Everyone, everywhere, thinks about the afterlife. If you think you don't, you're wrong: you do. Because what you believe about life after death is an expression of how you think the universe is ordered, and whether you believe there's such a thing as ultimate justice. That in turn affects how you live--and almost no one has had a bigger impact on how we think about this in the West than Virgil. This week, we're going in--down through the Egyptian Book of the Dead, past the churning waters of the Babylonian afterlife, into the carefully mapped-out world of the Greco-Roman afterlife. Plus: one final, heartbreaking meeting with one of the poem's truly unforgettable characters.

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One of the West's great recurring characters, the Sibyl of Cumae, takes center stage today. Deranged, holy, prophetic, and apparently totally jacked, she guided Rome throughout its history and now teaches Aeneas what he must do to become the man who can found Rome. She may have been one of the pagan visionaires who prophesied the coming of Christ. Plus she's part of a crazy history that goes back to the invention of the alphabet and all the way to the creation of Star Wars. Then: another figure of speech you'll see everywhere once you learn it.

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If, like me, you're still sore about what they did to the Gladiator franchise, let this episode be part of your healing journey. It's certainly part of Aeneas': with the fleet grounded back in Sicily, the crew realizes it's been one year since the death of his father Anchises. This is the occasion for a good old fashioned fight night, with funeral games in honor of the great patriarch. It's a connection between Rome's gladiatorial entertainments and the heroic passtimes of yore, a way for Aeneas to seek closure after his year of grief, and a pause between the emotional tryst with Dido and the biggest challenge yet: the descent into the underworld.

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There are some indelible scenes inscribed forever into the psyche of the West, and the death of Dido is one of them. When William Congreve wrote that "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd," he surely had in mind this archetype of all scorned women, the tragic heroine who stands in for every abandoned lover and for an entire civilization. Aeneas--and Rome--must leave her ruthlessly in the dust. But no one knows how to guilt trip you like your ex, and no one knows how to remonstrate with Rome like Carthage. All the same, in the end...destiny awaits.

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Judith Hallett, "Can Love Alleviate the Unseen Wounds of War?" https://www.openstarts.units.it/server/api/core/bitstreams/307c3466-87d4-4018-9cb0-598fa21d7200/content

"I'm Not Sorry for Loving You," from EPiC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M3gzo-hSCo

Readings in Western Civilization from the University of Chicago Press: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/series/RWC.html

Major Doron Spielman has dedicated much of his life to excavating the City of David, the ancient archaeological site just outside modern Jerusalem which confirms much of the Jewish history recorded in the Bible. It's an astonishing tale of theological warfare, cutting-edge scholarship, and contemporary politics that shows just how dramatically ancient and modern history sometimes converge. Major Spielman's NYT-bestselling book, When the Stones Speak, is rich with fascinating details about the impressive and ongoing effort to uncover the mysteries of ancient Jerusalem.

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I'm not saying that the catastrophe in Carthage could have been avoided. I'm just saying, everyone--the two main characters especially--behaved very badly. Now the deed is done, the nymphs are ululating, the "wedding"(?) announcements are out, and the gods are on the move to put a stop to all this. Which means Aeneas has some hard conversations he has to have and he...punts. Not his proudest moment. But instructive for us and as always, beautiful, timeless poetry. Enjoy!

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This is it: Book 4 of the Aeneid. The storm of love that's been brewing now breaks into full force. Two human sisters start flirting with disaster while two divine frenemies enter into a catty pseudo-alliance. It's a nuclear-grade meltdown of relations between the sexes, all taking place under the soaring vault of destiny. Dido transforms before our eyes into a deranged Greek tragic heroine on the model of Phaedra or Medea, while Juno and Venus find their power dynamic flipped on its head from what it used to be in Homer. It's master craftsmanship and master politics on Virgil's part...and hot tea for us.

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Virgil, master of the setup, is now laying the groundwork for some of the Aeneid's major setpieces: the love affair with Dido, the voyage into the underworld. But first Aeneas has to pass a different milestone, one that people sometimes miss: he has to say goodbye to his father. It's one of the most human moments of the poem--something every single one of us has to go through--elevated to magisterial significance in the hero's journey. Follow along with us to the end of Book III as Aeneas enters a new stage in his adventure. Plus: a firsthand update from the Ivies after my trip to Ithaca to give a speech at Cornell.

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My friend Dr. Brian Keating, leading cosmologist and all-around mensch, joins me to discuss one of the most brilliant, complicated, and misunderstood men in all of Western history. No, not Elon Musk. Galileo Galilei! We cover Galileo's daring philosophy of science, his contributions to human knowledge, his devout Catholic faith, and his many, many mistresses and children. Plus: what can believers learn from scientists, and vice versa? It's a terrific conversation and the kind you could really only get on Young Heretics.

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Find Dr. Keating's work at https://briankeating.com

Listen to our interview on Into the Impossible: https://open.spotify.com/episode/34zBv8p7SphrsuKsfufsFL

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It's time to embark on Book III of the Aeneid, and with it a mini-Odyssey. But there's a catch: Odysseus had home waiting for him at the end of all his wanderings. Aeneas has left home behind him, and he can never return. This episode is about why that's so important--for Virgil, for Augustus, for Rome at the dawn of its imperial age, and for America on the verge of its 250th birthday. Plus: my daily routine does not involve rubbing banana peel on my face. But it does involve the liturgy of the hours. 100/10 would recommend!

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Map of Aeneas' wanderings by Simeon Netchev: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16056/the-journey-of-aeneas-from-troy-to-rome/

iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/

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