LRB CLOSE READINGS

Full access to all our Close Readings series

$5.99/mo or $59.99/yr after trial

Among the Ancients II

London Review of Books
  • 5.0 (3)
  • BOOKS
  • COMPLETE SERIES

Emily Wilson, celebrated classicist and translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, is back to take on another twelve vital works of Greek and Roman literature with the LRB’s Thomas Jones, loosely themed around truth and lies – from from Aesop’s Fables to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Among the Ancients is part of the Close Readings podcasts from the London Review of Books. To listen to all the series in full, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts at the top of this podcast; For Spotify and other podcast apps here: https://lrb.supportingcast.fm/close-readings

  1. Introducing Among the Ancients II

    EPISODE 1

    Introducing Among the Ancients II

    Emily Wilson, celebrated classicist and translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, is back to take on another twelve vital works of Greek and Roman literature with the LRB’s Thomas Jones, loosely themed around truth and lies – from from Aesop’s Fables to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Non-subscribers will only hear extracts from most of the episodes in this series. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    12 min
  2. Hesiod

    EPISODE 2

    Hesiod

    Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones kick off their second season of Among the Ancients with a return to the eighth century BCE, exploring the poems of Homer’s near contemporary, Hesiod, the first western writer to craft a poetic persona. In Works and Days, brilliantly translated by A.E. Stallings, Hesiod weaves his personality into a narrative that encompasses everything from brotherly bickering to cosmic warfare. Emily and Tom unpack this wildly entertaining window into Ancient Greek life, and discuss how Stallings’s translation highlights the humour and linguistic flavour of the original text. This episode is free to listen to. 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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB: Barbara Graziosi https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n16/barbara-graziosi/where-s-the-gravy Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min
  3. Aesop

    EPISODE 3

    Aesop

    Supposedly an enslaved man from sixth-century Samos, Aesop might not have ever really existed, but the fables attributed to him remain some of the most widely read examples of classical literature. A fascinating window into the ‘low’ culture of ancient Greece, the Fables and the figure of Aesop appear in the work of authors as diverse as Aristophanes, Plato and Phaedrus, serving new purposes in new contexts. Emily and Tom discuss how Aesop’s fables as we know them came to be, make sense of their moral contradictions and unpack some of the fables that are most opaque to modern readers. 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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB:  Tim Whitmarsh: Crashing the Delphic Party https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n12/tim-whitmarsh/crashing-the-delphic-party Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min
  4. Herodotus

    EPISODE 4

    Herodotus

    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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB:  Peter Green: On Liking Herodotus https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v36/n07/peter-green/on-liking-herodotus Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    11 min
  5. Pindar and Bacchylides

    EPISODE 5

    Pindar and Bacchylides

    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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB: Leofranc Holford-Strevens: Dithyrambs for Athens https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n04/leofranc-holford-strevens/dithyrambs-for-athens Barbara Graziosi: Flower or Fungus? https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n04/leofranc-holford-strevens/dithyrambs-for-athens Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    11 min
  6. Plato's 'Symposium'

    EPISODE 6

    Plato's 'Symposium'

    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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading: Donald Davidson: Plato’s Philosopher https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n14/donald-davidson/plato-s-philosopher Anne Carson: Oh What a Night (Alkibiades) https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n22/anne-carson/oh-what-a-night-alkibiades M.F. Burnyeat: Art and Mimesis in Plato’s Republic https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n10/m.f.-burnyeat/art-and-mimesis-in-plato-s-republic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    12 min
  7. Lucian

    EPISODE 7

    Lucian

    The broad theme of this series, truth and lies, was a favourite subject of Lucian of Samosata, the last of our Greek-language authors. A cosmopolitan and highly cultured Syrian subject of the Roman Empire in the second century CE, Lucian wrote in the classical Greek of fifth-century Athens. His razor-sharp satire was a model for Erasmus, Voltaire and Swift. Emily and Tom share some of their favourite excerpts from ‘A True History’ and other works – with trips to the moon, boundary-pushing religious scepticism and wildly improbable but not technically untrue readings of Homer – and discuss why they still read as fresh and funny today. 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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB: Tim Whitmarsh: Target Practice https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v32/n04/tim-whitmarsh/target-practice James Davidson: Stomach-Churning https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v19/n02/james-davidson/stomach-churning Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
  8. Plautus and Terence

    EPISODE 8

    Plautus and Terence

    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/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further reading in the LRB: Emily Wilson: Ave, Jeeves! https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v30/n04/emily-wilson/ave-jeeves James Davidson: Laugh as long as you can  https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n14/james-davidson/laugh-as-long-as-you-can Emily 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
See All (13)

Shows with Subscription Benefits

LRB CLOSE READINGS

Full access to all our Close Readings series

$5.99/mo or $59.99/yr after trial

View Subscription FAQs

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Emily Wilson, celebrated classicist and translator of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, is back to take on another twelve vital works of Greek and Roman literature with the LRB’s Thomas Jones, loosely themed around truth and lies – from from Aesop’s Fables to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Among the Ancients is part of the Close Readings podcasts from the London Review of Books. To listen to all the series in full, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts at the top of this podcast; For Spotify and other podcast apps here: https://lrb.supportingcast.fm/close-readings

Information

More From London Review of Books

You Might Also Like