For thousands of years, cuneiform was the means of transmitting information through space and time in the Ancient Near East. Then, something happened.
01:28:00
2
Before the Flood
Enuma Elish and Atrahasis
Unknown
BCE 1700-1500
The Enuma Elish and the Atrahasis, in circulation 3,800 years ago, were Mesopotamia’s creation and flood epics, making them 1,000 years older than Genesis.
01:11:00
3
He Who Saw the Deep
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Unknown
BCE 1500-1100
The Epic of Gilgamesh, composed 3,000-5,000 years ago, and first translated in the 1860s and 70s, was one of the greatest literary discoveries of all time.
01:01:00
4
Divine Judgment
The Book of the Dead
Unknown
BCE 1550
In the 3,500 year old Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, we can find the roots of the world’s religions.
00:48:00
5
Beneath the Obelisks
Ancient Egyptian folktales
Unknown
BCE 2000-1800
We know about Ancient Egypt’s pyramids, temples, and sarcophagi. What about its folktales and stories?
00:53:00
6
The Pros and Cons of Wisdom
Ancient Egyptian wisdom literature
Unknown
BCE 1100
Ancient Egypt produced a great deal of proverbs and wisdom literature. Some of it even slipped into the bible. But how wise is wisdom literature?
00:49:00
7
Hesiod’s Lands and Seasons
Works and Days
Hesiod
BCE 700s
Before Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato, there was a grouchy farmer poet whose Works and Days continues to fascinate us.
01:10:00
8
Before Orthodoxy
The Theogony
Hesiod
BCE 700s
Elementals, giants, titans and gods! Hesiod’s Theogony chronicles a great war – one which would leave a single entity sovereign over the cosmos.
00:57:00
9
Glittering Bronze Men
The Iliad
Homer
BCE 700s
The Iliad, Books 1-8. Homer’s Iliad is the Tyrannosaurus Rex of ancient epics. And at the core of its 24 books is one shiny metal.
01:51:00
10
Homer’s Gods
The Iliad
Homer
BCE 700s
The Iliad, Books 9-16. The violent and spellbinding middle books of the Iliad leave us with questions about Homer’s theology.
01:47:00
11
Who Was Homer?
The Iliad
Homer
BCE 700s
The Iliad, Books 17-24. As the Iliad reaches its spectacular climax, it’s time to ask a big question. Who wrote it?
01:41:00
12
Kleos and Nostos
The Odyssey
Homer
BCE 700s
The Odyssey, Books 1-8. Adventure, monsters, temptresses, and a whole lot of wine-dark Aegean. Learn all about the world of Homer’s Odyssey.
01:47:00
13
His Mind Teeming
The Odyssey
Homer
BCE 700s
The Odyssey, Books 9-16. The most famous part of Homer’s Odyssey sees Odysseus through perilous adventures and begins to give us a sense of who he is.
01:48:00
14
The Autumn Leaves
The Odyssey
Homer
BCE 700s
The Odyssey, Books 17-24. As we reach the violent climax of Odysseus’ great adventures, it’s time to spend some time considering Homer’s worldview.
The Old Testament, Part 1 of 10. 1207 BCE. Two world empires. And between them, an unassuming strip of seacoast land that has been at the center of history, ever since.
01:32:00
16
Four Main Parts
The Old Testament
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 2 of 10. There are tons of books, thousands of proper nouns, and many versions of the Old Testament. But all of it fits into four main parts.
01:14:00
17
Roots of the Pentateuch
Genesis-Deuteronomy
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 3 of 10. Hear the Biblical story of creation and the first founders of Israel, and the texts that may have influenced this story.
01:56:00
18
The 613 Commandments
Genesis-Deuteronomy
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 4 of 10. Eden, the Flood, the Commandments– all fine. But what’s with all the stuff about tents, sacrifices, and – uh – testicles?
01:44:00
19
The One Who Struggles with God
Joshua-Esther
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 5 of 10. The Historical Books tell of Israel’s conflicts with Syria, Assyria, Egypt, and finally, exile to the corridors of Babylon.
02:08:00
20
The Problem of Evil
The Book of Job
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 6 of 10. If God is so good, then why do the good and innocent suffer? The Book of Job’s aim is to answer this question.
01:28:00
21
The Bible’s Magic Trick
The Book of Psalms
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 7 of 10. In the Book of Psalms, a single, fascinating, familiar linguistic device propels the world’s most famous poems.
01:24:00
22
Fatalism
Ecclesiastes
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 8 of 10. If there is one Biblical book that explains all of life, thick and thin, love and anguish, that book is probably Ecclesiastes.
01:34:00
23
Love, Desire, Exegesis
The Song of Songs
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 9 of 10. What’s the Song of Songs doing in the Bible? Is it a pious hymn to God, or just a couple of horny lovers talking to each other?
01:18:00
24
God May Relent
The Prophetic Books
various
BCE 750-50
The Old Testament, Part 10 of 10. The seventeen Prophetic Books, produced during war and diaspora, are both despairingly bleak and searingly hopeful.
The work of Sappho, Pindar, and other remarkable Greek lyric poets makes us question everything we think we know about poetry, what it is, and what it does.
01:35:00
26
Ancient Greek Theater
The History of Classical Athenian Theater
n/a
BCE 508-404
Masks. Choruses. Huge prosthetic penises. Before you read Sophocles, Euripides, and company, it’s a good idea to know a bit about Ancient Greek theater.
01:39:00
27
The Bloody King
Agamemnon
Aeschylus
BCE 458
Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 1 of 3. A terrible family curse. A wronged queen. The Trojan War was only the start of the bloodshed.
01:53:00
28
A Mother’s Curse
The Libation Bearers
Aeschylus
BCE 458
Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 2 of 3. The infernal House of Atreus had witnessed almost every imaginable act of depravity. Except for one.
01:37:00
29
The Mound and the Furies
The Eumenides
Aeschylus
BCE 458
Aeschylus’ Oresteian Trilogy, 3 of 3. Pursued all the away to Athens by the monstrous Furies, will Orestes prevail, or be torn apart?
01:29:00
30
Two Legs in the Afternoon
Oedipus the King
Sophocles
BCE 429
Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 1 of 3. Oedipus the King is one of literature’s great stories. It’s also a haunting window into the fears of war torn Athens in 429 BCE.
01:54:00
31
The Requiem at Athens
Oedipus at Colonus
Sophocles
BCE 401
Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 2 of 3. Oedipus at Colonus, out of the ashes of the Peloponnesian War, is a story about a man who has lost everything but his own dignity.
01:29:00
32
Trees Bending to the Torrent
Antigone
Sophocles
BCE 441
Sophocles’ Theban Plays, 3 of 3. Antigone is a timeless and dark story about a clash of wills. But it’s also fascinating snapshot of the philosophical brawls of 5th-century BCE Athens.
01:59:00
33
Woman the Barbarian
Medea
Euripides
BCE 431
Euripides’ Medea is Ancient Greece’s most famous play. But what did it mean to the Athenians in 431 BCE who watched it on the Acropolis?
01:57:00
34
The Traditions of Our Forefathers
The Bacchae
Euripides
BCE 405
Euripides’ The Bacchae, one of the darkest and bloodiest works of Ancient Greek tragedy, is about the spread of cult religions during the late Peloponnesian War.
02:06:00
35
The Great Thundercrap
The Clouds
Aristophanes
BCE 423
Aristophanes’ The Clouds is a dazzling satire on Athenian philosophy, showing a very different Socrates than Plato’s.
01:39:00
36
War and Peace and Sex
Lysistrata
Aristophanes
BCE 411
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, with all of its nudity, sex, and explicit language, was nonetheless his most powerful salvo against the Peloponnesian War.
01:40:00
37
The New Comedy
Old Cantankerous
Menander
BCE 316
Menander’s Old Cantankerous (316 BCE), produced during the New Comedy period, shows theater beginning to take on its modern form.
01:36:00
38
The Epic Anti-Hero
Jason and the Argonauts
Apollonius
BCE 250 (c)
Jason and the Argonauts, Books 1-2. Journey with Jason to find the Golden Fleece, and learn about the Greco-Egyptian writer, Apollonius of Rhodes.
01:51:00
39
Medea and the Argonauts
Jason and the Argonauts
Apollonius
BCE 250 (c)
Apollonius’ Jason and the Argonauts, Books 3-4. Mesmerizing Medea takes center stage at the Argonautica’s end, dominating the epic’s events.
01:36:00
40
Hellenism and the Birth of the Self
n/a
n/a
BCE 330-30
The Hellenistic period – 330-30 BCE, saw Alexander’s successor kingdoms rotting away in the east, the rise of Rome, and the birth of modern consciousness.
01:55:00
41
Everything So Far
n/a
n/a
n/a
A retrospective of everything L&H has covered so far, plus some special announcements.
Roman literature grew slowly from Greek traditions during the 300s and 200s BCE. Learn about its earliest figures, and how they paved the way for the age of Cicero.
01:50:00
43
On the Move
The Rope
Plautus
BCE 195-85
Plautus (c. 254-184 BCE) was a prolific comedy writer. His late play, The Rope, captures the dizzying changes sweeping Rome after the Second Punic War.
01:55:00
44
Homo Sum
The Brothers
Terence
BCE 160
The Roman playwright Terence (c. 184-159 BCE) produced a string of brilliant comedies in the 160s BCE. His masterpiece, The Brothers, continues to astonish us today.
01:55:00
45
The Uncuttables
On the Nature of Things
Lucretius
c. BCE 60
Lucretius (c. 94-53 BCE) is our most important source for Epicurean philosophy, perhaps the most misunderstood school of thought from the ancient world.
01:50:00
46
The Republic at Twilight
Cicero’s Early Life and the Late Republic
Cicero
BCE 106-80
Cicero (106-43 BCE) was the undisputed master of the Latin language. During his first thirty years, he witnessed events that heralded the Republic’s end.
01:32:00
47
O Tempora, O Mores!
Cicero’s Career Up to 62 BCE
Cicero
BCE 106-80
The story of Cicero’s career is an epic tale, filled with courtroom dramas, corruption, conspiracy, greed, and Cicero’s own enduring hope for a better future.
01:42:00
48
The Right and the Expedient
Cicero’s Career After 62 BCE
Cicero
BCE 106-80
Following his consulship, Cicero did his best to salvage the battered Republic, eventually going head to head with the powerful young general Mark Antony.
01:35:00
49
The Strange Roots of Love
The Poetry of Catullus
Catullus
BCE 84-54
Catullus (c. 85-54 BCE) is Rome’s most famous early poet. Departing from epic tradition, Catullus wrote a canon of short works that have been famous since antiquity.
01:54:00
50
Our Brutal Age
The Poetry of Horace
Horace
BCE 35-13
The Roman poet Horace (65-8 BCE), a contemporary of Augustus, endured wars, regime changes, and became a literary spokesman for the new principate.
01:52:00
51
Horace and Augustan Poetry
The Poetry of Horace
Horace
BCE 35-13
Horace (65-8 BCE) was a central figure in shaping Augustan Age tastes in satire and literary criticism. His bumbling, self conscious persona has been charming readers for millenia.
01:43:00
52
White Flowers Die
The Eclogues
Virgil
BCE 38
Virgil’s Eclogues (c. 38 BCE) are poems about country life. Far from being innocent celebrations, though, they are often cryptic, and filled with a haunting darkness.
01:50:00
53
Then Came Hard Iron
The Georgics
Virgil
BCE 29
Virgil’s Georgics (c. 29 BCE), or agriculture poems, show the poet reaching his full strength as a writer, and using an old form to analyze the history around him.
01:53:00
54
Out of Troy
The Aeneid Books 1-3
Virgil
BCE 19
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 1-3. The Aeneid is Rome’s great epic. Learn the story of its first three books, and when and why Virgil began writing it.
02:13:00
55
Among the Shades
The Aeneid Books 4-6
Virgil
BCE 19
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 4-6. The story of Dido and Aeneas, and his subsequent journey to the underworld, is the heart of Rome’s most famous poem.
02:23:00
56
I Shall Release Hell
The Aeneid Books 7-9
Virgil
BCE 19
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 7-9. Aeneas’ arrival in Italy begins auspiciously enough, but soon things take a turn for the worse.
01:58:00
57
The World Grows Dim and Black
The Aeneid Books 10-12
Virgil
BCE 19
Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 10-12. The end of Rome’s great epic is about something Romans of Virgil’s generation knew very well indeed. War.
01:58:00
58
She Caught Me with Her Eyes
The Poetry of Propertius
Propertius
BCE 29-15
Propertius (c. 50-1 BCE) took the Latin elegiac form to new heights of complexity and passion, even weaving subtle satire throughout his work.
01:44:00
59
Early Ovid
The Amores and Heroides
Ovid
BCE 23-3
The love poetry of Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) was standard Latin curriculum for hundreds of years, but it was also the product of a very specific historical moment.
01:30:00
60
How to Make Love to a Roman
The Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amoris
Ovid
BCE 4
Ovid’s Art of Love is ancient Rome’s manual of seduction – a record of the steamier side of the Augustan Age.
01:50:00
61
Changes of Shape
The Metamorphoses, Books 1-5
Ovid
CE 8
This book influenced thousands of years of later literature, and remains one of our best source texts on classical mythology.
02:14:00
62
A Curious Passion
The Metamorphoses, Books 6-10
Ovid
CE 8
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Books 6-10. In the middle portion of Ovid’s great poem, psychological transformations become as gripping as physical ones.
02:07:00
63
All Is In Flux
The Metamorphoses, Books 11-15
Ovid
CE 8
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Books 11-15. The vast Metamorphoses draws to a resonant conclusion as Ovid brings his great poem to Rome itself.
02:11:00
64
Ovid’s Exile
The Tristia and Epistulae Ex Ponto
Ovid
CE 8-13
For mysterious reasons, in 8 CE, Ovid was exiled from Rome. Ovid’s last works were composed an ocean away from Italy, on the western shore of the Black Sea.
01:39:00
65
Seneca and the Julio-Claudians
The Life and Works of Seneca the Younger
Seneca
CE 40-65
Seneca the Younger (c 1 BCE-65 CE) practiced the philosophy of stoicism over the course of several volatile, and very different imperial reigns.
02:07:00
66
Stoicism, Seneca, St. Paul
Senecan Philosophy, Acts, and the Epistles
Seneca
CE 40-65
Stoicism, starting with Zeno in 300 BCE, was a popular philosophy by the lifetime of Seneca, perhaps even making its way into the New Testament.
01:34:00
67
Jaws Dripping Blood
Thyestes
Seneca
CE 54-65
Seneca’s Thyestes, probably written around the 50s CE, is one of the most horrifying and influential plays ever written.
01:13:00
68
Love Means Sin
Phaedra
Seneca
CE 54-65
Seneca’s Phaedra (c 50s CE) is the story of an illicit passion, a stoic cautionary tale and simultaneously vivid character study.
01:35:00
69
Rome’s Comic Novel
The Satyricon
Petronius
CE 60-3
Petronius’ Satyricon is a contender for history’s first novel, a picaresque filled with sex, misadventures, and details about daily life.
02:00:00
70
Rome’s Forgotten Epic
The Thebaid
Statius
CE 92
Statius’ Thebaid, Books 1-6. This epic is hardly ever read or taught these days, but in 100 CE, it was as famous as anything in the Roman world.
01:55:00
71
The Gods Depart
The Thebaid
Statius
CE 92
Statius’ Thebaid, Books 7-12. Six hundred years after Aeschylus, Statius once again brought the Theban epic to a thunderous conclusion.
02:16:00
72
Bread and Circuses
Juvenal’s Satires
Juvenal
CE 100-130
Juvenal’s Satires, produced some time in the decades around 100 CE, mercilessly mock some of the more colorful aspects of Roman life.
01:51:00
73
The Golden Ass
The Golden Ass
Apuleius
c. 160 CE
Apuleius’ The Golden Ass is Ancient Rome’s only novel to survive in full – a strange, often disturbing fairytale that had a huge influence on posterity.
02:35:00
74
Marcus Aurelius
The Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
c. 165-180 CE
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations shows an intelligent emperor coping with the realities of an empire buckling under its own weight.
01:51:00
75
Dusk and Starlight
None
None
100-800 CE
A retrospective on the material we’ve covered thus far as we head into Early Christianity and Late Antiquity, plus some announcements.
The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea for thirty years. Learn about his rule, and the political and religious climate of Judea just before the birth of Christ.
01:52:00
77
The Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Various
c. 60-90 CE
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of the New Testament. And today, historians and Biblical scholars know more about them than ever before.
02:40:00
78
The Book of Acts
The New Testament Book of Acts
Anonymous
c. 85 CE
The story of Christianity’s first missionaries is a sweeping , intercontinental narrative, filled with danger, strange encounters, and the hope for a better future.
02:16:00
79
The Pauline Epistles
The Letters of Saint Paul
Paul of Tarsus et. al.
c. 50-65 CE
Possibly the most influential theologian in history, Paul codified and clarified Christianity as it emerged into the diverse world of the Eastern Mediterranean.
02:17:00
80
The General Epistles
The Epistles of James, John, Peter and Jude
Various
c. 50-120 CE
The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the ancient Mediterranean.
02:04:00
81
Revelation
The Apocalypse of John
John of Patmos
c. 70-100 CE
One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world’s religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians.
02:18:00
82
Zoroastrianism
The Avesta and Early History of Zoroastrianism
n/a
1,000 BCE – 1,000 CE
Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth’s oldest living monotheism.
02:19:00
83
Gnosticism
The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex
n/a
c. 100-500 CE
The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early Christianity.
02:16:00
84
Manichaeism
Manichaean Texts from Egypt and Xinjiang
n/a
c. 224-500 CE
After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to learn about it firsthand.
01:59:00
85
River
A retrospective of Early Christianity
n/a
n/a
A primer on Biblical canon formation, retrospective on what we’ve covered so far, and introduction to the upcoming season.
Once pervasively described as a period of fall and decline, today Late Antiquity is often understood as a period of cultural flowering and economic revolution.
02:23:00
87
Lucian of Samosata
The Short Works of Lucian
Lucian of Samosata
c. 160-180 CE
The satirist Lucian (c. 125-180) was popular in his own time and during the Renaissance, among other things probably being the first author of science fiction.
01:42:00
88
Ancient Greek Sci-fi
A True Story
Lucian of Samosata
c. 160-180 CE
In roughly the 160s CE, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote A True Story, one of history’s earliest surviving novels, with strong tinges of what we’d call science fiction.
01:56:00
89
The Aethiopica of Heliodorus
The Aethiopica
Heliodorus of Emesa
c. 250-370 CE
Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd/4th century CE) wrote the longest novel to have survived from antiquity, an adventurous romance that reemerged into Europe in the 1500s.
02:12:00
90
Ante-Nicene Catholicism
n/a
n/a
c. 60-200 CE
Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earliest church fathers.
02:04:00
91
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
The Martyr Narrative of Saint Perpetua of Carthage
unknown
c. 203-9 CE
In Carthage, in 203 CE, a Roman noblewoman and her retinue were butchered in an amphitheater. Learn her story, and the earliest history of Christian martyrs.
02:12:00
92
Athanasius’ Life of Antony
Early Christian Eremitic Saints’ Lives
Athanasius
c. 355-95 CE
Athanasius (c. 297-373) wrote a wildly popular biography of the desert hermit St. Anthony, touting the ideals of asceticism and triumph over demonic temptation.
02:06:00
93
Severus’ Life of Saint Martin
The Life of Saint Martin and Priscillianist Controversy
Sulpicius Severus
c. 397 CE
Sulpicius Severus’ (c. 363-425) Life of Saint Martin is one of the great hagiographies – a portrait of a timeless saint, but also of a human being and working bishop.
01:58:00
94
Ausonius
The Poetry of Ausonius
Ausonius
c. 330-390 CE
One of the later Latin poets of the Empire, Ausonius’ expansive body of work gives us a window into the changing world of fourth-century Roman culture.
01:53:00
95
Rutilius Namatianus
De Reditu Suo
Rutilius Namatianus
c. 417 CE
In 417 CE, the Roman poet Rutilius Namatianus journeyed from Rome back to his homeland of Gaul, not knowing whether there was a home to return to.
02:03:00
96
The Last Pagan Epic
The Dionysiaca, Books 1-24
Nonnus
Fifth Century CE
The last epic from Greco-Roman antiquity that survives in full, Nonnus’ fifth-century Dionysiaca tells of the wine god Dionysus’ journey eastward, to India.
02:14:00
97
Blood and Ivy
The Dionysiaca, Books 25-48
Nonnus
Fifth Century CE
The Dionysiaca, Part 2 of 2. The last surviving Greek epic of antiquity draws to a close with Dionysus fighting wars far to the east, in India.
02:32:00
98
The Life and Works of Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome’s Generation and Catholic Theology, 370-420
Jerome
370-420
Polyglot Jerome (347-420) had a gigantic impact on all subsequent Christian history, leaving behind a huge body of works, including the Latin Bible.
02:10:00
99
The Boy Who Stole Pears
The Confessions, Books 1-7
Augustine of Hippo
397-400
Augustine’s Confessions, Part 1 of 2. The first half of Augustine’s Confessions tells of his wayward early years, his intellectual journey, and his spiritual awakening.
01:55:00
100
Late Have I Loved You
The Confessions, Books 8-13
Augustine of Hippo
397-400
Augustine’s Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine’s Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history.
02:05:00
101
Against the Pagans
The City of God, Books 1-10
Augustine of Hippo
413-17
Augustine’s City of God, Part 1 of 2. The first half of the City of God is a broadside against paganism – its culture, religion, and history, subjects about which Augustine had much to say.
02:16:00
102
An Old Man’s Book
The City of God, Books 11-22
Augustine of Hippo
417-27
Augustine’s City of God, Part 2 of 2. The second half of the City of God contains some of Late Antiquity’s most influential writings – most notably Augustine’s take on Original Sin.
02:28:00
103
Boethius
On the Consolation of Philosophy
Boethius
523
In the twilight of the Western Empire, Boethius (c. 476-523) served as consul, but ended his life imprisoned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, writing The Consolation of Philosophy.
