I’ve been teaching Classical Languages and Literature at Jesus College, Oxford, since October 2000 – Greek and Latin literature, history, philology and philosophy. I’m particularly keen on ancient Greek music and metre, psychology and philosophy, the comedies of Aristophanes, and the songs of Sappho, Pindar, Catullus and Horace. My book The Greeks and the New: novelty in ancient Greek imagination and experience was published in 2011 by Cambridge University Press (there has so far been one review).
Olympic Laurels
In 2004 I was commissioned to write a Pindaric Ode for the Athens Olympics, in imitation of a tradition dating from the ancient Olympic Games of the 5th century BC, for which the poet Pindar composed songs in honour of winning athletes. My Ode was was read out by Dame Mary Glen-Haig at the closing session of the International Olympic Committee at the Athens Olympics on 29 August 2004.
London Olympics 2012
On official commission from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson (here with Jesse Norman MP, centre) I have composed a Greek ode with a lighter touch, as befits the Mayor, for the London Olympics 2012. It consists of six stanzas in Greek alcaic metre containing puns on athletes’ names, with a translation into English verse. The plan is to have it engraved on a bronze plaque in the Olympic Park, and for Boris himself to deliver it at the Welcome Gala for the International Olympic Committee in the Royal Opera House on 23 July 2012.
N.B. This is NOT the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on 27 July (which is expected to be watched on television by over 1 billion people). Viewers should not sit glued to the TV waiting for my Ode to be recited! (This happened in 2004, after the media misreported the ceremony for which the Pindaric Ode was destined, and friends complained of sitting through hours of Greek pop music in the vain expectation of hearing me recite my ancient Greek verses).