35: Ben Greet (University of Reading‪)‬ Coffee and Circuses

Ben joins David to discuss his PhD on the representation of the eagle in Roman society, which included looking at the traditional military/political/divine aspects, but also delved into lesser known themes, like what the symbol meant to women and how it related to pregnancy. He also talks about his post-doctoral work on the project 'People and Birds in the Southern Levant', which included a steep - but an ultimately rewarding - learning curve when he had to jump from classics to prehistoric archaeology.  They also chat about Ben's other big research interest, the reception of the classical world in film and TV, especially in Star Trek. He discusses the Original Series classically-themed episodes 'Bread and Circuses' and 'Who Mourns for Adonais?' along with the Romulans have Roman-like traits, and how these reflected the political climate in America at the time.Ben Greet worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Reading. You can find him on Twitter and follow him at 'Dr Ben's Blog'. You can find the chapter on how Star Trek inadvertently challenges Plato here. 

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