Books of All Time

Euripides's plays, including The Trojan Women, include a great many complex and sympathetic female characters. In this episode, we use Euripides's interest in women as a jumping-off point to look at the real lives of women in Classical Athens during the 5th century BCE, when Euripides would have been alive and writing.Or at least, we try to. Join us on a slightly frustrating journey through the slim evidence for actual Greek women's existence, exploring childhood, marriage, funerals, and the occasional bawdy all-girls camping trip.Want to read the transcript of this episode or see the references used to write it? Click here. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave us a rating and review!

Our Greek Theatre summer continues with the last of the great tragedians, Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE). While less successful than Aeschylus and Sophocles when it came to winning prizes at the Athenian Dionysia, Euripides was more popular in his day—according to the historian Thucydides, Athenian prisoners of war were able to win favors, and sometimes freedom, by reciting his lines to their captors. He has also left us the largest body of work of any of the other tragedy writers. He is known for a more cynical outlook on religion, for his naturalistic dialogue, and as a writer of women with deep characters. This week, we look at The Trojan Women, his portrait of Hecuba and the other royal women of Troy as they wait to learn their fates following the sack of the city by the Greeks—a sequel to the events of Homer's Iliad.Want to read a transcript of this episode? Click here. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating or review!

Since 1900 or so, anyone trying to engage with Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex has had Sigmund Freud breathing over their shoulders. This episode looks at how Freud, inspired by (and slightly obsessed with) Sophocles' play, concocted a theory that began as a stage of child development but soon expanded to become a universal explanation for all of culture, religion, and art.CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains discussions of sex and sexuality from very early in the runtime (and more than one Hall and Oates reference). Please consider people around you — or your own tolerance for topics like incest and sexual assault — before listening.Want to read a transcript of this episode, or see the reference list? Click here. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Sophocles (496 - 406 BCE) is considered the greatest of the great tragedians of Athens. In this episode, we take a look at his charmed life and at the play which, more than any other, has come to define his legacy: Oedipus Rex, which was probably staged in the 430s or 420s. It's basically a cold-case investigation that goes horribly, horribly wrong for its investigator.Want to read a transcript of this episode and see the reading list Rose used to write it? Click here. Don't forget to rate, review, and share our show if you like it!

In our second episode on Sun-Tzu's The Art of War, we dive into the cultural movement that introduced it to the west: the first Jesuit mission to China. From 1552 until 1773, the missionary priests of the Society of Jesus were the primary channel for communication between China and Europe. While their main goal was the conversion of souls, they wound up sharing science, technology, and literature with their hosts and their hundreds of correspondents back home. Listen to the story of Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (1718-1793), who was the first writer to translate The Art of War into a European language, and a member of the last generation of Jesuit pioneers in China. Harpsichord music optional.Want to read a transcript? Click here. If you like the show, please leave us a rating or review! Thanks for listening!

"Know your enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles." So wrote the legendary Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu sometime in the 6th or possibly 5th or possibly 4th century BCE. While Sun Tzu's existence and the exact date of the composition of the text associated with his name are uncertain, the work has influenced commanders, diplomats, C-suite executives, and World Cup-winning soccer coaches for more than two thousand years. In this episode, host Rose Judson walks through all 13 chapters of The Art of War and is surprised to find that a good two-thirds of it could be called The Art of Avoiding War Until You Absolutely Can't Anymore.Want to read a transcript or see our reference list for this episode? Click here. Don't forget to find us on Bluesky, Instagram, or Facebook - and leave a rating or review wherever you listen!

If Herodotus is the father of history, who are some of his children? This episode looks into it. Starting with a brief look at Herodotus's reputation down the ages, we examine the works of three ancient historians whose works can be said to derive from our pal Herodotus. They include:Thucydides of Athens (c. 460-404 BCE), who purged his History of the Peloponnesian War of all that messy stuff about myths and gossipProcopius of Caesarea (c. 500-565 CE), who worked as an official historian for the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I - all while writing The Secret History about the nasty business Justinian got up to with his wifeGeoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095-1195 CE), a patriotic Welshman whose pseudo-historical History of the Kings of Britain inspired generations of poets and writers with its detailed legends of King Arthur (and its "prophecies" by "Merlin" which include a lot of talk about a hedgehog in Winchester)We also check in with the 26th American president, Teddy Roosevelt, who had some thoughts about history as literature. Bully!Note: Thanks to Procopius, this episode discusses quite a bit of sexual content. Please use discretion when listening.Want to read the transcript? Click here. You can also follow us on Bluesky or leave us a rating or review to help others find the show. Thanks for listening!

Last week we summarized books 1-5 of Herodotus's Histories. This week we cover books 6-9, which is heaving with military history. Marathon! Thermopylae! Salamis! While not as entertaining as the initial parts of the Histories, there are some iconic scenes and characters to meet here, from surprisingly sensitive Xerxes to the brave, doomed Spartan King Leonidas. Listen now!Want to read a transcript? Click here. Don't forget to follow us on social media. Thanks also for your ratings and reviews! They really help people find the show.

Year two begins with a two-part summary episode! Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484 - 425 BCE) wrote his epic history of the Greco-Persian wars and was an instant sensation. The Histories ("history" in those days meaning an inquiry or research) cover the rise of the Persians, the customs of all the peoples with whom they fought, architecture, geography, animals, religious practices, and smutty court gossip. This episode covers the first five books of The Histories, and (trigger warning) also mentions Dick Van Dyke.Want a transcript? Click here. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating or review!