055 - The Dionysian Mysteries

In this episode, we discuss the Great Mother Cybele and her influence on the cult of Dionysos; some of the myths and the iconography of Dionysos; and Euripides’ Bacchae and the elements of Dionysiac worship

Primary Sources:

Text/Euripides' The Bacchantes (Bacchae)

054 - Old Comedy and Aristophanes

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, including Aristophanes, whose eleven surviving works effectively define the genre today

Primary Sources:
Text/Aristophanes' The Acharnians
Text/Aristophanes' The Knights
Text/Aristophanes' The Clouds
Text/Aristophanes' The Wasps
Text/Aristophanes' Peace
Text/Aristophanes' The Birds
Text/Aristophanes' The Thesmophoriazusae
Text/Aristophanes' Lysistrata
Text/Aristophanes' The Frogs
Text/Aristophanes' The Ecclesiazusae
Text/Aristophanes' Wealth