Ancient Geek

In this final episode of the first series, I break down the epic poem into its main chunks and tell you about all the bits in the Odyssey you might not know about because despite being awesome they get cut out of pretty much every adaptation. And I almost manage to do it in ten minutes! CORRECTION: 12 ships, not 50 - there’s 50 men on each ship. Gah I hate numbers!

In this episode I ramble on a bit, filling in the gaps of general knowledge about Achilles' heel, why he got 'dipped' in the first place, and how it ties in with what it means to be a Homeric hero anyway.

This rant was inspired by an unfortunately and timely experience in my own teaching. Have a listen, and a think. I only hope I've done this topic justice. (There’s a lengthy reading list for this episode on the website, to continue discussion of the topic.)

Inspired by the work I’m doing with CSCP on Pompeii, this is a rant so epic I had to cut it in half to fit each part into ten minutes! Here is the second half of my list of the four most annoying things people get wrong about Pompeii. (And thanks to Dr Sophie Hay who helped with Point 1/4!)

Inspired by the work I’m doing with CSCP on Pompeii, this is part 1 of a rant so epic I had to cut it in half to fit it into ten minutes! Here are the first two (or last two?) points on my list of the four most annoying things people get wrong about Pompeii. (And thanks to Dr Sophie Hay who helped with Point 1/4!)

In the third episode, I explain in as much detail as possible (and with only two klaxons!) why I’m so annoyed similes aren’t given their due reverence (mostly by my students), why they’re not the same as metaphor, why they’re so important in Homeric epic, and how *exactly* to enjoy them.

The second episode explains, at some length (and with several klaxons) exactly why the caduceus of Hermes is not correctly used as a medical symbol, and why. And I talk about Hermes a lot.

Welcome to Ancient Geek, a mini-podcast in which Classical Civilisation teacher and author of Greek Myth Comix Jenks rants on ancient topics and tries to be brief about it in ten minutes or less. In this first episode, I ease myself in gently with a topic I’ve practised ranting about before: an explanation of why Paris is so annoying.