The Book Club
Join world-renowned Classicist Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins, Chief Culture Writer for The Guardian, as they journey through The Odyssey chapter by chapter, week by week - sharing a lifetime's enjoyment of the story while putting it in context and unpicking its trickiest parts. This is a definitive guide to one of the greatest works of all time, available to watch or listen to in your preferred podcast app.
What critics are saying
“Their enthusiasm is contagious, their insight fascinating…I was itching to read.”The Guardian
“Infectious”The Financial Times
“Fascinating”The Times
“Beard and Higgins’s huge enthusiasm and delight sold the whole thing to me… a weekly tutorial from two eccentric Oxford dons. I’m in”The Observer
The Odyssey, along with its sister text, The Iliad, is often considered the bedrock of western literature. In it are the seeds of the road movie, the family drama, fantasy fiction, the Western, and many more. Odysseus, King of Ithaca, on his journey home after the Greek war against Troy, encounters the unimaginable: beasts and sirens, desire and pain. But there is so much more to the story than a series of adventures. It is a tale of homecoming that also captures the story at home: in Odysseus' absence, his wife Penelope must fight off a horde of ghastly “suitors” and his young son Telemachus must become a man.
Meet your hosts
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Mary Beard
Professor of Classics, Cambridge
Mary is a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge and was a Professor of Classics at Cambridge, where she taught for more than 30 years.
She has written numerous books on the Ancient World, including the 2008 Wolfson Prize-winner, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome and the recent Emperor of Rome. These books – along with the bestselling Women & Power – have been published to critical and popular acclaim and translated all over the world.
Mary is a broadcaster and commentator, appearing regularly on radio and television, including on programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time. She has written and presented radio and television documentaries for the BBC on Ancient Rome – from Pompeii to Caligula to ‘forbidden art’. She was a presenter for the BBC Civilisations series, and has recently entered the podcast arena, co-hosting a weekly podcast, Instant Classics, with Guardian journalist Charlotte Higgins.
She is Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement and writes a blog, A Don’s Life, selections from which have been published in book form. In 2013 she published Confronting the Classics, a collection of essays and reviews written over the last 20 years for the Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books and the New York Review of Books.
Mary, who is currently a Trustee of the British Museum, was made a Dame in 2018. Her new book, Talking Classics, will be published in April 2026.
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Charlotte Higgins
Chief Culture Writer, The Guardian
Charlotte is the chief culture writer of the Guardian. Since 2022, she has been reporting regularly from Ukraine, using culture as a lens. She is also working on a book on artists as documentors of the war. As an author, most of her books touch on the classics, which she studied at Oxford University. Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain, about Britain's 400-year period under Roman rule, was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson (now Baillie Gifford) prize, among other awards, and has been adapted into a play by David Greig. Red Thread: On Mazes and Labyrinths won the Arnold Bennett prize and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. She also co-hosts a weekly podcast, Instant Classics, with Mary Beard. Her book Greek Myths, with illustrations by Chris Ofili, was shortlisted for the Waterstones book of the year 2021. Charlotte is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a past winner of the Classical Association prize and a trustee of the British School at Rome.
Join Exploring The Odyssey
The full 38-episode series releases weekly, at $2.37 a week ($89.99, billed once).
Book Club Membership
Exploring The Odyssey
Members get access to the full series, plus newsletters from Mary, Charlotte, and the team, curated for anyone who wants to go deeper into the epic. Expect supplementary readings, recommendations, and guided discussion prompts along the way.
Enter code EARLYBIRD below for 15% off your membership.
If you have any questions, you can email us at hello@exploringthegreats.com.
We want you to love the club, so if you aren’t completely satisfied within 7 days, reach out to us to request a full refund.
What is Exploring the Greats?
Exploring the Greats is a collection of book clubs, each one its own podcast. Each series pairs a scholar or academic with an actor, artist, or comedian to explore a great work of literature. Soon, you will find more book clubs on ExploringTheGreats.com.