Two former Classics professors on Greece and Rome, ancient and modern; only the Greek episodes are indexed
14 episodes indexed · 12 hours
Presented by Cam Hawkins, Emily Jusino
Periods · The Bronze Age, The Persian Wars, Classical Greece
Emily Jusino, a specialist in Greek tragedy, and Cam Hawkins, an ancient historian, talk about the Greek and Roman worlds and their own travels in the Mediterranean through history, literature and film; only the Greek episodes are here, 14 of 30, 4 eras, 12 hours.
Where to start. The earliest indexed episode is 'Holding Out for a Hero (in Ancient Greece)' (2025); 14 episodes of this show are in the section.
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Minoans and Mycenaeans c. 3000 - 1100 BC · 4
Before Christopher Nolan's film, Emily and Cam break down Homer's Odyssey, questioning Odysseus's reliability as a narrator and examining Penelope's own craftiness throughout the poem.
Euripides staged Trojan Women in Athens months after Athenians captured Melos, and Hecuba, Cassandra and Andromache carry the play's depiction of the fall of Troy.
Sophocles adapted a story about Odysseus in his play Philoctetes, using it to explore deception, persuasion and intractable situations, following the same adaptive precedent modern filmmakers like Christopher Nolan continue.
Emily and Cam review The Return, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche and directed by Uberto Pasolini, for how it adapts Homer's Odyssey into a modern interpretation.
The Persian Wars 499 - 449 BC · 6
Emily and Cam trace Xerxes's decision to invade Greece and his expedition toward the Battle of Thermopylae, with a brief digression on the film 300.
In the final part of a four-part series, Emily and Cam cover the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Plataea, closing with the Serpent Column as a monument to Greek victory.
Emily and Cam continue the Persian-Greek conflict series, covering Cyrus's son Cambyses, the rise of Darius, and Darius's relationships with Greeks along his empire's western frontier.
Aeschylus's Persians stands as the oldest surviving Greek tragedy, offering what Emily and Cam call a surprisingly sympathetic take on Athens's ancient Persian enemies.
Classical Athens and Sparta 479 - 386 BC · 2
Emily and Cam compare visiting the Athenian Acropolis today with the fifth century BCE, explaining why the Parthenon and Erechtheion exist and what they meant to ancient Athenians.
The Athenian Acropolis carried a long history before and after the Parthenon's construction in the fifth century BCE, and Emily and Cam trace that history at Athens's most iconic landmark.
Greek Life, Thought and the Wider World across the centuries · 2
Emily and Cam ask what a 'hero' is and explore how heroes were imagined in ancient Greece, laying groundwork for the next episode on Eleven's heroic journey.
The original Theater of Dionysus differed greatly from today's ruins in Athens; Emily and Cam trace its development alongside the genre it hosted, Greek tragedy, from Aeschylus to Euripides.