Panayotis gambles his way out of his village near Sparta. Anthony escapes his English stately home. They meet in nighttime London, during a bloody fight. Together, they discover a new way of life.

Christos is a young Greek in London, well-integrated, successful, more English than the English. Esther is his landlady and lover. Suddenly, Melina Merkouri arrives in London to take the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece. Christos is stirred. He washes the dishes, breaks them in the manner of rebetiko fans when the music of the bouzouki stirs the blood, and returns to Athens… with Melina and the famed Parthenon Marbles.

The quiet life of Oxford professor James Westgate is shattered when he is introduced to Penny, the wife of his crass new colleague.