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 n ... Show More
Today
Who’s afraid of realism?: ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark
When Muriel Spark describes the art teacher, Mr Lloyd, in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, she writes that ‘most wonderful of all, he had only one arm, the right, with which he painted’. The loss of an arm was hardly wonderful for Mr Lloyd, but for the girls at the centre of the no ... Show More
21m 54s
Sep 7
London Revisited: Coffee, Satire and Bubbles
The coffee served in London in the 1690s was notoriously unappetising, likened at the time to ‘burnt shoes and charcoal’. Nonetheless it was extremely popular, not least for the energy and locations it provided for two great booms in London life: financial speculation and a genui ... Show More
24m 20s
Aug 31
Narrative Poems: ‘Childe Roland’ and ‘The Pied Piper’ by Robert Browning
‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came’ has baffled readers and critics ever since it was published in Men and Women in 1855. It baffled its author, too. It ‘came upon me as a kind of dream’, Browning recalled. ‘I had to write it then and there, and I finished it the same day.’ Th ... Show More
18m 1s
Nov 2023
Next Year on Close Readings: Among the Ancients II
For the final introduction to next year’s full Close Readings programme, Emily Wilson, celebrated classicist and translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, returns for a second season of Among the Ancients, to take on another twelve vital works of Greek and Roman literature with th ... Show More
11m 41s
Jul 2024
Sing, Muse, of Gods and Wrestlers, Origins & Odes of the Ancient Olympics
A look at the ancient and mythological history of Olympics, featuring some songs written for the ancient games' victors.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I re ... Show More
37m 37s
Oct 2024
It's Always Witching Hour Here, Revisiting Ancient Witchcraft (and More)
Featuring clips from episodes on Ovid's Medea, Chthonic Cuties, conversations with Antonia Aluko and Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts, and readings of Homer's Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves g ... Show More
1h 11m
Nov 2020
Sing, Muses, of Yourselves… of Apollo, Eagles, Dragons, and the Oracle of Delphi
The *official* 100th episode is here! Sing, Muses, of the Oracle, the woman who held the fates of the Greeks in her hands. And of yourselves, the women who give us the arts and all its wonders.CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically invo ... Show More
33m 9s
Jan 2022
Studying the Ancient World, Finding the Best Translation, & How Good was Odysseus Anyway? A New Year Q&A (Part 2)
In part two of the New Year Q&A Liv answers more questions on what it's like to study Classics/the ancient Mediterranean and what you might consider. She answers questions about Odysseus and Theseus, and provides examples of good translations of ancient Greek texts.CW/TW: far too ... Show More
1h 14m