Books of Titans Podcast Erik Rostad

In his introduction to The Theban Plays, Charles Segal highlights the question Sophocles asks in his plays:
“Why should a man or woman of noble character and good intentions have to bear a life of suffering?”
If Antigone is the woman of nobel character and Creon the man of, arguably, good intentions, why must they suffer? Why must bad things happen to good people?
Sophocles uses character, circumstances, and divine agency to address this question.
In this episode of the podcast, I highlight the themes, important ideas, and the one image I still have in my head after having read Antigone by Sophocles.
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Sophocles was a friend of Herodotus and a contemporary of the other Greek tragedy playwrights Aeschylus and Euripides. He wrote over 120 plays and seven of those survive. The Theban Plays (Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone) cover major events in the life of the mythical king Oedipus of Thebes and of his children.
In this podcast episode, I talk about the two Sophoclean plays about Oedipus and share what I learned about Sophocles’ discussion of prophecy, the Greek concept of a curse, and the little tiny light at the end of this disastrous tunnel of tragedy.
I read translations by David Grene, Paul Woodruff, and Robert Fagles.



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Seven plays survive out of more than 70 written by Aeschylus during his lifetime. Last week, I covered The Oresteia, his famous trilogy, and this week I cover his four other surviving tragedy plays.
I highlight the following three contrasts I’ve found throughout Greek Literature and share what we learn within these Aeschylean plays:
* Fate vs The Will of Zeus
* Ares (force) vs the Areopagus (debate/civilization)
* Family Curse vs Human Agency


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In this episode, Erik Rostad discusses book 13 from his 2024 Reading List - The Oresteia by Aeschylus.
Show Notes
* Aeschylus
* Purchase The Oresteia
* Support the Podcast - Hire EPR Creations for Online Consulting
* The Books of Titans Book Subscription with Landmark Booksellers
* The Great Books Reading List
* 2024 Reading List
* Reading Resources
* Books of Titans Website


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In this episode, Erik Rostad discusses book 11 from his 2024 Reading List – Fables by Aesop. Show Notes Aesop Purchase Aesop’s Fables Support the Podcast – Hire EPR Creations for Online Consulting The Books of Titans Book Subscription with Landmark Booksellers The Great Books Reading List 2024 Reading List Reading Resources Books of Titans...

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In this episode, Erik Rostad discusses book 9 from his 2024 Reading List – The Odes by Pindar. Show Notes Pindar Purchase The Odes by Pindar / Translation by C.M. Bowra Support the Podcast – Hire EPR Creations for Online Consulting The Books of Titans Book Subscription with Landmark Booksellers The Great Books Reading List 2024 Reading...

The post The Odes by Pindar appeared first on Books of Titans.


Get full access to Books of Titans at www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe