Wine-Dark Sea

Isolated and betrayed in the heart of the Persian Empire, the mercenary army of ten thousand Greeks is faced with a grim future. But against the odds, they undertake a grueling journey north to reach the Black Sea, their avenue to return to Greece at last--yet their march will be anything but easy.  

A story from Greek history (401 BC), based on Xenophon's Anabasis (Books 3-4), featuring: Xenophon, Cheirisophos, Soteridas, Tissaphernes

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music from Storyblocks

Episode Thumbnail Image: the army arrives at the sea (B. G. Baker, 1901)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

A mercenary army of ten thousand Greek troops, contracted by an ambitious prince of the Persian Empire, presses deep into the heartland of Mesopotamia in pursuit of riches and glory. But a series of startling events lands them in a battle they weren't expecting to fight.   

A story from Greek history (401 BC), based on Xenophon's Anabasis (Books 1-2), featuring: Xenophon, Clearchus, Proxenos, Cyrus the Younger,  Artaxerxes II, Tissaphernes, Ariaeus, the philosopher Socrates

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music from Storyblocks

Episode Thumbnail Image: depiction of the Battle of Cunaxa (19th century)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

In the ancient land of Phrygia, an encounter with the god Dionysus grants King Midas an extraordinary power: to turn anything he touches into gold. But it isn't long before this gift becomes a curse, and Midas learns a costly lesson.  

A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 11), featuring: Midas, Dionysus, Silenus

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Kevin MacLeod

Episode Thumbnail Image: Bronze statue of Dionysus (2nd century AD)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

In one of the greatest natural disasters of the ancient world, the Bay of Naples in Italy was devastated by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, destroying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and others. In a set of letters to his friend, the historian Tacitus, the Roman writer and politician Pliny the Younger recalls his memories of the eruption in living detail, as an eyewitness and victim of the catastrophe.

A story from Roman history, based on the Letters of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (Pliny the Younger), letters 6.16 and 6.20, featuring: Pliny the Younger, Pliny the Elder, Plinia Marcella, Cornelius Tacitus

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music from www.storyblocks.com

Episode Thumbnail Image: View of Vesuvius Erupting (Pierre-Jacques Volaire, 18th century)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Legends tell of the hero Hercules' journey through Italy, where he faced off against a fire-breathing monster named Cacus. A generation later, the Trojan hero Aeneas finds himself in the little town that Hercules saved from the monster's fury, and hears the tale from his host, King Evander. Little does Aeneas know that this humble town will one day become the grand city of Rome, the capital of Aeneas' descendants -- and the tale of Hercules' victory will give rise to his worship in Rome for more than a thousand years.  

A story from Roman mythology, based on Vergil's Aeneid, Book 8 (19 BC), featuring: Aeneas, King Evander, Hercules, Cacus

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Tunc Alicioglu, Psystein, Volodymyr Piddubnyk (www.storyblocks.com), and Kevin MacLeon (www.incompetech.com)

Episode Thumbnail Image: Faience plate depicting Hercules and Cacus (Francesco Xanto da Rovigo, 1533)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Living in Judea after the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Roman centurion Cornelius receives a vision that leads him to seek the guidance of Simon Peter, once the close companion of Jesus. At the same time, Peter receives a vision of his own, that invites him to spread his teachings outside the Jewish community. The fateful encounter between Cornelius and Peter paves the way for the rise of Christianity across the Roman Empire.  

A story from Roman Judea, based on The Acts of the Apostles, Ch. 10 (late 1st century AD), featuring Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and Peter, Apostle of Christ

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Humans Win (www.storyblocks.com)

Episode Thumbnail Image: James Tissot, "The Confession of the Centurion" and "The First Denial of Peter" (1886-1894)

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Agamemnon is the mightiest ruler in Greece, and father of the young princess Iphigenia. When an accident invites the wrath of the goddess Artemis, a dreadful sacrifice is demanded from Agamemnon: the slaughter of his own beloved daughter. A tragedy of anger, deception, and despair envelops the Greek camp at Aulis, with the Trojan War and the life of the princess hanging in the balance.  

A story from Greek mythology, based on Euripides' tragic play Iphigenia in Aulis (first performed in 405 BC, Athens), featuring: Iphigenia, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Achilles, Menelaus, Calchas, Orestes 

Original story by Konstantinos Christidis 

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Jon Presstone and Humans Win (www.storyblocks.com) 

Episode Thumbnail Image: Wall painting from Pompeii depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia (1st century AD) 

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Philemon and his wife Baucis, an elderly couple, live happily in a humble cottage in the land of Phrygia. But a nighttime visit by two weary travelers will change their lives forever...when their guests turn out to be gods in disguise.   

A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (8.612-723), featuring: Philemon, Baucis, Zeus, Hermes 

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Scott Buckley 

Episode Thumbnail Image: Philemon and Baucis (Elias van Nijmegen, c. 1700; Rijksmuseum) 

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Polycrates (r. 540s - 522 BC) rules the Greek island of Samos, feared for his might as much as he is admired for his many achievements. Polycrates' name is synonymous with success...but too much worldly fortune risks the envy of the gods. The ancient legend of Polycrates' ring weaves a tale of the mysterious ways of fate, and the tragic fall of a man at the height of mortal glory.    

A story from ancient Greece, based on Herodotus' Histories (3.39-43,  122-26), featuring: Polycrates, tyrant of Samos; Amasis/Ahmose II, pharaoh of Egypt; Oroetes, Persian satrap of Lydia 

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Humans Win (www.storyblocks.com)

Episode Thumbnail Images: Funerary stele for a Greek soldier, c. 330 BC (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek; Wikimedia Commons) / Gold finger ring (British Museum; Openverse) / Background: view from Samos (Openverse) 

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Terrifying creatures stalked the dead of night in ancient Rome, as a man named Niceros has learned all too well. A guest at a lavish dinner party thrown by the fabulously wealthy Gaius Trimalchio, Niceros reveals a hair-raising encounter from his past: the time he met a dreaded werewolf!   

A story from ancient Roman literature, based on Petronius' novel Satyricon (mid-1st century AD; 61-62)

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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop⁠

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CREDITS: Music by Kevin MacLeod

Episode Thumbnail Images: Bronze head of a wolf (Roman, 1st century AD) / Background from Openverse and Storyblocks

WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)