Literature and History

After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to learn about it firsthand. Episode 84 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-084 Episode 84 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-084-manichaeism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early Christianity. Episode 83 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-083 Episode 83 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-083-gnosticism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory HarperOne Nag Hammadi Scriptures https://harperone.com/9780061626005/the-nag-hammadi-scriptures/

Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth’s oldest living monotheism. Episode 82 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-082 Episode 82 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-082-zoroastrianism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world’s religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians. Episode 81 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-081 Episode 81 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-081-revelation Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory Writ Large Podcast: https://www.writlarge.fm/

The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the ancient Mediterranean. Episode 80 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-080 Episode 80 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-080-the-general-epistles Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Possibly the most influential theologian in history, Paul codified and clarified Christianity as it emerged into the diverse world of the Eastern Mediterranean. Episode 79 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-079 Episode 79 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-079-the-pauline-epistles Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The story of Christianity’s first missionaries is a sweeping , intercontinental narrative, filled with danger, strange encounters, and the hope for a better future. Episode 78 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-078 Episode 78 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-078-the-book-of-acts Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of the New Testament. And today, historians and Biblical scholars know more about them than ever before. Episode 77 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-077 Episode 77 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-077-the-gospels Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea for thirty years. Learn about his rule, and the political and religious climate of Judea just before the birth of Christ. Episode 76 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-076 Episode 76 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-076-judea-under-herod Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

A retrospective on the material we’ve covered thus far as we head into Early Christianity and Late Antiquity, plus some announcements. Episode 75 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-075 Episode 75 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-075-dusk-and-starlight Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations shows an intelligent emperor coping with the realities of an empire buckling under its own weight. Episode 74 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-074 Episode 74 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-074-marcus-aurelius Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Apuleius’ The Golden Ass is Ancient Rome’s only novel to survive in full – a strange, often disturbing fairytale that had a huge influence on posterity. Episode 73 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-073 Episode 73 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-073-the-golden-ass Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Juvenal’s Satires, produced some time in the decades around 100 CE, mercilessly mock some of the more colorful aspects of Roman life. Episode 72 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-072 Episode 72 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-072-bread-and-circuses Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Statius’ Thebaid, Books 7-12. Six hundred years after Aeschylus, Statius once again brought the Theban epic to a thunderous conclusion. Episode 71 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-071 Episode 71 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-071-the-gods-depart Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Statius’ Thebaid, Books 1-6. This epic is hardly ever read or taught these days, but in 100 CE, it was as famous as anything in the Roman world. Episode 70 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-070 Episode 70 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-070-romes-forgotten-epic Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Petronius’ Satyricon is a contender for history’s first novel, a picaresque filled with sex, misadventures, and details about daily life. Episode 69 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-069 Episode 69 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-069-romes-comic-novel Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Seneca’s Phaedra (c 50s CE) is the story of an illicit passion, a stoic cautionary tale and simultaneously vivid character study. Episode 68 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-068 Episode 68 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-068-love-means-sin Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Seneca’s Thyestes, probably written around the 50s CE, is one of the most horrifying and influential plays ever written. Episode 67 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-067 Episode 67 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-067-jaws-dripping-blood Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Stoicism, starting with Zeno in 300 BCE, was a popular philosophy by the lifetime of Seneca, perhaps even making its way into the New Testament. Episode 66 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-066 Episode 66 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-066-stoicism-seneca-st-paul Episode 66 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azc7u5st9jo Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Seneca the Younger (c 1 BCE-65 CE) practiced the philosophy of stoicism over the course of several volatile, and very different imperial reigns. Episode 65 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-065 Episode 65 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-065-seneca-and-the-julio-claudians Episode 65 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW4K7Ij-5fE Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

For mysterious reasons, in 8 CE, Ovid was exiled from Rome. Ovid’s last works were composed an ocean away from Italy, on the western shore of the Black Sea. Episode 64 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-064 Episode 64 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-064-ovids-exile Episode 64 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj3nfzO2ZHM Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Books 11-15. The vast Metamorphoses draws to a resonant conclusion as Ovid brings his great poem to Rome itself. Episode 63 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-063 Episode 63 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-063-all-is-in-flux Episode 63 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMGX0cwIV2A Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Books 6-10. In the middle portion of Ovid’s great poem, psychological transformations become as gripping as physical ones. Episode 62 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-062 Episode 62 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-062-a-curious-passion Episode 62 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXZIl6DL-gY Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

This book influenced thousands of years of later literature, and remains one of our best source texts on classical mythology. Episode 61 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-061 Episode 61 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-061-changes-of-shape Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Ovid’s Art of Love is ancient Rome’s manual of seduction – a record of the steamier side of the Augustan Age. Episode 60 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-060 Episode 60 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-060-how-to-make-love-to-a-roman Episode 60 Song: https://youtu.be/kfx-sjGorVM Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The love poetry of Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) was standard Latin curriculum for hundreds of years, but it was also the product of a very specific historical moment. Episode 59 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-059 Episode 59 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-059-early-ovid Episode 59 Song: https://youtu.be/vE1jkidRthY Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Propertius (c. 50-1 BCE) took the Latin elegiac form to new heights of complexity and passion, even weaving subtle satire throughout his work. Episode 58 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-058 Episode 58 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-058-she-caught-me-with-her-eyes Episode 58 Song: https://youtu.be/BHEYVxqdztE Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 10-12. The end of Rome’s great epic is about something Romans of Virgil’s generation knew very well indeed. War. Episode 57 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-057 Episode 57 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-057-the-world-grows-dim-and-black Episode 57 Song: https://youtu.be/WRZbUYwdTR0 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 7-9. Aeneas’ arrival in Italy begins auspiciously enough, but soon things take a turn for the worse. Episode 56 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-056 Episode 56 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-056-i-shall-release-hell Episode 56 Song: https://youtu.be/bjqsZbGL8oM Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 4-6. The story of Dido and Aeneas, and his subsequent journey to the underworld, is the heart of Rome’s most famous poem. Episode 55 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-055 Episode 55 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-055-among-the-shades Episode 55 Song: https://youtu.be/Uybu1B2qq9o Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 1-3. The Aeneid is Rome’s great epic. Learn the story of its first three books, and when and why Virgil began writing it. Episode 54 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-054 Episode 54 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-054-out-of-troy Episode 54 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcJgKUMS8k8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Georgics (c. 29 BCE), or agriculture poems, show the poet reaching his full strength as a writer, and using an old form to analyze the history around him. Episode 53 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-053 Episode 53 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-053-then-came-hard-iron Episode 53 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNAutei6wA Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Virgil’s Eclogues (c. 38 BCE) are poems about country life. Far from being innocent celebrations, though, they are often cryptic, and filled with a haunting darkness. Episode 52 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-052 Episode 52 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-052-white-flowers-die Episode 52 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZOiQL5aJAA Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Horace (65-8 BCE) was a central figure in shaping Augustan Age tastes in satire and literary criticism. His bumbling, self conscious persona has been charming readers for millenia. Episode 51 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-051 Episode 51 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-051-horace-and-augustan-poetry Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Roman poet Horace (65-8 BCE), a contemporary of Augustus, endured wars, regime changes, and became a literary spokesman for the new principate. Episode 50 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-050 Episode 50 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-050-our-brutal-age Episode 50 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU6nk9luAm8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Catullus (c. 85-54 BCE) is Rome’s most famous early poet. Departing from epic tradition, Catullus wrote a canon of short works that have been famous since antiquity. Episode 49 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-049 Episode 49 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-049-the-strange-roots-of-love Episode 49 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myQERneu-mQ Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Following his consulship, Cicero did his best to salvage the battered Republic, eventually going head to head with the powerful young general Mark Antony. Episode 48 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-048 Episode 48 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-048-the-right-and-the-expedient Episode 48 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES5WpZ1GH-A Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The story of Cicero’s career is an epic tale, filled with courtroom dramas, corruption, conspiracy, greed, and Cicero’s own enduring hope for a better future. Episode 47 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-047 Episode 47 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-047-o-tempora-o-mores Episode 47 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDvjHnY6e9Q Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Cicero (106-43 BCE) was the undisputed master of the Latin language. During his first thirty years, he witnessed events that heralded the Republic’s end. Episode 46 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-046 Episode 46 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-046-the-republic-at-twilight Episode 46 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgg9aMq7gs Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Lucretius (c. 94-53 BCE) is our most important source for Epicurean philosophy, perhaps the most misunderstood school of thought from the ancient world. Episode 45 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-045 Episode 45 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-045-the-uncuttables Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Roman playwright Terence (c. 184-159 BCE) produced a string of brilliant comedies in the 160s BCE. His masterpiece, The Brothers, continues to astonish us today. Episode 44 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-044 Episode 44 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-044-homo-sum Episode 44 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdwb60Hn1-8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Plautus (c. 254-184 BCE) was a prolific comedy writer. His late play, The Rope, captures the dizzying changes sweeping Rome after the Second Punic War. Episode 43 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-043 Episode 43 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-043-on-the-move Episode 43 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsrdUFmhiUI Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Roman literature grew slowly from Greek traditions during the 300s and 200s BCE. Learn about its earliest figures, and how they paved the way for the age of Cicero. Episode 42 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-042 Episode 42 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-042-the-beginnings-of-roman-literature Episode 42 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OPNayS4wJ8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

A retrospective of everything L&H has covered so far, plus some special announcements. Episode 41 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-041 Episode 41 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-041-everything-so-far Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Hellenistic period – 330-30 BCE, saw Alexander’s successor kingdoms rotting away in the east, the rise of Rome, and the birth of modern consciousness. Episode 40 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-040 Episode 40 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-040-hellenism-and-the-birth-of-the-self Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Apollonius’ Jason and the Argonauts, Books 3-4. Mesmerizing Medea takes center stage at the Argonautica’s end, dominating the epic’s events. Episode 39 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-039 Episode 39 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-039-medea-and-the-argonauts Episode 39 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BqyO8XFT5U Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Jason and the Argonauts, Books 1-2. Journey with Jason to find the Golden Fleece, and learn about the Greco-Egyptian writer, Apollonius of Rhodes. Episode 38 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-038 Episode 38 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-038-the-epic-anti-hero Episode 38 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BRSbaaK-i4 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Menander’s Old Cantankerous (316 BCE), produced during the New Comedy period, shows theater beginning to take on its modern form. Episode 37 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-037 Episode 37 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-037-the-new-comedy Episode 37 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc2BYWLWtLw Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, with all of its nudity, sex, and explicit language, was nonetheless his most powerful salvo against the Peloponnesian War. Episode 36 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-036 Episode 36 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-036-war-and-peace-and-sex Episode 36 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJxAK0HAxU Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aristophanes’ The Clouds is a dazzling satire on Athenian philosophy, showing a very different Socrates than Plato’s. Episode 35 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-035 Episode 35 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-035-the-great-thundercrap Episode 35 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhAbkjs9HWA Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Euripides’ The Bacchae, one of the darkest and bloodiest works of Ancient Greek tragedy, is about the spread of cult religions during the late Peloponnesian War. Episode 34 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-034 Episode 34 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-034-the-traditions-of-our-forefathers Episode 34 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxd0jATUZ-s Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Euripides’ Medea is Ancient Greece’s most famous play. But what did it mean to the Athenians in 431 BCE who watched it on the Acropolis? Episode 33 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-033 Episode 33 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-033-woman-the-barbarian Episode 33 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaIXjT4uw0 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 3 of 3. Antigone is a timeless and dark story about a clash of wills. But it’s also fascinating snapshot of the philosophical brawls of 5th-century BCE Athens. Episode 32 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-032 Episode 32 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-032-trees-bending-to-the-torrent Episode 32 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwFjCe1JkVk Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 2 of 3. Oedipus at Colonus, out of the ashes of the Peloponnesian War, is a story about a man who has lost everything but his own dignity. Episode 31 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-031 Episode 31 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-031-the-requiem-at-athens Episode 31 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z388AMTL9bE Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 1 of 3. Oedipus the King is one of literature’s great stories. It’s also a haunting window into the fears of war torn Athens in 429 BCE. Episode 30 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-030 Episode 30 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-030-two-legs-in-the-afternoon Episode 30 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MroDLpX9Osg&t=257s Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 3 of 3. Pursued all the away to Athens by the monstrous Furies, will Orestes prevail, or be torn apart? Episode 29 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-029 Episode 29 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-029-the-mound-and-the-furies Episode 29 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1lNfUyKceE Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 2 of 3. The infernal House of Atreus had witnessed almost every imaginable act of depravity. Except for one. Episode 28 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-028 Episode 28 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-028-a-mothers-curse Episode 28 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3i2bnVuvks Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 1 of 3. A terrible family curse. A wronged queen. The Trojan War was only the start of the bloodshed. Episode 27 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-027 Episode 27 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-027-the-bloody-king Episode 27 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwm-oSAVdo Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Masks. Choruses. Huge prosthetic penises. Before you read Sophocles, Euripides, and company, it’s a good idea to know a bit about Ancient Greek theater. Episode 26 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-026 Episode 26 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-026-ancient-greek-theater Episode 26 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPMk-r9QEw Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The work of Sappho, Pindar, and other remarkable Greek lyric poets makes us question everything we think we know about poetry, what it is, and what it does. Episode 25 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-025 Episode 25 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-025-lyrical-ballistics Episode 25 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO7YW3l7I8g Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 10 of 10. The seventeen Prophetic Books, produced during war and diaspora, are both despairingly bleak and searingly hopeful. Episode 24 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-024 Episode 24 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-024-god-may-relent Episode 24 Song: https://youtu.be/uSNJJuH7J5Y Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 9 of 10. What’s the Song of Songs doing in the Bible? Is it a pious hymn to God, or just a couple of horny lovers talking to each other? Episode 23 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-023 Episode 23 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-023-love-desire-exegesis Episode 23 Song: https://youtu.be/F3GTebN2ANU Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 8 of 10. If there is one Biblical book that explains all of life, thick and thin, love and anguish, that book is probably Ecclesiastes. Episode 22 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-022 Episode 22 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-022-fatalism Episode 22 Song: https://youtu.be/Ay1d0QTLVbM Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 7 of 10. In the Book of Psalms, a single, fascinating, familiar linguistic device propels the world’s most famous poems. Episode 21 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-021 Episode 21 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-021-the-bibles-magic-trick Episode 21 Song: https://youtu.be/kstguwXR1Ao Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 6 of 10. If God is so good, then why do the good and innocent suffer? The Book of Job’s aim is to answer this question. Episode 20 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-020 Episode 20 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-020-the-problem-of-evil Episode 20 Song: https://youtu.be/h9603n09bug Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 5 of 10. The Historical Books tell of Israel’s conflicts with Syria, Assyria, Egypt, and finally, exile to the corridors of Babylon. Episode 19 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-019 Episode 19 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-019-the-one-who-struggles-with-god Episode 19 Song: https://youtu.be/4QWkszvhg6g Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 4 of 10. Eden, the Flood, the Commandments– all fine. But what’s with all the stuff about tents, sacrifices, and – uh – testicles? Episode 18 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-018 Episode 18 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-018-the-613-commandments Episode 18 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Rh2OONnxM Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 3 of 10. Hear the Biblical story of creation and the first founders of Israel, and the texts that may have influenced this story. Episode 17 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-017 Episode 17 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-017-roots-of-the-pentateuch Episode 17 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uBUw1jEnw Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 2 of 10. There are tons of books, thousands of proper nouns, and many versions of the Old Testament. But all of it fits into four main parts. Episode 16 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-016 Episode 16 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-016-four-main-parts Episode 16 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTOi9p0NkO4 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Old Testament, Part 1 of 10. 1207 BCE. Two world empires. And between them, an unassuming strip of seacoast land that has been at the center of history, ever since. Episode 15 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-015 Episode 15 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-015-canaan Episode 15 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsd53FrHRPY Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Odyssey, Books 17-24. As we reach the violent climax of Odysseus’ great adventures, it’s time to spend some time considering Homer’s worldview. Episode 14 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-014 Episode 14 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-014-the-autumn-leaves Episode 14 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnFA5pOAcc Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Odyssey, Books 9-16. The most famous part of Homer’s Odyssey sees Odysseus through perilous adventures and begins to give us a sense of who he is. Episode 13 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-013 Episode 13 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-013-his-mind-teeming Episode 13 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t37bGTVsyQk Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Odyssey, Books 1-8. Adventure, monsters, temptresses, and a whole lot of wine-dark Aegean. Learn all about the world of Homer’s Odyssey. Episode 12 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-012 Episode 12 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-012-kleos-and-nostos Episode 12 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJifP09BwU0 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Iliad, Books 17-24. As the Iliad reaches its spectacular climax, it’s time to ask a big question. Who wrote it? Episode 11 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-011 Episode 11 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-011-who-was-homer Episode 11 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX29MfZlMlU Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Iliad, Books 9-16. The violent and spellbinding middle books of the Iliad leave us with questions about Homer’s theology. Episode 10 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-010 Episode 10 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-010-homers-gods Episode 10 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkHXYs8Irl8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Iliad, Books 1-8. Homer’s Iliad is the Tyrannosaurus Rex of ancient epics. And at the core of its 24 books is one shiny metal. Episode 9 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-009 Episode 9 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-009-glittering-bronze-men Episode 9 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP6JmLa7hck Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Elementals, giants, titans and gods! Hesiod’s Theogony chronicles a great war – one which would leave a single entity sovereign over the cosmos. Episode 8 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-008 Episode 8 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-008-before-orthodoxy Episode 8 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC91eGoigNg Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Before Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, there was a grouchy farmer poet whose Works and Days continues to fascinate us. Episode 7 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-007 Episode 7 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-007-hesiods-lands-and-seasons Episode 7 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbxMLMJBWg Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Ancient Egypt produced a great deal of proverbs and wisdom literature. Some of it even slipped into the bible. But how wise is wisdom literature? Episode 6 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-006 Episode 6 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-006-the-pros-and-cons-of-wisdom Episode 6 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlzZi68n7n8 Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

We know about Ancient Egypt’s pyramids, temples, and sarcophagi. What about its folktales and stories? Episode 5 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-005 Episode 5 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-005-beneath-the-obelisks Episode 5 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvGM-FzbOpI Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

In the 3,500 year old Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, we can find the roots of the world’s religions. Episode 4 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-004 Episode 4 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-004-divine-judgment Episode 4 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PU9SWp9ZdE Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Epic of Gilgamesh, composed 3,000-5,000 years ago, and first translated in the 1860s and 70s, was one of the greatest literary discoveries of all time. Episode 3 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-003 Episode 3 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-003-he-who-saw-the-deep Episode 3 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJJurdC3OIg Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Enuma Elish and the Atrahasis, in circulation 3,800 years ago, were Mesopotamia’s creation and flood epics, making them 1,000 years older than Genesis. Episode 2 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-002 Episode 2 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-002-before-the-flood Episode 2 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxED2Xa3R3Y Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

For thousands of years, cuneiform was the means of transmitting information through space and time in the Ancient Near East. Then, something happened. Episode 1 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-001 Episode 1 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/episode-001-the-tower-of-babel Episode 1 Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGtHWka5mI Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory