meet the maker.
Sing, Muse, of the woman who won’t stop talking about dead old men…
Χαιρετε! I’m Natasha, the one-woman show behind Plato’s Fire. I design all the products, make all the products, ship all the products out to you, and write waffle such as this.
My journey into Classics began with a childhood friend’s roomful of dressing up clothes and regular trips to Deva and Viroconium with school and my grandparents. I took Classical Civilisation almost by accident, but thank god I thought learning about myths sounded more fun than covalent bonding or whatever (I considered Chemistry? what? who was I??) because four tragedies, three comedies, two epics, and one truly inspirational teacher later, my course was set.
I studied Classics at St Andrews and successfully managed to avoid nearly all the history and philosophy modules in favour of art and literature ones. My favourite to this day was ‘Magic in the Greco-Roman World’ - dm me if you’re in need of a curse tablet, I’ve got a few to hand.
Now I’m 32 and still living on the Fife coast and still reading stuff written by old dead people, except now I do it for fun! My favourite ancient work changes constantly, but right now it’s Sophocles’ Antigone, and if Madeline Miller or Natalie Haynes don’t write her story soon, I might have to do it myself.
Currently reading:
(in Greek) Herodotus’s Histories Bk.1
(in translation) Homer’s Iliad (trans. Lattimore)
(in English) Mary Renault’s The King Must Die
