From James Joyce to Ali Smith and Chigozie Obioma, the archetypal stories of the ancients have inspired some of our best fiction
December 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about self-improvement
Top 10s
Top 10 books about the Roman empire
November 2021
George Orwell: how romantic walks with girlfriends inspired Nineteen Eighty-Four
Details from 50 newly released letters echo scenes between Winston and Julia in the dystopian novel
October 2021
Cultural prescription
Want horror for Halloween? Critics pick music, books, games and more to help
Cultural prescription
Getting over a breakup? Critics pick music, books, games and more to help
The books of my life
Mary Beard: ‘Virgil was a radical rap artist of the first century BC’
Age of Antigone: Sophocles’s arresting tale of the debt we owe the dead
September 2021
The Guardian view on a hidden history of poetry: it depends where you look
‘I don’t care’: text shows modern poetry began much earlier than believed
August 2021
Madeline Miller on The Song of Achilles: ‘It helped people come out to their parents’
The American novelist describes how she overcame her fears of a classical backlash to write a gay love story about Achilles and Patroclus
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker review – a Troy story for the sisterhood
Moving from Homer to Virgil, Pat Barker’s second feminist reboot of the classics is a stirring adventure set amid a misogynist dystopia
Book of the day
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker review – bleak and impressive
Pat Barker on The Silence of the Girls: ‘The Iliad is myth – the rules for writing historical fiction don’t apply’
‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey
July 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about Sicily
Far from the outdated stereotype of mafia domination, these works reveal an island of great variety and rich culture
April 2021
Lockdown culture
Love in the Lockdown review – a virtual romance drawn with emotional subtlety
Chinese Don Quixote is translated into Spanish after 100 years
February 2021
'Witch' tweets reflect society's fear of older women, says Mary Beard
Inside Culture host draws parallel between witch trials of the past and the online abuse she receives
December 2020
Decline and fall: what Donald Trump can learn from the Roman emperors
The US president’s refusal to concede the election looks unnervingly familiar to a classicist – ancient Rome offers valuable lessons about letting go of power
