[John Whitworth]

I shall wait for others to show me the way in this competition. I really MUST try the prose ones and not withdraw in high dudgeon because I am not allowed to rhyme. Difficult to win though with all the masters and whatever is the feminine of that in the field.

No. 2774 remaking history

You are invited to supply an extract from the diary of a well-known historical figure that startlingly reverses received ideas about history and the person in question (150 words maximum). Please email entries to lucy@spectator.co. uk by midday on 21 November.

[Lance Levens]

As I recline here on Lesbos sipping Ouzo and munching dolomathes, I must drop a line to Hegelochus, the actor, who did a smashing job of showing me how hemlock would cause me to sneeze and twitch and froth and curse my own mother. Normally, I loathe thin-shouldered thespians with their fastidious primping and puppy-like cooing, but this one certainly rescued my dialectic. The ever-resourceful Phaedo came up with the cold toes, ankles, knees bit, some thingy he plundered from Meleager. Paying off the slaves and guards drained me down to my last drachma, but by Zeus, it's worth it to retreat here to Sappho's Isle. And I've made some terrific changes in her work already, adding to that one lovey-dovey piece a "phainetai moi" to create at least some objectivity.