Further to our wonderful “Odyssey” and Greek Tragedy courses with David Huggon, he returns to Red Lion Books in November 2026 with a new workshop

Four Figures from Ancient Greece course

You do not need to have any background knowledge.

One book is included in this booking: Penguin edition of Plato’s Symposium

In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato’s mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love – as a response to beauty, a cosmic force or a path to goodness. Translated with an Introduction by Christopher Gill

Contents of the course

Week One

20 minutes Introduction to Ancient Greek alphabet

Followed by…

Sappho the poet of Lesbos. What do we know about her? Why was her poetry redacted, and what do we still have? Readings of extracts of her poetry.

Week Two

20 minutes Consolidation of Ancient Greek alphabet

Followed by…

Socrates the philosopher. What were his principles, and why was he so revered? Readings from Plato’s Symposium. What led to his execution in 399BC?

Week Three

20 minutes Basic sentences in Ancient Greek.

Followed by…

Aristophanes.The career and the genius of the comic poet who won so many prizes in the theatre festivals. Extracts from Plato’s Symposium in which Aristophanes defines love. Extracts from Lysistrata in which Athenian women stage a sex strike in order to stop men going to war.

Week Four

20 minutes More basic sentences in Ancient Greek.

Followed by…

Dionysus, god of mystery and revelry. Where did he come from, and how did the Greeks celebrate him eg the outlandish Anthesteria festival and the City Dionysia? Extracts from Ovid Metamorphoses and Euripides The Bacchae.

Penguin edition of Plato’s Symposium which links Socrates and Aristophanes very nicely.

TUESDAY MORNINGS

10am-11.30am Limited spaces
3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th November 2026

David: “I retired five years ago from the Colchester Sixth Form College where I taught Classical Civilisation A level for 30 years. I have been an enthusiast of the ancient world ever since I was a teenager and a great devotee of Homer. My degree (back in the dark ages) was in Classics and French”

SHOP

SCHOOL VISIT: Ollie George Clark | Search for a Sorcerer

Bookshop Soiree May 14th 2026

The Romance Roundtable

FULLY BOOKED: Four Figures from Ancient Greece course

Greek Tragedy Workshop