A small amateur podcast on Greek myth and history
18 episodes indexed · 8 hours · Ben Arndt
Periods · The Bronze Age, Archaic Greece, The Persian Wars, Classical Greece, Philip and Alexander, The Hellenistic world, Greece under Rome
Themes · War Religion
Ben Arndt runs a small amateur show on the Mediterranean world, mixing myth with real events from the city-states to Alexander and the philosophers; 18 of the 20 episodes are here, 3 eras, 9 hours.
Where to start. The earliest indexed episode is '01 - What came before' (2025); 18 episodes of this show are in the section.
I feel like…
stories, performance, art and ordinary lives
war and expansion
when it happens
how much time you have
Minoans and Mycenaeans c. 3000 - 1100 BC · 10
Episode two covers Cycladic culture across Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos in the Early Bronze Age, the marble figurines, a typical day around 3000 BC, and the downfall of Cycladic culture.
The episode travels to Crete for the Minoan civilization, its palaces, frescoes, bull-leaping rituals and maritime trade, and the myth of the Minotaur and the labyrinth, asking what caused its downfall.
The episode covers the duel between Hector and Achilles, Achilles' downfall when Paris exploits his heel, the giant wooden horse, and what evidence exists for the city of Troy.
The episode turns to Mycenaean fortresses, kings who ruled with bronze swords and bureaucratic tablets, Cyclopean walls, and Linear B scribes who documented everything from chariot wheels to goat debts, before the civilization's collapse.
The episode explores how the Trojan War could have ended almost as soon as it began, how the Amazons made Achilles think twice, and the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus.
The episode follows Odysseus as he messes with a Cyclops, calling it a really bad idea, and asks what's in the bag.
The episode follows Odysseus and his crew criss-crossing the Mediterranean and the underworld, his men turning animalistic, and Odysseus staying with a witch for a year and fathering a child with her.
The episode has Odysseus finally reach home after escaping a nymph, losing his men for angering the gods, and killing about a hundred men who tried to marry his wife.
Dark Age and Archaic Greece 1100 - 480 BC · 3
The episode covers Magna Graecia, as colonies are founded all over the Mediterranean.
The episode has the Greeks wake from their Dark Ages slumber to new ideas, iron weapons, and a new form of community: the Polis.
The episode connects a Phoenician prince who plants dragon teeth and grows an army to the unexpected arrival of the alphabet in ancient Greece.
Greek Life, Thought and the Wider World across the centuries · 5
The episode creates the mythical universe, starting with Chaos, which turns out to be chaos at first and later as well.
With the Olympians firmly in control of the Greek mythical universe, the episode covers Zeus releasing all possible evils on humanity.
The episode turns to a long discussion of Athens, following a short one on Sparta, with Poseidon taking it personally.
The episode asks why the Greeks had gods, what purpose the gods served, and what social forces they represented.
After a newborn hiatus, the episode covers babies in Ancient Greece: motherhood, fatherhood, and the midwives who helped give birth through the ages.