In this episode, we discuss the Lenaia, the intricacies of Athenian Old Comedy, and what is known about the lives and works of the earliest comedic poets, who set the stage for Aristophanes, whose eleven surviving works effectively define the genre today, which include The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, The Women at the Thesmophoria, The Frogs, The Assembly Women, and Wealth

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/09/054-old-comedy-and-aristophanes.html

In this episode, we discuss the historicity and some of the major themes of Euripides' surviving plays that he produced against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War, which include The Children of Herakles, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra, The Madness of Herakles, The Trojan Women, Iphigenia in Tauris, Ion, Helen, The Phoenician Women, Orestes, and Iphigenia at Aulis (excluding The Bacchae)

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/08/053-euripides-at-war.html

In this episode, we discuss the life, theatrical innovations, and tragic works of the third great Athenian playwright, Euripides; and the historicity and some of the major themes of his earliest surviving plays, which include Cyclops, Rhesus, Alcestis, Medea, and Hippolytus

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/08/052-early-euripides.html

Intro by Sam Hume of The History of Witchcraft Podcast

Website: http://witchcraftpodcast.libsyn.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historyofwitchcraft

In this episode, we discuss the life, theatrical innovations, and tragic works of the second great Athenian playwright, Sophocles; and the historicity and some of the major themes of his seven surviving plays, which include Antigone, Ajax, Oedipus Rex, The Women of Trachis, Philoctetes, Electra, and Oedipus at Colonus

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/08/051-sophocles.html

In this episode, we discuss what is known about the lives and tragic works of the earliest tragic poets that set the stage for the first great Athenian playwright, Aeschylus, to make all sorts of theatrical innovations at the onset of the Classical Period; and the historicity and some of the major themes of his seven surviving plays, which include The Persians, Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, and the trilogy known as The Oresteia (whose three plays includes Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides)

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/07/050-early-tragedy-and-aeschylus.html

In this episode, we discuss the origins of drama in the Attic countryside, its relation to the cult of Dionysos, and its introduction to Athens in the late 6th century BC; its evolution from a chorus of satyrs singing dithyrambs to the addition of actors (aka Thespians from the first one, Thespis); the Dionysia festivals celebrating the cultivation of vines, both "Rural" throughout Attica during the month of Poseideon (late December/early January) and "City" in Athens during the month of Elaphebolion (late March/early April), as well as the Lenaia in the month of Gamelion (late January/early February); the physical space and early evolution of the theater in the sanctuary of Dionysios Eleuthereos on the southern slope of the Athenian acropolis; the various roles of the actors and the chorus and their costumes; the components of tragic and comedic plays; and drama's civic importance in 5th century BC Athens

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/07/049-theater-and-dionysia.html

In this episode, we discuss how, when, and where different subgroups of ancient Greeks consumed food each day; what particular foods were part of each's diet; some famous early cookbook authors; viticulture and the economic, religious, and medicinal role of wine; the festival of Anthesteria in the month of Anthesterion (late February/early March), which celebrated the beginning of spring and marked the ceremonious opening of the wine jars from the previous autumn's harvest; and the symposium (drinking-party), an aristocratic social event which included philosophical/light-hearted discussions, musical performances, song-singing, storytelling, flirting, and competitions (such as kottabos, aka ancient wine pong)

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/07/048-food-wine-and-symposium.html

In this episode, we discuss the iconography of Herakles, his early myths, his infamous twelve labors, his later life, his heroic persona, how he was worshipped as a pan-Hellenic divine hero, some of his cults, including those in initiatory and pederastic contexts, as a guardian of the city, and as a military and wrestling champion; and his role as a founder of many Greek cities and as apostle of Hellenism in the western Mediterranean

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/06/047-herakles-from-zero-to-hero.html

In this episode, we discuss the importance of heroes in Greek mythology, the creation of various beasts and monsters, and the lives and accomplishments of various mythic heroes who often times fought against these monsters; including Cadmus of Thebes and the Ismenian Dragon, Perseus of Argos and the Gorgon Medusa;  Bellerophon of Corinth, Pegasus, and the Chimaera; the cursed family of Pelops and the Oath of Tyndareus; the Lapiths, the Centaurs, and the Centauromachy; Meleager, Atalanta, and the Caledonian Boar Hunt; and the troublemaking of Pirithous and Theseus

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/06/046-monsters-and-heroes.html

In this episode, we discuss the various types of ancient Greek musical instruments during the Classical Period and how and for what purpose they were used; and the lives and works of the three great 5th century BC lyric poets who pioneered the genre of the epinikion (victory ode)—Simonides of Ceos (556-468 BC), Bacchylides of Ceos (ca. 525-ca. 450 BC), and Pindar of Thebes (522-443 BC), as well as their connections with the lesser known poets Corrina of Tanagra, Lasos of Hermione, and Timocreon of Rhodes

Show Notes: http://www.thehistoryofancientgreece.com/2017/06/045-music-and-victory-odes.html