I wrote about the Trojan horse, and what we can learn from her mouth about different cultural attitudes towards deception and violence. As someone comments below, the phrase GIFT ARTICLE is pretty scary in this context.

Chris Suellentrop@suellentrop.bsky.social · yesterday

Turns out @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social knows a lot about ancient epics www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Interesting www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...

Parsifal review – blood, lust and goth energy fuel Wagner’s Grail quest

Big-screen closeups augment operatic action in Jay Scheib’s colourful production, with strong singers led by Andreas Schager and Miina-Liisa Värelä but inconsistent orchestral playing

theguardian.com

Interesting www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...

Ring Cycle review – AI staging dispenses with drama to create banal bric-a-brac

For the festival’s 150th anniversary, the creative team have turned to AI to generate visuals reflecting Wagner’s tetralogy’s past, present – and future. The hyperactive result is a dismal, mindless m...

theguardian.com

One thing becomes very clear working on something like books.digitaltolkien.com : publishers frequently forget what impression number they're up to :-)

If you want to check out a fairly balanced (I hope) classical view of Nolan's Odyssey, try our pedants' review on Instant Classics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt-r...

Christopher Nolan's Odyssey 3: The Pedants Revolt

YouTube video by Instant Classics

youtube.com

Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: Pipe smoking; Hobbit at the Fringe; ring and fish; RoP at SDCC; 15 years of Tolkien's sources; mapping Middle-earth (LotRO); Scotty's the Balrog; future of pubs is in your hand!... steady.page/en/thetolkie...

The One hundred and ninety-fourth Roving Ranger

The Roving Ranger #194 brings you all the interesting things Tolkienian of the last week and the weeks upcoming, curated by the Tolkienist.

steady.page

Here's a recommended book-list-interview, for a UK publication. For everyone who has had enough of discourse (as I certainly have): it has a tiny mention of Nolan as the hook, but then we move on to some reading. www.countryandtownhouse.com/culture/emil...

‘Homer Is For Everyone’: How Emily Wilson Elucidates & Obfuscates In Equal Measure

Classicist Emily Wilson has made headlines in recent weeks for slating Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of The Odyssey – for which the director,

countryandtownhouse.com

This has to be one of the most powerful plays I have seen in a while. Simon Stone’s adaptation of the #Oresteia at the @BridgeTheatre powerful and gripping with tour de force performances by @davemorrissey64 @MaryLouiseParker @RosieSheehy @TomGlynnCarney and @ArchieMadekwe 👏👏

Now open at IWM London, our brand new exhibition "Childhood in War." My colleagues have done an amazing job, and you may well start noticing some of this great marketing out and about. It's an important exhibition, it's powerful - and it's free. Do visit if and when you get the chance

Here Tom Hiddleston (Loki, Night Manager) tells what he gained from studying classics at uni. He is both eloquent and surprising. I was a bit in trepidation as I was one of his teaches (and was a bit worried about the mark I wd get!). www.youtube.com/watch?v=i71H...

Classic Chats: Tom Hiddleston on Pompeii

YouTube video by Instant Classics

youtube.com

Next year will be a banner year -- the 50th anniversary of the #Silmarillion and the 90th anniversary of the #Hobbit -- all by that master myth maker #Tolkien. Watch this space for special content related to both. 🙂

No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...

Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation

PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...

theonion.com

If you have been enjoying Charlotte and me talking about the Odyssey on Instant Classics, here's our whole back catalogue on YouTube. And next to drop is a conversation with Tom Hiddleston on his Pompeii documentary and what he got out of studying classics at uni. www.youtube.com/@InstantClas...

Instant Classics

Join world-renowned classicist Mary Beard and Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins for Instant Classics — the weekly podcast that proves ancient history is still relevant. To learn all abo...

youtube.com

youtube.com/watch?v=i71H... Latest Instant Classics. Tom Hiddleston (Loki & more) talks about Pompeii & what he got out of studying Classics at uni. He is stunningly eloquent on that!

Classic Chats: Tom Hiddleston on Pompeii

YouTube video by Instant Classics

youtube.com

Ok after watching #TheOdyssey I am now on a #Homer jag - re-reading some in the original and have started this book which is proving very interesting

A compelling new production of Rienzi finds contemporary resonance without sacrificing the grandeur of Wagner's early vision in a first for @WagnerFestival. My thoughts @LimelightArtsAu: limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/rien...

★★★★ Rienzi (Bayreuth Festival)

Read the Limelight review.

limelight-arts.com.au

Rienzi est joué pour la toute première fois dans le Saint des Saints, le Temple Wagnérien qu'est le Festival de Bayreuth. Ôlyrix y était, notre compte-rendu : www.olyrix.com/articles/pro...

Festival de Bayreuth 2026 : le tribun Rienzi fait son entrée sur la Colline verte

L’actualité de l’opéra : Festival de Bayreuth 2026 : le tribun Rienzi fait son entrée sur la Colline verte

olyrix.com

Bayreuth Festival (2) – Das Rheingold, 27 July 2026 boulezian.blogspot.com/2026/07/bayr...

Bayreuth Festival (2) – Das Rheingold, 27 July 2026

Festspielhaus Wotan – Michael Volle Donner – Alexander Grassauer Froh – Siyabonga Maqungo Loge – Klaus Florian Vogt Fricka – Anna Kissjudit ...

boulezian.blogspot.com

"Visual waterboarding" This production seems to confirm all the fears that arose when this ‘Ring in AI’ was announced. At the very least, it makes for an engaging review (thanks for that, Mark, and lots of encouragement for the rest of this cycle) boulezian.blogspot.com/2026/07/bayr...

Bayreuth Festival (2) – Das Rheingold, 27 July 2026

Festspielhaus Wotan – Michael Volle Donner – Alexander Grassauer Froh – Siyabonga Maqungo Loge – Klaus Florian Vogt Fricka – Anna Kissjudit ...

boulezian.blogspot.com

Mark Berry@boulezian.eurosky.social · last wk.

Bayreuth Festival (2) – Das Rheingold, 27 July 2026 boulezian.blogspot.com/2026/07/bayr...

Here's our Booker prize longlist and us judges!

I wrote about the Nolan Odyssey for the LRB. I'll summarize some of my main points below, in case you don't feel like reading all that. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...

lrb.co.uk

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b... here I talk to Uberto Pasolini about HIS adaptation of the Odyssey of a couple of years ago with R Fiennes and J Binoche. Nolan isn’t the only adaptation in town!

BONUS: Mary Beard on Homer's Odyssey

Podcast Episode · Ancient Lives with Mary Beard · 28 July · Bonus · 13min

podcasts.apple.com

A great fair and in-depth review by EmilyWilson of the #Odyssey An Uncomplicated Man www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...

lrb.co.uk

Paper available here: scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftol...

Saw #ChristopherNolan’s #Odyssey last night in 70mm IMAX fantastic film brilliant performances and incredible soundtrack by #LudwigGorranson I do have quibbles about the portrayal of Odysseus the πολυτροπος man and will now dig into the reviews including @InstantClassics podcast

A free interactive exhibition Childhood in War, opens at IWM London soon, offering an exploration of how children have experienced conflict from 1914 to the present day, helping visitors understand war from a child’s perspective. Artefacts on display include much-loved children’s books set in…

IWM London’s “Childhood in War” exhibition opens next week

Children in wartime are the focus for this free exhibition

downthetubes.net

It is good to see Celeborn is alive _and_ he is a sexy hunk. 👍 www.empireonline.com/tv/news/jami...

From Vecna to "lover-boy": Jamie Campbell Bower's secret Rings Of Power role revealed (Exclusive)

Empire unveils the mysterious character joining Middle-earth in Season 3 of Prime Video's Lord Of The Rings series. Read more.

empireonline.com

Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: Loads on RoP, SDCC, BBC LotR, conferences around the world, Odyseeus and Aragorn, calls for papers, new books, Finrod walks with Finarfin, and much, much more... steady.page/en/thetolkie...

The One hundred and ninety-third Roving Ranger

The Roving Ranger #193 brings you all the interesting things Tolkienian of the last week and the weeks upcoming, curated by the Tolkienist.

steady.page

Wonderful work from @miriamellis.bsky.social, @jlasala.bsky.social, @shawnemarchese.bsky.social, @wetaworkshop.bsky.social, @cstrnk.bsky.social, @mariebreta.bsky.social, @adamroberts.bsky.social, @ashiggins.bsky.social, @banzailibrarian.bsky.social, @middle-earthents.bsky.social and more...

Nine Basque caves, 500 painted figures, one hidden rule: bison face left, horses face right, and it’s not about handedness. New network analysis finds real grammar in Paleolithic cave art. #Paleoanthropology #CaveArt #Archaeology www.anthropology.net/p/bison-face...

Bison Face Left, Horses Face Right: A Hidden Grammar in Magdalenian Cave Art

A network analysis of 500 figures across nine Basque caves finds that Paleolithic artists weren’t just choosing what to paint, but following rules about how

anthropology.net