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The Ancient Guide to Modern Life
The Ancient Guide to Modern Life | Natalie Haynes
7 posts | 6 read | 11 to read
This revelatory book explores modern society while journeying back to the Greeks and Romans -- "will have readers grabbing for the classics" (Kirkus). In this thoroughly engaging book, Natalie Haynes brings her scholarship and wit to the most fascinating true stories of the ancient world. The Ancient Guide to Modern Life not only reveals the origins of our culture in areas including philosophy, politics, language, and art, it also draws illuminating connections between antiquity and our present time, to demonstrate that the Greeks and Romans were not so different from ourselves: is Bart Simpson the successor to Aristophanes? Do the Beckhams have parallel lives with The Satiricon's Trimalchio? Along the way Haynes debunks myths (gladiators didn't salute the emperor before their deaths, and the last words of Julius Caesar weren't "et tu, brute?") from Athens to Zeno's paradox, this irresistible guide shows how the history and wisdom of the ancient world can inform and enrich our lives today.
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review
Marialou
Pickpick

A really brilliant book. It‘s a history book with a difference; full of facts but more importantly full of discussion and insights into what can be gained from the achievements of the ancient world and what can be learnt from their mistakes, their brutalities.

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Severnmeadows
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I‘ve become a real fan of Natalie Haynes, listening to her #OvidnotCovid series on Twitter, and ‘Natalie Haynes stands up for the classics‘ on BBC Radio 4.
Just finished this thoughtful, approachable book about Greece and Rome, and contemporary times. I learned a lot!

Velvetfur Hiya! I'm having a clear-out and I've been looking at who's added books I've reviewed to their stack - I can see you added 'La Cucina' by Lily Prior to your TBR, so would you like to have my copy? 🙂 4y
Severnmeadows @Velvetfur That‘s very kind, Thankyou! I would 😊 (ps I‘m in the UK) (edited) 4y
Bookwomble This sounds fascinating. Stacked 📚😊 4y
31 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Booksnchill
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Pickpick

Finished this audiobook- what would the ancient Greeks or Romans think about the financial crisis? Universal Healthcare? Our diplomacy? This is an engaging book by classicist Natalie Haynes (she also does a series on BBC Radio about classical figures and is a stand up comedian). Taking modern life and then showing that really there is nothing new under the sun and the lament that we need to go back to the “good old days” ignores history. 👍👍👍👍

laurieluna I loved this book. I also recommend the tagged book if you haven't already read it! 5y
Booksnchill @miralunasbooknook i have seen it but I haven‘t read it- will pick it up, thanks! 5y
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Eyejaybee
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Pickpick

What a marvellous book. Ms Haynes writes with such insight, clarity and enthusiasm about the enduring appeal and relevance of Classical Greek and Latin literature. See my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15133051-the-ancient-guide-to-modern-life. #nataliehaynes, #theancientguidetomodernlife #classicalliterature #latin #ancientgreek #philosophy #literature #juvenal #satire #comedy #tragedy #enduringappeal #non-fiction

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Eyejaybee
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I have enjoyed Natalie Haynes‘s ‘The Ancient Guide to Modern Life‘ so much that I have decided to revisit Juvenal‘s Satires, which I remember grappling with in the original Latin forty odd years ago at school. #nataliehaynes #theancientguidetomodernlife #juvenal #satires #classics #literature #latin #i💙nataliehaynes

Sophoclessweetheart Juvenal 🖤 6y
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Eyejaybee
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Sophoclessweetheart This sounds wonderful x 6y
Eyejaybee @Wanderingwithwords I have only just started it, but it is marvellous so far. 6y
Vikkiha Haven‘t quite got round to this yet but I‘ve been planning to since I heard her on the Book Shambles podcast a while back. She was really knowledgeable and funny, I couldn‘t help but add all her books to my wish list. 6y
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Eyejaybee @Vikkiha I have enjoyed her programmes on BBC Radio 4, and loved her novels, The Amber Fury and The Children of Jocasta. She has a great prose style, and imparts a huge amount of knowledge about the Classics without ever being patronising. 6y
Vikkiha I haven‘t listed to her Radio 4 programmes, going to see if any are on iplayer. Thanks for the tip. 😊 6y
Eyejaybee @Vikkiha I am hoping to go to the recording of her next show on 23 May. 6y
Vikkiha Good luck, hope you tks. Enjoy! 6y
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laurieluna
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So guess what got started this morning 😂
Only just finished Pool of Two Moons last night and I still have 4 other books on the go! 🙈
Thought I'd show some love for the Greeks with a Greek and Ancient History based bookstack. My other Natalie Haynes is in there, a non-fiction, witty exploration of what the Greeks and Romans did for us and how our society has been shaped by them, from politics to theatre!
#bookstack #greeks

Sophoclessweetheart 😂🙈I'm doing my BA in Classical Studies and the penguin dictionary of classical mythology is basically my study bible. 7y
laurieluna @TheOtherMother it is amazing! I did Drama and Performance at Uni, and my last essay was Feminism in Greek theatre, focusing on Lysistrata. Was amazing to research and that's where my love of Ancient Greece started. Good luck with your Degree! Xx 7y
Sophoclessweetheart Thank you🖤 7y
18 likes3 comments