HOW TO TEACH CLASSICS TO YOUR DOG

Being the owners of a rather beautiful whippet, we very much approve of author Philip Womack leading his beloved lurcher Una and us on a fleet-footed odyssey through the classical world. From Aeneas to Cerberus to Polydorus, go on a quirky introduction to the Ancient Greeks and Romans and with a bit of luck we may be able to pass this knowledge on to our dogs. Engaging, funny and clever, he illuminates the pleasures and relevance of the Classics today and at any moment Donna Tartt, David Bowie, Stephen Fry or a reference to an obscure scholarly article might leap from the page. Plenty to catch the attention and arouse the interest of the curious, he writes with the verve of a novelist and the insight of a scholar as he has classical chats with his dog - before she runs off to chase another squirrel! He covers Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphosis, Catullus and Sappho and even sex and sewers before sharing some useful Latin phrases and grammar and the Greek alphabet. 322pp, paperback.