HistoryExtra podcast

With Paul Cartledge

Professor Paul Cartledge tells Ellie Cawthorne whether the Trojan War of Achilles, Helen and the wooden horse really happened, discussing archaeological remains believed to be Troy and why Homer's Iliad may not be the most reliable historical source.

With Ellen Adams

Ellen Adams tells David Musgrove that the Bronze-Age Minoan civilisation, centred on Crete and dated roughly from 3000 to 1200BC, is best known for the legend of the Minotaur and the palace of Knossos.

With Daisy Dunn

With Daisy Dunn

In the third episode of a four-part series, Kev Lochun and classicist Daisy Dunn trace the Bronze Age world of feasting kings that inspired Homer's epic, from the layers of ancient Troy to why Mycenae's palaces vanished almost overnight.

With Daisy Dunn

Classicist Daisy Dunn asks how much of the Trojan War, one of the most famous events in Greek mythology known largely through Homer's Iliad, is true, revisiting literary and archaeological evidence for the clash between the Greeks and Troy.

With Michael Scott

With Paul Cartledge

Ancient historian Paul Cartledge tells Spencer Mizen about the Spartans' resistance against the Persians at Thermopylae, whether their military training was as tough as historians suggest, and the culture and politics of their ancient Greek city-state.

With Jamie Fraser, Kelly Accetta Crowe

Curators Jamie Fraser and Kelly Accetta Crowe tell Emily Briffett how Greek soldiers who captured the Persian king's command tent during the Greco-Persian wars saw its decadence as the reason for the Persians' downfall.

With Andrew Bayliss

Ancient historian Andrew Bayliss discusses the Greek city-state of Sparta, ranging from Spartan military prowess and the battle of Thermopylae to the structure of Spartan society and its darker history.

With Michael Scott

Michael Scott offers his insights into the 490 BC Battle of Marathon in this edition of the podcast.

With Paul Cartledge

Historian Paul Cartledge explores the Athenian statesman Pericles, renowned for promoting democracy, championing the arts and shaping the Athenian empire, though his military mistakes and eccentricity left him with a mixed reputation.

With Edmund Richardson

Historian Edmund Richardson traces how Alexander the Great, king of a small Greek kingdom, built an empire stretching from Greece to India and defeated the Persian empire, all by the age of thirty, exploring his life and mysterious death.

With Alex Rowson

Historian Alex Rowson tells Spencer Mizen that Alexander the Great's talents as a warrior and empire-builder grew from an upbringing marked by political assassinations, a dysfunctional relationship with his father and the finest martial training money could buy.

With Michael Scott, Caroline Dodds Pennock

With Islam Issa

Islam Issa tells Rebecca Franks how, according to legend, Alexander the Great's vision on the island of Pharos became the city of Alexandria, symbolised by the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders, and the Great Library.

With Paul Cartledge

Ancient historian Paul Cartledge answers listener queries and popular search questions about ancient Greece, one of the most renowned and influential ancient civilisations, in the first part of a two-part interview.

With Paul Cartledge

With Edith Hall

Classicist Edith Hall explores Plato's legend of the lost city of Atlantis and asks whether there ever was, in fact, a real Atlantis, 2,500 years after the tale was first told.

With Paul Cartledge

Ancient historian Paul Cartledge answers listener queries and popular search questions about ancient Greece, one of the most renowned and influential ancient civilisations, in the second part of a two-part interview.

With Natalie Haynes

Classicist Natalie Haynes tells Rachel Dinning about Greek myths, examining the tales of figures including Hercules and Aphrodite and how these ancient stories have changed and evolved across history.

With Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, David Bates

With Bettany Hughes

Historian Bettany Hughes discusses three of history's greatest philosophers, including Socrates, who feature in her new BBC Four television series.

With Michael Scott

In this episode, Michael Scott delves into the origins of ancient Greek drama and theatre.

With Paul Cartledge, Jon Wilson

Professor Paul Cartledge reflects on the work of the Greek author Herodotus, born 2,500 years ago and regarded as the first historian.

With Jason Crowley

Jason Crowley discusses some of ancient Athens' fiercest fighters, among the ancient Greek warriors examined in this episode.

With Michael Scott, Hugh Thomas

Classical historian Michael Scott delves into the history of Delphi, the site of a renowned oracle in ancient Greece visited by many leading figures of the Greek and Roman worlds.

With Sarah Nooter

Classicist Sarah Nooter tells Emily Briffett whether tragedy or comedy drew the bigger crowds on the ancient Greek stage, whether audiences were raucous or civilised, and how modern theatrical productions draw on these ancient antecedents.

With Garrett Ryan

Classicist Garrett Ryan tells Kev Lochun why so many statues of ancient Greece and Rome were naked, who was the biggest drinker in the classical world, and whether anyone ever went looking for the Greek gods on Olympus.

With Daisy Dunn

Kev Lochun and classicist Daisy Dunn close a four-part series on the Odyssey, tracing the poem's cultural legacy across nearly 3,000 years and what its portrayal of women reveals about power in the ancient world.

With David Braund

Professor David Braund tells David Musgrove that the Amazons of ancient legend, often remembered only as fearsome female fighters who battled male heroes of Greek legend, were far more than formidable warrior women.

With Robin Waterfield

With Paul Cartledge

Paul Cartledge comments on the practice of slavery in ancient Greece, one of three topics in this episode.

With Daisy Dunn

The episode unpacks the origins of the epic poem that recounts Odysseus's ten-year journey home from the Trojan War, and the enduring mystery over whether the Homer it is ascribed to ever existed.

With Shushma Malik, Marta Garcia, Yehudah Gershon

Researchers Shushma Malik, Marta Garcia and Yehudah Gershon tell Matt Elton about a project examining corruption and the murkier side of ancient Greece and Rome.

With Tom Holland

Tom Holland discusses his new translation of Herodotus, the father of history, in a fresh look at this ancient Greek classic.

With Flint Dibble

With Claire Bubb

Claire Bubb examines the health and wellbeing rules that ancient Greece and Rome developed, covering diet, exercise and sex, and what the logic behind these tips reveals about the Greco-Roman mindset.

With Caroline Vout

Caroline Vout tells Elinor Evans that behind the marble busts and sculptures imagined for ancient Greek and Roman bodies lies the flesh and blood reality of pleasure, pain and flaws in life and death across ancient Greece and Rome.

With Owen Rees

Dr Owen Rees tells Spencer Mizen that ancient Greek and Roman sources describe fearsome Amazons, men who turned into wolves and tribes who never grew old among peoples beyond their borders, reflecting a sense of cultural superiority.

With Paul Cartledge

With Michael Scott

Professor Michael Scott tells Kev Lochun that the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes, best known for his Eureka moment, also dreamt up war machines, water screws and a giant claw, though not, as legend holds, a death ray.

With Natalie Haynes

Writer and classicist Natalie Haynes discusses the varied portrayals of women in Greek mythology in her book Pandora's Jar, finding that figures from different retellings and translations are less familiar than commonly thought.

With Daniel Ogden

With Jane Desborough

Curator Jane Desborough tells Ellie Cawthorne about a Science Museum exhibition exploring how ancient Greek thinkers sought to understand the oceans, animals, the cosmos and the human body.