Mythology – The Classical Antiquity Sidequest

Sidequest 27 – Magic and Early Christianity with Dr. Shaily Patel

In response to a suggestion from Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones, I reached out to Dr. Shaily Patel at Virginia Tech (GO HOKIES!) to see if she would come on the podcast. Turns out she was willing to do so and this led to a discussion about the complex relationship between early Christianity and magic. This includes how early Christians employed heresy to attack and marginalize non-Christian practitioners of magic (looking at you, Augustine). Dr. Patel has covered this topic thoroughly and written a book about it that is very, very good. Please check out the book. You will enjoy it.

In addition to covering the complex role that early Christianity and Christians had with magic, we discuss the state of higher education, how we should discuss history and the complexities involved in putting together historical narratives, the D.C. Comics character John Constantine, the brilliant TV show Grimm and The Dresden Files. Don’t judge us.

Your reading assignments include the Scholomance series and Things Unseen.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 19 – Ben and Victor Review Two Terrible Movies Set in Roman Britain

First, apologies for my audio at times in the podcast. I’m not sure what happened. Second, apologies for the two movies we’re about to review. While the Centurion squandered a chance to be good, The Last Legion is just awful. As we discuss these movies, we reference the brilliant Black Zeus X and then try to figure out what it is that Hollywood gets wrong when it makes movies “based on” Antiquity. We also discuss how great actors are constantly wasted in these movies and resurrect the term “McNulty Subplot“.

Our next movie review episode will combine Troy and Helen of Troy.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 14 – Dr. Roshan Abraham on Apollonius of Tyana

The latest Sidequest takes us to the First Century CE to study the interesting historical figure that is Apollonius of Tyana. Apollonius is typically associated with Jesus and serves as a sort of “Pagan Jesus”, whatever that term may mean. It turns out there’s more to Apollonius than just that. Studying Apollonius provides with greater insight to the time in which Jesus lived and the historical narrative surrounding holy men and cult figures from that time period.

Our guide for this Sidequest is Dr. Roshan Abraham, a professor at American University. Dr. Abraham wrote an outstanding article about Apollonius which I recommend that you all read. In addition to discussing Apollonius and the historical discussion surrounding him, we also discuss how the Classics have been misused and appropriated throughout history including by white supremacists. Towards the end of the episode, we get into the intersection between mythology and D.C. Comics which Dr. Abraham knows a thing or two about.

Your reading assignments are Opus and Home Fire.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Classical Antiquity Sidequest 8 – Trauma in The Aeneid with Dr. Helen Lovatt

The Aeneid is one of the most popular and significant works of literature. It is an amazing story that serves as the origin story for Rome, but, more than that, it tells a story of coping with trauma. In fact, trauma permeates practically every character from Aeneas, who may suffer from PTSD, dealing with the loss of his homeland and countrymen to Dido and her tragic life to the Italians who find themselves engulfed in war when the Trojans arrive. Through The Aeneid, Virgil attempts to make sense of the changing Roman society.

Our guide for our discussion is Dr. Helen Lovatt, a professor at University of Nottingham. Dr. Lovatt is an expert not only on The Aeneid, but also at communicating just how meaningful of a work it is. She brings the text during life during our discussion and serves as the perfect narrator to bring this ancient poem to life. While she may not agree with my “Dido is a redhead” theory, her expertise permeates this interview and is something we all benefit from. Further, listening to her recount how she became interested in trauma in The Aeneid ought to inspire us all. It’s a powerful story.

Our reading assignment after this episode includes The Epic Successors of Virgil and Oppian’s Halieutica.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Classical Antiquity Sidequest 6 – Ben and Victor Review 300

In our first movie review episode, our old friend Victor Lamas stops by to give us his thoughts on the Zack Snyder epic 300. It takes us a while to say “This is Sparta!” but we get there. Eventually.

During the review, we cover a lot of topics in this review including the miscasting of Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty from The Wire) as Theron as opposed to a soldier, coin the term “McNulty Subplot”, cover what the film got right and scratch our heads over why Hollywood feels the need to add ahistorical events to what are already awesome stories. We (read Victor) also provide a good historical backdrop on why the Persians and Spartans were fighting in the first place. Another topic we cover is how Zack Snyder did the Persians dirty in this movie – the portrayal of the Persians was just awful (albeit not as bad as in the sequel which is just flaming garbage). Seriously, Snyder dropped the ball here and could’ve been much less jingoistic in his portrayal of the Spartans compared to the Persians. This is especially true given that the Spartans were no lovers of freedom which we fully discuss.

If you want to read more about the 300 and The Battle of Thermopylae, read Gates of Fire and Herodotus’ account of it. Those are very, very good.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Interview – Christina Salowey, Ph. D., talks Ancient Greece

We hope you’re ready for another installment of The Classical Antiquity Podcast! This time we’re hoping in The Wayback Machine to visit Ancient Greece. Our guest is Christina Salowey, Ph. D., who teaches at Hollins University here in the Roanoke area. We discuss Dr. Salowey’s area of research which includes, primarily, the intersection of environmental history and mythology. Folks, this is fascinating stuff.

Also, in order to avoid my daughter getting angry at me, we have a long discussion on Athena and her role in Greek mythology and culture as well as her influence on Star Wars. We also relive the wonderful memories that the sinkhole in our old neighbor’s yard created for us. Good times!

If you’re interested in Greek Antiquity, here is a good place to start – https://www.theoi.com/. If you’d like some books on the topic, Dr. Salowey suggested reading Stephen Frey’s books.

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode.

Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.