Ithaca Bound

With Louise Hitchcock

Professor Louise Hitchcock of the University of Melbourne returns to discuss Thera, the Bronze Age name for Santorini, and what civilization looked like there at the time.

With Kim Shelton

Dr Kim Shelton of the University of California, Berkley, explains what is known about Mycenaean settlements on mainland Greece and how they would have been used in the Bronze Age.

With Louise Hitchcock

With Louise Hitchcock

Professor Louise Hitchcock of the University of Melbourne returns to discuss the Minoans, a civilization on Crete that flourished, and ultimately ended, during the Bronze Age.

With Dimitri Nakassis

Linear B is the writing system used by the civilization known as the Mycenaeans; Dr. Dimitri Nakassis, professor and chair of Classics at the University of Colorado Boulder, discusses this Late Bronze Age writing system.

With Joel P. Christensen

Dr Joel Christensen of Brandeis University discusses Achilles, one of the central figures in Homer's The Iliad, who lives on in Greek mythology and in the commonly used idiom Achilles' heel.

With Louise Hitchcock

Dr Louise Hitchcock of the University of Melbourne discusses architecture on the Greek islands during the Bronze Age, including the islands of Crete and Santorini.

With Uroš Matić

Dr Uroš Matić of the Austrian Academy of Sciences discusses how communities from the Aegean, including the Minoans and Mycenaeans, carried on trade in Egypt during the Late Bronze Age.

With Louise Hitchcock

Professor Louise Hitchcock of the University of Melbourne, in a fourth appearance, discusses Minoan palaces, villas and other residential buildings, in settlements advanced for the time, with labyrinthine architecture in the palatial buildings.

With Carl Knappett

Professor Carl Knappett of the University of Toronto discusses Palaikastro, a Minoan urban centre on Crete that lasted more than two millennia and may never have had a palatial building.

With Michael Galaty

Dr Michael Galaty of the University of Michigan discusses the Mycenaean Greeks of the Bronze Age, one of the most prominent civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin.

With Joel P. Christensen

Professor Joel Christensen of Brandeis University discusses Paris, the Trojan prince whose choice of Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess set the stage for the Trojan War.

With Brent Davis

Dr Brent Davis of the University of Melbourne explains Linear A, the undeciphered writing system used by the Minoans on Crete during the Bronze Age.

With Adam Schwartz

Dr Adam Schwartz of the University of Copenhagen returns to discuss how an alphabet reached Greece after centuries without written evidence, bringing literacy with it.

With Saro Wallace

Dr Saro Wallace, a Senior Research Fellow at the Gerda Henkel Research Foundation, explains what life on Crete looked like in the Iron Age that followed the Bronze Age.

With Paul Cartledge

Emeritus Professor Paul Cartledge of the University of Cambridge discusses commerce in archaic Greece; the description names that subject and nothing further, seventeen words in total.

With Chris Carey

Emeritus Professor Chris Carey of University College London recounts the Battle of Thermopylae, where a heavily outnumbered Greek army under a Spartan commander fought, a story that has captured interests and imaginations for eons.

With Edward Harris

Emeritus Professor Edward Harris of the University of Durham returns to discuss how Classical Athens ran its court trials under a legal system whose principles echo in many legal systems today.

With Adrien Delahaye

Dr Adrien Delahaye of the French School at Athens discusses how pottery in ancient Sparta served storage, shipping, moral lessons and more, tracing its use through the Archaic and Classical periods.

With Edward Harris

Emeritus Professor Edward Harris of Durham University explains how Classical Athens became an early adopter of the rule of law.

With Jeffrey Rusten

Dr Jeffrey Rusten, Professor at Cornell University, discusses how Athens, though not the first major city-state in Greece, rose to become the most prominent one during the Classical period.

With Philip Davies

Dr Philip Davies of the University of Nottingham explains how Classical Sparta was governed by a diarchy, two kings who ruled together alongside a citizen body that passed its laws.

With Pat Wheatley

Professor Pat Wheatley of the University of Otago discusses Alexander III of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great, who conquered vast territory in a short time and defeated the formidable Achaemenid Empire.

With Ian Worthington

Dr Ian Worthington, Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University, discusses King Philip II of Macedon, famous on a number of counts, among them being the father of Alexander the Great.

With Charlotte Dunn

Dr Charlotte Dunn of the University of Tasmania returns to discuss how the relationship Greek polities had with the Kingdom of Macedon was mixed after Alexander III's death, some congenial, some acquiescing, others outright revolting.

With Charlotte Dunn

Dr Charlotte Dunn of the University of Tasmania returns to discuss the rise of Ptolemy I, forefather of an Egyptian dynasty that lasted nearly 300 years before ending with Cleopatra VII.

With Ian Worthington

Professor Ian Worthington of Macquarie University returns to discuss Ptolemy, whose reign in Egypt was successful by many standards, including an heir, Ptolemy II, who succeeded him without turbulence.

With Charlotte Dunn

Dr Charlotte Dunn of the University of Tasmania explains how the unexpected death of Alexander III of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great, closed the Classical period and opened the Hellenistic age.

With Jane Masséglia

Dr Jane Masséglia of the University of Leicester discusses how the Hellenistic period brought greater variety and diversity to art in the Mediterranean, and turns to the eastern part of the Basin.

With Mercedes Aguirre, Richard Buxton

Dr Mercedes Aguirre and Dr Richard Buxton explore the role of the Cyclopes in Greek mythology, asking whether they are malevolent, benign, or something else.

With Michael Scott

Professor Michael Scott of Warwick University discusses ancient Delphi, sought for its oracle, host to games held every four years, and a hub for culture and information.

With Ivana Petrovic

Professor Ivana Petrovic joins the final episode of Ithaca Bound to discuss what scholars know about the Greek pantheon; she chairs the Department of Classics at the University of Virginia.

With Tae-Yeoun Keum

Dr Tae-Yeoun Keum of the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses the myths that show up in Plato's writings, among the variety of topics Plato wrote on.

With Olympia Bobou

Dr Olympia Bobou, a classical archaeologist specializing in Greek sculpture at Aarhus University, discusses how sculpture changed and developed across ancient Greece over time.

With Alexander Jones

Professor Alexander Jones of New York University explains how varied and plentiful Greek calendars were in this region of the Mediterranean in the first millennium BCE.

With Anthony Kaldellis

Professor Anthony Kaldellis, Chair of the Department of Classics at Ohio State University, discusses what civilization looked like in Attica, Greece, in Late Antiquity.

With Judith Barringer

Professor Judith Barringer of the University of Edinburgh returns to discuss the ancient Olympic Games, held every four years, with prizes reserved for winners and tax exemptions and free food for life from some city-states.

With Emma Aston

Dr Emma Aston of the University of Reading discusses centaurs, the part-human, part-horse figures who appear across Greek mythology and the role they play there.

With Mary Lefkowitz

Dr Mary Lefkowitz, Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at Wellesley College, discusses Athena, one of the most written-about deities in Greek mythology, known for her intelligence and power.

With Oswyn Murray

Dr Oswyn Murray, Emeritus Fellow at the University of Oxford, discusses the life and writings of Herodotus, the oldest Greek historian whose work survives, who has been called the father of history.

With Emma Aston

Professor Emma Aston of the University of Reading returns to discuss Thessaly's place in Greek mythology, a region that is home to centaurs, Achilles, Jason and more.

With Scott Smith

Professor Scott Smith of the University of New Hampshire discusses the Chimera, a creature of Greek mythology made up of lion, goat and snake parts.

With Adam Schwartz

Dr Adam Schwartz of the University of Copenhagen explains the hoplites, Greek people, most of them citizens, who fought in battles as their city-states required.

With Stephen Hodkinson

Emeritus Professor Stephen Hodkinson of the University of Nottingham examines the revered reputation of ancient Sparta's military, its practices, and to what degree the evidence matches that reputation.

With Andrew Walker White

Dr Andrew Walker White of George Mason University discusses how the 5th century BCE shaped Athenian theatre, a period formative for the industry as a whole.

With Zosia Archibald

Dr Zosia Archibald, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, discusses how primeval coinage, bars of iron, animal products, olive oil, wine and more facilitated trade across the ancient Northern Aegean.

With Sarah Iles Johnston

Dr Sarah Iles Johnston of The Ohio State University discusses Greek mythology, which is proverbial and legendary alike.

With Judith Barringer

Professor Judith Barringer of the University of Edinburgh discusses Olympia, the site in Greece where the ancient Olympic Games began, and its ancient history.

With Andrew Walker White

Theatre artist and cultural historian Dr Andrew Walker White discusses what scholars know about early theatre in Greece.

With William Hansen

Professor Emeritus William Hansen of Indiana University, Bloomington, discusses the Titans, who in Greek mythology reigned over the cosmos before the Olympian Gods and before humans existed.