Creepy Classics

Hamlet's friends have seen something that looks like his late father stalking the castle at night, but what is it, and what does it want? This story has been adapted from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1 and is followed by a discussion of Catholic, Protestant and Roman themes in the play and of Shakespeare's relationship to Catholicism.

Content warning: Discussion of suicide and brief reference to baby loss

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Propertius' girlfriend Cynthia has died suddenly, but he hasn't seen the last of her... This story has been adapted from Propertius, Elegies, 4.7 and 4.8, and is followed by a chat about Latin love elegy, Roman funerary customs, and the geography of the underworld, including the famous Gates of Sleep.

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Christmas 1323 is a sad season for the widow of Gui de Corvo, but it's made even more difficult when it seems her late husband hasn't quite left yet... This story is adapted from medieval texts attributed to Jean Gobi, translated into French by Marie-Anne Polo de Beaulieu. It's followed by a few words on purgatory in medieval ghost stories, and on medieval Christmas traditions.

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Khonsuemheb, High Priest of Amun, has an unexpected encounter at an ancient tomb with a spirit who needs his help... This story is based on an ancient Egyptian ghost story found on ostraka and translated into English by W. K. Simpson. It's followed by a whistlestop tour through some of the highlights of ancient Egyptian afterlife belief and funerary practice.

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A classic haunted house story for Halloween - a philosopher rents an old house with suspiciously cheap rent and the sound of clanking chains in the night... This story is taken from Pliny the Younger, Letters, 7.27.5-11. After the story, Dr Tony Keen of the University of Notre Dame in London joins me for a chat about Pliny, urban legends, the fantastic in the ancient world, and about working for the Roman Emperor.

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A desperate family become separated while fleeing a war zone in this famous story from Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid, 2.624-795. I'm delighted to be joined on this episode by Dr Olivia Knops, from the University of Birmingham, and Ed Harrisson, who has composed all the music for the podcast. We have a good old natter about ancient and modern music, different musical moods, what we know about ancient music and how this can be transformed for modern listeners. The story features a new arrangement of the ancient Greek Seikilos Epitaph, the earliest known musical composition including musical notation.

Content warning: war, fire, urban destruction, references to sexual violence.

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A group of freedmen at a party demand a story, and get an exciting tale set on the night of a full moon... I'm delighted to be joined on this episode by Dr Liz Gloyn, from Royal Holloway University, to talk about ancient and modern werewolves, folklore, class and ghosts. This month's story comes from Petronius, Satyricon, 61-62.

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In this story, a young man falls hard for the daughter of his host, but she is not what she seems... Tragic and romantic, this story comes from Phlegon of Tralles' collection of folklore (On Marvels, 1) and is followed by a discussion of women's lives in the Greek and Roman worlds, and the surprising similarities between this story and the urban legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker.

 

Content warning: suicide

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In this story, young Curtius Rufus is about to give up on a political career as he's surrounded by rumours and prejudice, when an African spirit appears to him with a positive message... This story is told by both Pliny the Younger (Letters, 7.27) and Tacitus (Annals, 11.20-21) though Pliny is rather kinder to both the spirit and to Rufus than Tacitus is! Followed by a discussion looking at race and ethnicity in the Roman world.

Content warning: racism, ableism, abortion

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julietteharrisson.substack.com

Part 3 of the 3-part Plague Special! We finally find out what becomes of both the living and the dead at Frotha, from the medieval Icelandic poem Eyrbyggja Saga, 54-55. Plus I have a chat about dead bodies and their processes of decomposition, ancient and medieval medicine and their understanding of plague and infection, medieval Icelandic Christmas, and a brief look at the fabulously-named "door-doom".

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julietteharrisson.substack.com