Classical Wisdom Speaks
Episodes
138 episodes
The Ancients and the Afterlife: Mythology, Mourning, and Mummies
What Did Ancient People Believe About Death and the Afterlife?Robert Garland explores how Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, and other ancient cultures understood death, grief, burial, and the afterlife. This episode is for anyone fa...
The Man Who Tried to Save Athenian Democracy
This episode is for anyone interested in ancient Greece, democracy, political history, and rhetoric, especially if you want to understand how the past connects to modern political challenges. You’ll learn who Demosthenes was, how he...
The Misunderstood Myth: Persephone, Hades & Demeter
What does the story of Demeter really tell us about loss, power, and the human experience? In this episode, renowned translator and classicist Diane Rayor unpacks the Homeric Hymn to Demeter: one of the most powerful and enduring my...
Mary Beard: Why You Should Argue With the Ancients
What is the point of studying Classics today? Mary Beard explains why the ancient world still shocks, challenges, and reshapes how we think. Discover how Greek and Roman history can change your perspective, without offering easy ans...
Rebellions Against Rome: The Jewish Revolts
An age of apocalyptic thinking, a clash of empires, and a legacy that still shapes the world today... Today Anya is joined by Professor Barry Strauss to discuss the Jewish Revolts against the Roman Empire. Discover what fueled these...
Natalie Haynes on Medea: Greek Tragedy's Most Shocking Heroine
Barbarian, witch, murderer… and mother.Today Anya is joined by author and broadcaster Natalie Haynes to discuss one of Greek mythology’s most famous and dramatic characters, Medea. Discover the complex legends and legacy of M...
The Roman Guide to War
What were the secrets of Roman warfare?What is the best way to defeat an enemy… and what does all this have to do with aqueducts?Today Anya is joined by George Thomas to discuss the life of Frontinus, an ancient Roman general and ...
What Can Ancient History Tell Us About Revolutions?
Long before crowds stormed Bastille or Winter Palace, Greek thinkers treated revolution as the ultimate civic nightmare. So how did an existential danger morph into a promise of liberation—and what happens when that promise curdles into violenc...
Slave of God: Should We Rethink St. Augustine?
Existing at the very edge of the Classical world, in both time and geography, Saint Augustine has proven to be immensely influential on the modern world… but not always in a good way.Today Anya is joined by Tony Alimi to discuss the life...
How Plato Explains the Modern World
What can Plato tell us about life TODAY?Quite a lot, it turns out…Today Anya is joined by Professor Angie Hobbs to discuss the essential and enduringly relevant nature of Plato’s ideas. Discover how they are infused in ...
Man or Myth? King Arthur and Rome's Legacy in Britain
Was King Arthur real?What can his story tells us about British history and identity? And what exactly happened to Britain after the Romans left? Today Anya is joined by Murray Dahm, an independent academic researcher and free...
Echoes in Ancient Texts: India and Ancient Greece
How is Odysseus like the heroes of Indian literature?And how did two cultures, separated by vast time and distances, come to have such remarkably similar stories?Today Anya is joined by Roberto Morales to discuss the parallels b...
The Life-Changing Lessons of Stoicism
What can Seneca, the Roman statesman and Stoic, teach us about life today? And how can we teach ourselves to do the right thing? Today Anya is joined by Robert Kaster, Emeritus Professor of Classics at Princeton to discu...
How Ancient Greece Revolutionized Thought
How did ancient Greek culture accomplish so much? Especially across so many different fields, and in such a comparatively short period of time?It turns out, having a good debate every now and then is VERY important.Tod...
Have We Broken the Golden Thread? Why the West’s Future Depends on Remembering Its Past
The West’s greatest peril is forgetfulness, its loss of cultural memory. Without knowing where we came from, how can we know what to defend, or even what to value?In an age when history itself is contested...when the past is either dism...
Homer's Forgotten Women
Who were the women of the Odyssey? How have they been understood (and misunderstood) by history?And what is the secret of Calypso’s sail?Today Anya is joined by Emily Hauser, to discuss both the famous and the overlooked women o...
Plato and the Tyrant: What Inspired Philosophy's Greatest Masterpiece?
Bridging the ancient and the urgent, historian James Romm and acclaimed author and translator Daniel Mendelsohn dive into the dramatic story behind Plato and the Tyrant. This is not the Plato of abstract thought, but a man deeply en...
The Life of Stories
Sometimes stories have a life of their own... literally.Today Anya is joined by Joel Christensen to discuss how mythology acts as a living being in itself. Discover how stories shape the world around us... and why the movie...
The Ancient Secrets to a Healthy Diet
From specific dietary instructions to detailed systems to categorize foods and their health effects, ancient Greeks and Romans tried to optimize their health and well being through their diet. But what can we learn from their effor...
They Contain Multitudes: The Contradictions of the Ancient Greeks
Tell me about a complicated culture…From the Peloponnesian War to the women of ancient mythology, today Anya is joined by Jennifer T. Roberts to talk about the rich, complex, and contradictory nature of ancient Greek culture…Jenni...
The Meaning of Monsters in Greek Mythology
Centaurs, Snake-kings, Griffins, and Gorgons... ancient Greek mythology is filled with haunting hybrids. But how did these horrific monsters evolve? What is their purpose? And most intriguing of all...what do they reveal about ancient Greek his...
Rome's Greatest Rivalry?
They were two of Rome's most famous and powerful men.Both were respected statesmen and feared generals. Both were crucial figures in the final years of the Roman Republic.But you might not have heard of one of them...Tod...
Aristotle and the Good Life
What can Aristotle tell us about how we should live today? What are the ancient secrets to a flourishing life? And what is 'the art of the interesting?' Today Anya is joined by Lorraine Besser to discuss the ways Aristot...