Among the Ancients II

Apuleius’ ‘Metamorphoses’, better known as ‘The Golden Ass’, is the only ancient Roman novel to have survived in its entirety. Following the story of Lucius, forced to suffer as a donkey until the goddess Isis intervenes, the novel includes frenetic wordplay, filthy humour and the earliest known version of the Psyche and Cupid myth. In this episode, Tom and Emily discuss Apuleius’ anarchic mix of the high and low brow, and his incisive depiction of the lives of impoverished and enslaved people.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:Peter Parsons: Ancient Greek Romanceshttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v03/n15/peter-parsons/ancient-greek-romancesLeofranc Holford-Strevens: God’s Willhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v25/n10/leofranc-holford-strevens/god-s-will

In this episode, we tackle Juvenal, whose sixteen satires influenced libertines, neoclassicists and early Christian moralists alike. Conservative to a fault, Juvenal’s Satires rails against the rapid expansion and transformation of Roman society in the early principate. But where his contemporary Tacitus handled the same material with restraint, Juvenal’s work explodes with vivid and vicious depictions of urban life, including immigration, sexual mores and eating habits. Emily and Tom explore the idiosyncrasies of Juvenal’s verse and its handling in Peter Green’s translation, and how best to parse his over-the-top hostility to everyone and everything.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:Remembering Peter Greenhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/september/peter-green-1924-2024Claude Rawson: Blistering Attackshttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n21/claude-rawson/blistering-attacksClare Bucknell & Colin Burrow: What is satire?https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/on-satire-what-is-satire

The Annals, Tacitus’ study of the emperors from Tiberius to Nero, covers some of the most vivid and ruthless episodes in Roman history. A masterclass in political intrigue (and how not to do it), the Annals features mutiny, senatorial backstabbing, wars on the imperial frontiers, political purges and enormous egos. Emily and Tom explore the many ambiguities that make the Annals rewarding, as well as difficult, reading and discuss Tacitus’ knotty style and approach to history.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:Mary Beard: Four-Day Caesarhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n02/mary-beard/four-day-caesarAnthony Grafton: Those Limbs We Admirehttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n14/anthony-grafton/those-limbs-we-admireShadi Bartsch: Fratricide, Matricide and the Philosopherhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n12/shadi-bartsch/fratricide-matricide-and-the-philosopherMark Ford: The Death of Petroniushttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v30/n24/mark-ford/the-death-of-petroniusEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

In his prodigious, prolific and very short career, Lucan was at turns championed, disavowed and finally forced into suicide at 25 by the emperor Nero. His only surviving work is Civil War, an account of the bloody and chaotic power struggle between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. In their first episode on Latin literature’s so-called ‘Silver Age’, Tom and Emily dive into this brutal and unforgiving epic poem. They explore Lucan’s slippery relationship to power, his rhetorical virtuosity and the influence of Stoicism on his worldview.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract form this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:John Henderson: Dead Eyes and Blank Faceshttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n07/john-henderson/dead-eyes-and-blank-facesNora Goldschmidt: Pompeian Group Therapyhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n18/nora-goldschmidt/pompeian-group-therapyThomas Jones: See you in hell, punkhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v40/n23/thomas-jones/see-you-in-hell-punkEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

In episode seven, we turn to some of the earliest surviving examples of Roman literature: the raucous, bawdy and sometimes bewildering world of Roman comedy. Plautus and Terence, who would go on to set the tone for centuries of playwrights (and school curricula), came from the margins of Roman society, writing primarily for plebeians and upsetting the conventions they simultaneously established. Plautus’ ‘Menaechmi’ is full of coinages, punning and madcap doubling. Terence’s troubling ‘Hecyra’ tells a much darker story of Roman sexual mores while destabilizing misogynistic stereotypes. Emily and Tom discuss how best to navigate these very early and enormously influential plays, and what they lend to Shakespeare, Sondheim and the modern sitcom.Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:Emily Wilson: Ave, Jeeves!https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v30/n04/emily-wilson/ave-jeevesJames Davidson: Laugh as long as you can https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n14/james-davidson/laugh-as-long-as-you-canEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

Plato’s 'Symposium', his philosophical dialogue on love, or eros, was probably written around 380 BCE, but it’s set in 416, during the uneasy truce between Athens and Sparta in the middle of the Peloponnesian War. A symposium was a drinking party, though Socrates and his friends, having had a heavy evening the night before, decide to go easy on the wine and instead take turns making speeches in praise of love – at least until Alcibiades turns up, very late and very drunk. In this episode of Among the Ancients, Emily and Tom discuss the dialogue’s philosophical ideas, historical context and narrative form, and why Aristophanes gets the hiccups.Non-subscriber will only hear extracts from the rest of this series. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading:Donald Davidson: Plato’s Philosopherhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n14/donald-davidson/plato-s-philosopherAnne Carson: Oh What a Night (Alkibiades)https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n22/anne-carson/oh-what-a-night-alkibiadesM.F. Burnyeat: Art and Mimesis in Plato’s Republichttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n10/m.f.-burnyeat/art-and-mimesis-in-plato-s-republic

In the fifth episode of Among the Ancients II we turn to Greek lyric, focusing on Pindar’s victory odes, considered a benchmark for the sublime since antiquity, and the vivid, narrative-driven dithyrambs of Bacchylides. Through close reading, Emily and Tom tease out allusions, lexical flourishes and formal experimentation, and explain the highly contextual nature of these tightly choreographed, public-facing poems. They illustrate how precarious work could be for a praise poet in a world driven by competition – striking the right note to please your patron, guarantee the next gig, and stay on good terms with the gods.Non-subscriber will only hear extracts from the rest of this series. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB:Leofranc Holford-Strevens: Dithyrambs for Athenshttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n04/leofranc-holford-strevens/dithyrambs-for-athensBarbara Graziosi: Flower or Fungus?https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n04/leofranc-holford-strevens/dithyrambs-for-athensEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

Some of the most compelling stories of the Classical world come from Herodotus‘ 'Histories', an account of the Persian Wars and a thousand things besides. Emily and Tom chart a course through Herodotus‘ history-as-epic, discussing how best to understand his approach to history, ethnography and myth. Exploring a work full of surprising, dramatic and frequently funny digressions, this episode illustrates the artfulness and deep structure underpinning the 'Histories', and, despite his obvious Greek bias, Herodotus‘ genuine interest in and respect for cultural difference. Non-subscriber will only hear extracts from the rest of this series. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsFurther reading in the LRB: Peter Green: On Liking Herodotushttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v36/n07/peter-green/on-liking-herodotusEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk