Literature And History

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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-43-quiz Episode 43 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-043-on-the-move Episode 43 Song: "Let's Write a Romantic Comedy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsrdUFmhiUI Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-42-quiz Episode 42 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-042-the-beginnings-of-roman-literature Episode 42 Song: "Stupid Puns About Rome" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OPNayS4wJ8 Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

A retrospective of everything L&H has covered so far, plus some special announcements. Episode 41 Exam: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-41-quiz Episode 41 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-041-everything-so-far Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-40-quiz Episode 40 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-040-hellenism-and-the-birth-of-the-self Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-39-quiz Episode 39 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-039-medea-and-the-argonauts Episode 39 Song: "Jason's Power Ballad" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BqyO8XFT5U Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-38-quiz Episode 38 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-038-the-epic-anti-hero Episode 38 Song: "The Golden Moby-Dick Fleece" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BRSbaaK-i4 Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-37-quiz Episode 37 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-037-the-new-comedy Episode 37 Song: "Alexander the. . .um. . .Great" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc2BYWLWtLw Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-36-quiz Episode 36 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-036-war-and-peace-and-sex Episode 36 Song: "Lysistrata in Three Minutes" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJxAK0HAxU Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-35-quiz Episode 35 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-035-the-great-thundercrap Episode 35 Song: "Aristophanes Barbershop" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhAbkjs9HWA Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-34-quiz Episode 34 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-034-the-traditions-of-our-forefathers Episode 34 Song: "Interview with Dionysus" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxd0jATUZ-s Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-33-quiz Episode 33 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-033-woman-the-barbarian Episode 33 Song: "She Will Never Backing Down" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaIXjT4uw0 Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-32-quiz Episode 32 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-032-trees-bending-to-the-torrent Episode 32 Song: "Yes, Socrates" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwFjCe1JkVk Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-31-quiz Episode 31 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-031-the-requiem-at-athens Episode 31 Song: "An Unpersuasive Call to Arms" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z388AMTL9bE Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-30-quiz Episode 30 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-030-two-legs-in-the-afternoon Episode 30 Song: "Oedipus the King" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MroDLpX9Osg&t=257s Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-29-quiz Episode 29 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-029-the-mound-and-the-furies Episode 29 Song: "Flap Flap Flap, They're the Furies" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1lNfUyKceE Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-28-quiz Episode 28 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-028-a-mothers-curse Episode 28 Song: "The Oresteian Hoedown" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3i2bnVuvks Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-27-quiz Episode 27 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-027-the-bloody-king Episode 27 Song: "Hello, My Name is Agamemnon" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwm-oSAVdo Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-26-quiz Episode 26 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-026-ancient-greek-theater Episode 26 Song: "Golden Age Athens" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPMk-r9QEw Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-25-quiz Episode 25 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-025-lyrical-ballistics Episode 25 Song: "Pindar and the Charioteer" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO7YW3l7I8g Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/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: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-24-quiz Episode 24 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-024-god-may-relent Episode 24 Song: "Happy Lambs and Doom" https://youtu.be/uSNJJuH7J5Y Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory