Combat and Classics Podcast

We've reached Book 5, and Diomedes isn't playing around.  He even stabs Ares himself.  Brian, Shilo, and Jeff ask: what does it mean to have a war in which men and gods fight one another?  We consider whether war is an uncanny world where the gods can be wounded, where men act like gods and gods act like men, and where the one can be mistaken for the other.  Are the Homeric gods really not radically different from human beings?  Oh: and the Trojans push further from Troy than they have ever gone.

Athena appears to cause an end to the truce by wounding Menelaus. Brian, Shilo and Jeff look at how "the will of Zeus is fulfilled" through the wrath of Achilles and through Zeus' lying.

In Book I we framed the wrath of Achilles in terms of his mortality, and achieving immortal greatness. And we see Zeus, an immortal, using duplicity to continue the conflict so his promise to Thetis is kept.

So we ask "why does Zeus lie?" And is there a parallel between Agamemnon's behavior and Zeus'? Is there also a parallel between Hector chastising his brother in front of the troops and what Agamemnon does in Book 4 to Odysseus?

[Note: we mention in this episode our Xenophon pods, which we were originally recording at the same time as our Iliad pods - but decided to release all the Xenophon pods prior to releasing the Iliad pods. So if you're confused...sorry. You can find all our Xenophon pods in our feed and the next several weeks will be all Iliad pods.]

In this episode, Paris and Menelaus duel over Helen and the fate of Troy.  Menelaus wins (yeah, he does) -- so why doesn't the war end here?  Brian, Shilo, and Jeff discuss what this book of the Iliad teaches us about the difference between Greeks and Trojans: are the Greeks all about anger, and the Trojans all about sex?  Also: who is the better leader: Priam, Agamemnon, or Hector?  Who is better at using shame to motivate his followers?

You can ask us questions on our pod by emailing us at combatandclassics.org and follow us on social media @combatandclassics.

Would Agamemnon have made a bad Marine?  Join Brian, Shilo, and Jeff as we discuss Brian's question: why does Agamemnon get a dream from Zeus telling him to test his troops before Troy, but the Trojans hear from a disguised messenger direct from the gods?  We think about the different physical and moral situations of the Greeks and the Trojans after nine years of fighting.  Then we ask: is Agamemnon crazy, or does he have a plan?  Does Nestor think he's crazy and plan to undermine him, or is he onboard?  If Agamemnon can't motivate his troops with justice or vengeance, is he left with shame?  Or does he just want to go home?

We embark on our journey through Homer's "Iliad," humanitiy's longest surviving poem on war.

We ask "why is human rage a good subject for a war poem, and not the wrath of gods?"

You can ask us questions on our pod by emailing us at combatandclassics.org and follow us on social media @combatandclassics.

In the last book of Xenophon's "Anabasis" we look back at the three challenges Xenophon has experienced: going to war alongside Cyrus, marching the Greeks through enemy territory, and the army by the sea trying to get home.

We explore what Xenophon wants and the idea of leadership in these three situations and ask "what's the difference between a military leader and a political leader?"

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How are dance parties related to diplomacy?

The schisms continue in Book 6 within the Greek army, but some schisms seem better than others. Some try to make friends with the locals, some go for help, some go raiding. 

Xenophon turns down the generalship of the whole army.

The rebels have arrived at the Black Sea, but through betrayal and bad decisions, things go awry.....

Xenophon leads an expedition for provisions, but the ships they are waiting for don't show up. We flash forward to Xenophon the writer, who's bought some land in exile and wants to build a temple to Artemis. Xenophon toys with the idea of founding a city where the army is camped - who knows if he was serious or if this was some weird diplomatic move. Move bickering and playing the blame game continue until Xenophon gives a speech and the army is (apparently) purified.

Our opening question is: when an army doesn't have an enemy, do they fight themselves?

Xenophon and the Greek host begin their march north, out of the Persian king's territory, through the icy highlands of Armenia, until at last, from a mountain, they catch sight of "the sea! the sea!"  So how do the demands of the terrain and weather impose necessities on the Greeks, and how does Xenophon deal with these necessities?  Is this easier, or harder, than dealing with human beings, who can be rougher than the terrain and colder than the snow?  Do we see evidence of Xenophon's humanity in this book, or of his inhumanity?  Join Brian, Shilo, and Jeff as they discuss these questions, and attack the gaps rather than the surfaces!

The Greek army has been beheaded: all its generals are dead.  The remaining soldiers lie down on the ground in despair.  And Xenophon has a dream, one that somehow leads him to reanimate the Greeks and start them on their march north out of Persia.  Brian, Shilo, and Jeff talk about how Xenophon revives the troops, why he's in Persia, and whether he disobeyed Socrates' advice to go there.