“It’s about time I went to see Delphi”

How did you choose the episodes of When the gods roamed the earth who compose this book?

The first volume was devoted to the gods. This is for the great heroes – Heracles, Achilles, the Amazons, the Danaids. With their complex or tortured existences, they explore the best and worst that humanity can experience.

What does this taste for heroes reveal about you?

My amazement at the fabulous poems from which these myths are taken. I see Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides and Theocritus as patient and caring guides, who lead us to the discovery of life.

A character – from outside the Greek world – who you would like tell destiny? When I was younger, I would have answered Robert Surcouf, but that is no longer true (laughs). Perhaps the writer Samuel Beckett, whom I admire very much.

Music that makes you happy in the morning? Beethoven’s sonatas, recorded in the 1930s by Austrian pianist Artur Schnabel.

A hidden talent? I like to clown. But it’s not really hidden: I’m in representation when I teach or in my radio shows.

The last time you laughed? Laughter is all the time! Of course, we can be sad or worried, but with my wife, laughter can arise at any time from a play on words or a witticism.

You have three days, a backpack and no car. Where are you going? I have only been to Greece twice, which I have contemplated throughout my career through ancient texts. I’m thinking today that it might be time to go see Delphi.

A solidarity initiative that touched you? My granddaughter worked for Doctors Without Borders setting up missions in the West Bank and Gaza. There are so many people who are committed to helping others with intelligence and courage.

For you, Jesus, it is… First of all, a historical character, who was trapped by trying to determine his substance and nature until he became a concept. The idea of ​​the incarnation of God through a son who dies is magnificent. I was very religious but that disappeared. There remains a form of promise and hope.