Classics For Plebs

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Teachers would call it 'lively,' scholars would call it 'unorthodox,' and I'd call it 'honest'...I re-interpret Virgil's Aeneid with a dash of realism and all the underlying sarcastic comments necessary, reminding everyone that the classics are for all of


    • Feb 18, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 25m AVG DURATION
    • 22 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Classics For Plebs

    Metamorphoses - Book Seven: Magic, Murder, and Medea

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2022 15:31


    Please don't try these spells at home, kids. Or steal any magical oak trees. Or invoke the wrath of Juno. It never ends well.

    Metamorphoses - Book Six: The Wonders of Weaving

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2021 14:14


    Can you solve the following equations? (Don't forget to show your working out!) 1. Arachne had 2 legs. Now she has 8. How did that happen? 2. Niobe had 14 children. Now she has none. Where did they go? Listen on to check your answers and learn so many more bizarre stories in Book Six of Ovid's Metamorphoses!

    Metamorphoses - Book Five: The Amusing Tale of the Musing Muses

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2021 14:11


    Roll up, roll up! Join us, mortals and immortals and any nymphs in-between, for Book Five of Ovid's Metamorphoses, including all your favourite family games: Pull the Gorgon out of the Hat, Pin the Tail on the Newt-Boy, and Pass the Persephone (except you don't ever let her go. ever).

    Metamorphoses -Book Four: The Sex-Starved Sisters and other Saucy Tales

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2021 17:34


    Once upon a time there were three little nymphomaniacs, and their names were Arsippe, Leuconoë and Alcithoë…. Also, you want the #honest story of Medusa? I got you, babe.

    Metamorphoses - Book Three: But First, Wine

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2021 16:42


    What with sailors turning into lizards, vines with no sense of personal space, and mildly cannibalistic mothers, episode Three of Ovid's Metamorphoses provides us with a solid moral tale: don't mess with wine, kids.

    Metamorphoses- Book Two: Crash and Burn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2021 14:54


    In episode two we encounter numerous delights such as: 1. why ‘take your demi-god child to immortal work day' wasn't encouraged, 2. that Juno has yet more reasons to be angry, and 3. that Mercury enjoys turning mortals into pebbles…

    Metamorphoses - Book One: In The Beginning...There Was Zeus

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2021 16:17


    In this re-telling of the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, we encounter Chaos and Zeus...the two are interchangeable, really....

    #CiceroSpecial - The Catilinarian Orations

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2021 52:06


    It is 63BC. Cicero is consul of Rome. He has made it. He has achieved his lifelong ambition. It literally shouldn't get any better... And yet, a grave peril threatens to de-stabilise his consulship, indeed, threatens to destroy the entirety of Rome... in the form of Lucius Sergius Catiline. And, of course, there is only one man who can be called upon to save the Republic (...twice). I present, in two episodes, a commentary on the four Catilinarian Orations, which Cicero gave to the people and the Senate as the Catilinarian conspiracy against Rome unfolded around them, and then a dramatic, abridged version of the orations themselves.

    #CiceroSpecial - The Catilinarian Orations - Commentary

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2021 19:10


    It is 63BC. Cicero is consul of Rome. He has made it. He has achieved his lifelong ambition. It literally shouldn't get any better... And yet, a grave peril threatens to de-stabilise his consulship, indeed, threatens to destroy the entirety of Rome... in the form of Lucius Sergius Catiline. And, of course, there is only one man who can be called upon to save the Republic (...twice). I present, in two episodes, a commentary on the four Catilinarian Orations, which Cicero gave to the people and the Senate as the Catilinarian conspiracy against Rome unfolded around them, and then a dramatic, abridged version of the orations themselves.

    #CiceroSpecial - The Verrine Orations

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2021 39:08


    The year is 70BC. It is the height of decline in the Late Roman Republic. Gaius Verres, governor of Sicily, is on trial for extortion. The Senatorial Order that runs the extortion courts is, therefore, also on trial for it's perpetual blind-eye to corruption. Their prosecutor? Marcus Tullius Cicero (on the behalf of the Republic, of course). This episode provides a full summary of the events and context of the speech, before also offering a slightly-abridged re-telling of the First Verrine Oration itself.

    The Aeneid - Book Twelve: Of Arms and Men

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2020 40:06


    We made it. The Final Showdown. There have been endless deaths. Endless tears. Endless broken hearts. Endless emotional breakdowns (mortal and immortal). But, finally, the armies stop bickering, the gods stop tantruming, and Aeneas and Turnus can meet on the battlefield. There can only be one winner. (Rome)

    The Aeneid - Book Eleven: Women's Work

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2020 31:54


    We're almost there, and the Trojans and Latins know it. As the men weep, bury their dead, and bicker amongst themselves about whose fault it was that this war started in the first place, at least the women can be relied upon to get business done: Camilla, Diana and, finally, the women of Latium themselves all make their mark in this penultimate episode.

    The Aeneid - Book Ten: A Family Affair

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2020 29:44


    The gods just can't help themselves. The Trojans and Latins destroy one another mercilessly, though neither side can quite remember why or how this started, and as innocent, young, honest lives are lost on both sides, the immortals bicker over breakfast about the injustice of it all (for them. Not for the mortals. Obviously).

    The Aeneid - Book Nine: The Tragedy of the Poppies

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2020 23:25


    Thanks to a little helpful nudging from Juno (of course), war breaks out between the Trojans and the Latins. Planks of wood turn into women, Turnus is related to lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) more times than is frankly necessary, and innocent sons, husbands, fathers, are slaughtered on all sides...like when wildflowers are cut by ploughs, or when poppies bow their heads in the rain....

    The Aeneid - Book Eight: What Did the Trojans Ever Do For Us?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2020 25:18


    I mean, what have the Trojans ever given us, anyway? "Romulus?" Oh, well, yeah...ok, yeah, but apart from him. "The Salii?" Alright, yeah, I'll grant you that one too, they're decent. "What about the Trojan Games?" Well, yes, ok, but apart from Romulus, the Salii, the Trojan Games - what have the Trojans EVER really done for us? ... "They founded Rome?" Oh do shut up!

    The Aeneid - Book Seven: Oh Deer!

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2020 25:50


    Believe it or not, the Trojans do eventually make it to Italy. Even better, they actually manage to befriend the local people and it not result in passionate love and suicide (...yet). Sounds too good to be true? Of course it is. Juno's no pushover, and she's got a few tricks up her tunic, including a bitter queen, a Fury born of everlasting night...and a deer.

    The Aeneid - Book Six: Highway to Hell

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2020 27:01


    How to Be an Epic Hero in Three Easy Steps. One: Son of a goddess - check. Two: Endless suffering - check. Three: Go to hell and back for a cup of tea and a natter with your dad - pending. Have you forgotten what all this moping and moaning is all about? So has Aeneas. Follow him and the Sibyl to remind yourselves what the Trojans ever did for us...

    The Aeneid - Book Five: Where Have I Heard This Before? (hint: The Odyssey)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2020 20:20


    Virgil gives us a brief little filler chapter. Pious Aeneas is very...pious, the Trojans are slow to learn there's...probably always a fire when you see smoke, and the moral of the story is you can do anything you put your mind to with the help of a few water nymphs or a good old tantrum.

    The Aeneid - Book Four: Dido

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2020 28:40


    The Big One. The gods set into motion the next stage in their games, and enjoy the most fun they've had since they made Paris choose between Juno, Venus and Athena. It's all gonna come down in flames, whether the Fates want it to or not...

    The Aeneid - Book Three: The Odyssey - A Fanfic

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2020 17:44


    In this slightly shorter episode, Aeneas (finally) finishes his tale, nicely summarising the adventures of Odysseus...Sorry, I mean...nicely summarising his OWN adventures, of course, before reaching Dido...#imitationisflattery...

    The Aeneid - Book Two: The Fall of Troy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2020 35:32


    In Book Two, Aeneas begins his very, very tragic tale of his immense and endless suffering (which was, yes, even greater than Odysseus') as he narrates the fall of Troy.

    The Aeneid - Book One: A Shipwreck and a Feast

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2020 33:50


    Re-interpreting The Aeneid in my...'honest' words, Book One introduces us to the slightly-angsty Aeneas, the charismatic Dido, and the mild, unrelenting wrath of the gods...

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