A comical guide to Ancient Greece and Rome

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Series 1-4

A humorous and informative look at historical characters from Ancient Greece and Rome.

Natalie Haynes is a broadcaster and a former comedian. She has been a panellist on Wordaholics, We've Been Here Before, Banter, Quote... Unquote, Personality Test, and Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive on BBC Radio 4. She appears as a critic on Saturday Review on BBC Radio 4. 
 
Haynes has been a Guest Contributor for The Times since October 2006, and a regular contributor to New Humanist. She has also written for The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, The Big Issue, Loaded, and The Independent. 
 
She has written a non-fiction book, The Ancient Guide To Modern Life, on the subject of how living well in the present requires some recourse to the ancient world.

All four series of Natalie Haynes’ BBC Radio 4 show combining comedy with classicism 
 
Writer, broadcaster and recovering comedian Natalie Haynes mixes comedy and conversation to bring the ancient world entertainingly up to date in these four radio series. Each episode sees her profiling a key figure from ancient Greece and Rome, and, aided by her special guests, creating a stand-up show around them. 
 
Series 1 investigates Petronius and the worst dinner party in history; asks whether Sophocles invented the TV detective with Oedipus; explains how Virgil was responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and introduces us to the notorious Aspasia. 
 
In Series 2, Natalie stands up for Aristophanes (expect a chorus of frogs and a sex strike); Ovid (featuring frottage at the races); Plato (a bit chunky, but a good wrestler) and Agrippina (pretty well connected and handy with the purse strings). 
 
Series 3 discusses Sappho, whose scorching poetry is now mainly lost; brings us some thousand-year-old gossip about Cicero; gives us the lowdown on Lucian, the forgotten inventor of science fiction; and tells the story of Juvenal, history’s first great stand-up comedian. 
 
Finally, Series 4 explores Phryne, the Greek courtesan famed for her wit and beauty; Horace, the Roman poet who made friends of enemies through his writing; Euripides, whose Medea still shocks us today; and Livy, who gave us Hannibal crossing the Alps and the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. 
 
Guests include Martin Rowson, Richard Dyer, Victoria Rimell, Professor Edith Hall, Frank McGuinness, Andrew Collins, Pamela Helen Stephen, Gordon Cutting, Dr Llewelyn Morgan, Sarah B. Pomeroy, Dr Ian Jenkins, Cate Haste, Rosie Wyles, Fiona Laird, Michael Squire, Philippa Perry, Stella Duffy, LiTTLe MACHiNe, Mark Stephens, Matthew Sweet, Armando Iannucci, Katy Brand, Ben Okri, Mark Ravenhill and Al Murray. 
 
Produced by Christine Hall and Mary Ward Lowery 
A BBC Studios production

Attila The Hen

BBC Radio 4 programme all about the fashion for keeping chickens in your back garden, a hobby which shows no sign of waning.   Natalie Haynes has heard some dark rumours about the true habits of the hen. Can they be true? However her own knowledge is limited entirely to chicken lives in Ancient Rome.     Natalie hears from chicken breeders and keepers; but perhaps the most keen insight is from ornithologist Mark Cocker, who explains how things look from the chickens' own perspective. Poultry and people can be very good for one another, but like any relationship it does require respect!  Last broadcast on 29 March 2011 and produced by Christine Hall.

Further Comical Tales from Ancient Greece and Rome

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Series 9-11

Three more series of Natalie Haynes’ BBC Radio 4 show combining comedy with classicism – plus Christmas special ‘Saturnalia’ 
 
‘Rock star mythologist’ and reformed comedian Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. Here, she explores key tales from the classical era that still have resonance today. They might be biographical, mythological or epic, but they are always hilarious, enthralling and revelatory. And they tell us more about contemporary humanity than seems possible of stories from several thousand years ago. 
 
In these three series, she stands up for the first-century Roman poet Martial, whose satirical epigrams were both perfectly crafted and absolutely filthy; tells the powerful story of Demeter's fight to get justice for her daughter Persephone in a tour-de-force solo performance recorded at the Hay Festival; profiles the charismatic and bloodthirsty Athene, goddess of wisdom, war and...handicrafts; and looks at Livia, the first Empress of Rome and faithful wife to Augustus, who has gone down in history as a serial killer. 
 
In addition, she discusses Cleopatra, (a brilliant politician with charisma to burn, but probably not an Elizabeth Taylor lookalike); Hesiod (cataloguer of the gods and author of a flatpack wagon manual); and Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty, who is mostly depicted naked and/or wet). Examining Artemis, she discovers that the celebrated huntress was not averse to the odd human sacrifice; and investigating Aesop, she finds that everything we think we know about this famous fable writer is contradicted somewhere. And it’s a similar story with Tacitus, whose fascinating works are long on persuasive prose, but short on evidence... 
 
Joining Natalie for some witty conversation and well-informed analysis are guest experts including Robin Ince, Adam Rutherford and Dan Snow. Also included is a special festive show, ‘Saturnalia’, in which Natalie celebrates the midwinter festival of Ancient Rome, described by Catullus as ‘the best of days’, in the company of André Vincent and Professor Llewelyn Morgan. Expect anarchy, jokes, cross-dressing, sweets, drinking games and the wearing of traditional pointy hats... 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Natalie Haynes 
Music by Sarah Gabriel and Sarah Angliss 
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery 
 
Special guests: Professor Llewelyn Morgan, Robin Ince, Dr Emma Southon, Jane Draycott, Professor Edith Hall, Alicia Stallings, Dr Adam Rutherford, Dan Snow, André Vincent 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Natalie Haynes

More comical tales from Ancient Greece and Rome

Four more series of Natalie Haynes' BBC Radio 4 show taking a comic look at the ancient world 
 
Author, broadcaster and 'rock star classicist' Natalie Haynes is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. In these four series, she explores some of the most prominent historical and mythological figures from the classical world, telling their stories through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation. 
 
Series 5 asks how much Aristotle knew about elephants' tongues and bivalves on Lesbos; introduces us to Claudia Severa and other Roman-British women;and investigates Suetonius - biographer of the Caesars - and why Augustus used hot nuts to soften the hair on his thighs. Natalie also recounts the original epic story of Homer's The Iliad from memory (complete with magic bra and a very sulky Achilles). 
 
In Series 6, Natalie stands up for Helen of Troy (expect new insights into feathery sex); Penthesilea, Amazon warrior queen, (with a natty line in ankle boots); Eurydice (chased by a sex pest and killed by a snake on her wedding day); and Penelope (lots of suitors, but fortunately an adept weaver). 
 
Natalie also discusses Medusa, beloved sister and mother (but a hairdresser's nightmare); gives us the lowdown on Pandora (she of the box, which turns out to be a jar);tells the story of Jocasta (still spellbindingly shocking today); and asks whether Clytemnestra was the worst wife in Greek mythology (she murdered her husband, but was a good mother). 
 
Guests include Dr Adam Rutherford, Professor Edith Hall, Professor Llewelyn Morgan, Dr Paul Roberts, Anita Anand, and Chris Riddell. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Natalie Haynes 
Music by Sarah Gabriel and Sarah Angliss 
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery 
 
Special guests: Dr Adam Rutherford, Professor Edith Hall, Professor Llewelyn Morgan, Dr Paul Roberts, Anita Anand, and Chris Riddell 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 December 2019-13 January 2020 (Series 5), 17 May-7 June 2020 (Series 6), 18 May-8 June 2021 (Series 7), 13 September-4 October 2022 (Series 8) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Natalie Haynes

Books by Natalie Haynes

Series by Natalie Haynes

Natalie Haynes Stands Up For the Classics

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