretan Resistance, on the 20th anniversary of his death
VASSILIKI POTHOU explores the stories - and ethics - behind an extraordinary sale of Second World War photographs from Greece
BOOKS
THE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2026 prize-giving report
THE INTERNATIONAL HELLENIC PRIZE shortlist and winner
STEPHEN HARRISON is impressed by a measured but pacy new biography of Alexander the Great
ALICE DUNN is deeply moved by a novel set in Greece in the aftermath of the Second World War
J. W. BONNER is intrigued by the tricksiness of the Life of Pi author's new venture into Greek epic
