From Mycenaean kings through the Persian invasions, one full and one short episode a month

Epic Greek History

34 episodes indexed · 21 hours · Scott Emmons

Periods · The Bronze Age, Archaic Greece, The Persian Wars, Classical Greece, Philip and Alexander, The Hellenistic world, Greece under Rome

Themes · War The polis Empire and colonies Religion

Scott Emmons guides listeners from Mycenaean warrior kings through the Persian invasions and the Athens-Sparta struggle, publishing one full episode and one short one monthly; 32 of 33 episodes are included here, spanning four eras across 20 hours.

Where to start. Start with the earliest indexed episode, '(Bonus Episode) The First Truly Historical Greek War — Maybe' (2025); the run is in order.

I feel like…

ThinkingAny

ideas, belief and how a polis was ordered

FeelingAny

stories, performance, art and ordinary lives

DoingAny

war and expansion

PeriodAny

when it happens

LengthAny

how much time you have

Minoans and Mycenaeans c. 3000 - 1100 BC · 4

48mTrojan Horse or Trojan Hoax? Was There a Real Trojan War? Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

Clues from the Homeric epics, excavations at Troy and ancient Hittite documents on whether the Trojan War saga had its basis in historical fact, after the 19th-century discoveries of Troy and Mycenaean Greece.

47mGreek Civilization Version 1.0: Minoans and Mycenaeans Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers the Mycenaean civilization of warrior kings ruling from great palaces that dominated the surrounding territories, centuries before the Parthenon, Greek drama and the Olympic Games, tracing what it drew from Minoan Crete.

35mGoing for the Bronze: Heinrich Schliemann and the Rediscovery of Bronze Age Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode credits Heinrich Schliemann, an eccentric German businessman turned archaeologist, with discovering Bronze Age Troy and Mycenae at a time when most scholars doubted the Homeric epics held any truth.

17m(Short Episode) The Write Stuff: The Decipherment of Linear B Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

Dark Age and Archaic Greece 1100 - 480 BC · 15

1h 01mTales of the City-State: The Rise and Flourishing of the Greek Polis Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode traces the beginnings of the Greek polis and the military developments that shaped it, describing the environment where Greek drama, architecture and philosophy reached their peak.

59mThis... Is... Sparta!!! Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

53mThe Great Greek Reboot Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The 8th century BCE, justly called the Greek Renaissance: an increase in population, an upswing in economic activity, monumental temples, the start of the Olympic Games and the Greeks adapting a Phoenician alphabet into a writing system.

51mThe Period Formerly Known as the Dark Age of Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers the Early Iron Age in Greece, traditionally labeled a dark age for the economic decline after the Mycenaean palaces fell and for its scarcer archaeological record.

50mPisistratus and Sons: The Age of Tyranny in Athens Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers Pisistratus seizing power twice and losing it before establishing an autocratic regime in Athens that lasted more than thirty-five years and improved city infrastructure.

49mNot Such an Ugly Word: Tyranny in Archaic Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode defines the Greek term tyrannos as an autocrat who seized power by overthrowing an existing regime, tracing the rise of such rulers across the seventh and sixth centuries BCE.

48mYou Say You Want a Revolution: Cleisthenes and Athenian Democracy Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers the contest for power after the tyrant Hippias was expelled, between Isagoras, a conservative aristocrat who favored a narrow oligarchy, and Cleisthenes of the Alcmaeonid clan, who drew support from the people by proposing radical democratic reforms.

46mChaos and Compromise: Early Athens and the Reforms of Solon Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

Athens at the start of the 6th century BCE, where Draco's law code did nothing for the crushing debt of the poor, and the Athenians gave Solon full powers to solve the economic crisis and reorganize the state.

45mStraight Outta Greece: The Age of Expansion Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode dates Greek colonization to the eighth century BCE, when settlements in southern Italy and Sicily grew numerous enough for the region to be called Magna Graecia.

37mWon't You Be My Ally? The Expansion of Spartan Power in the Peloponnese Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode traces Sparta extending influence in the Peloponnese from an attempted conquest of Arcadian Tegea into a policy of alliances, while Athens transformed under Solon and Pisistratus.

33mPoetry Slam: Early Greek Politics in Verse Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

Fragments of early Greek poets as real-time commentary on the social and political upheaval of the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, when no one was writing history, through Theognis of Megara and Alcaeus of Mytilene.

26mThe Bad Boy of Sparta: The Life of King Cleomenes Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

Cleomenes I of Sparta, whom others have called the most powerful Greek of the sixth century BCE: the victory over Argos, the repeated attempts to meddle in Athenian politics, the feud with his co-king Demaratus. Herodotus heads the suggested reading.

26mWeird Science: The Beginnings of Greek Philosophy Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode credits the Milesians Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes with searching for rational principles to explain the natural world while Athens set up a new constitution under Solon.

21mHurrah for the Pirate King! Polycrates and the Tyranny of Samos Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

21m(Bonus Episode) The First Truly Historical Greek War — Maybe Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The Persian Wars 499 - 449 BC · 6

55mWaiting for Goliath: The Years After Marathon Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

53mEpic Persian History Part 1 Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode opens a two-part account of the Persian Empire's rise, arguing no historical event loomed larger for ancient Greeks than their defense against Persian military power.

52mThe Persians are Coming! Showdown at Marathon Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

51mEpic Persian History Part 2 Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode follows Cambyses the Second subduing Egypt after the death of Cyrus in 530 BCE, then covers Darius the First reorganizing the empire and introducing Persian coinage.

44mFighting the Power: The Ionian Revolt Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode dates the Ionian revolt to 499 BCE, when Aristagoras of Miletus led Ionian Greek cities against the Persian Empire while Athens sent twenty ships in support.

16mBased on a True Story: Legends of Marathon Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The Battle of Marathon quickly turned from history into legend, and this episode traces how retellings grew taller over time, pointing to Tom Holland's Persian Fire and Owen Rees's question about Pheidippides for further reading.

Greek Life, Thought and the Wider World across the centuries · 9

43mNothing Queer About It: Same-Sex Relationships in Ancient Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

39mDelphi: The Magic Eight Ball of Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers the mythical origins of the Delphic oracle, the mystery of the Pythia's inspiration, and Delphi's role in power struggles between rival Greek states.

27mHerodotus: What Was His Deal, Anyway? Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode weighs Cicero's title father of history against nineteenth-century critics who called Herodotus a father of lies, tracing the debate over his methods, reliability and sincerity as a source.

25mOwned! People as Possessions in Ancient Greece Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

23mHey, Gang, Let's Put On a Show! Thespis and the Origins of Greek Tragedy Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode credits the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus with centralizing Attic worship of Dionysus into the Great Dionysia, the festival where Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides later competed for top honors.

23mLight Infantry, Cavalry and Mercenaries: What Were They, Chopped Liver? Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode covers the Greeks who fought alongside hoplites: those who could not afford hoplite armor served as light infantry, those wealthy enough to keep horses could serve in the cavalry, plus the role of mercenaries.

22mIt's Greek to Me: How to Pronounce Greek Like an Ancient Athenian (Or a Modern American) Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode traces how scholars reconstruct the sound of classical Greek before offering pointers on pronouncing difficult Greek words and names encountered by students of Greek history.

22mHomer: Immortal Rockstar of the Ancient World Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

The episode argues Homer held a status in Greek literature comparable to a nation's foundational book, tracing his enormous and long-lasting influence on both Greek and Roman culture.

9mBonus Episode: Thoughts on Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" Epic Greek HistoryPodcast

A nine-minute bonus: another podcaster sharing his thoughts about the new Odyssey film, with opinions solely those of a philhellenic film buff.

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