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Ancient Greece Declassified

The podcast that transports you to the ancient world and back, with some good conversation along the way. It's not just about ancient Greece. It's about a huge chunk of human history that the Greek texts give us access to: from Egypt and Babylon, to ancient Persia, to Carthage and Rome, we'll sail the wine-dark sea of history with some expert guides at the helm. Topics include archaeology, literature, and philosophy. New episode every month.
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Now displaying: 2022
Dec 1, 2022

This time we're taking a little break from Greece to explore the broader history of democracy. Was democracy really a Greek invention? Historian David Stasavage, author of The Decline and Rise of Democracy, thinks it was not. And in today's episode he explains why.

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Support Ancient Greece Declassified on Patreon: patreon.com/greecepodcast

Or make a one-time donation: paypal.me/greecepodcast

Nov 1, 2022

Polybius' theory of anacyclosis is the most sophisticated theory of political (r)evolution to have emerged from ancient Greek and Roman political thought.

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To watch the highlight real from the last AGD tour in Greece, click here.

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To read the passage in Polybius where he discusses anacyclosis click here.

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If you'd like to read more about the theory of anacyclosis, I've written a few blogs on the subject:

Anacyclosis, Act 1: From Monarchy to Tyranny

Anacyclosis, Act 2: The Rise of Republics

Anacyclosis, Act 3: The Rise and Fall of Democracy

Oct 19, 2022

AGD is going back to Greece this winter (Jan. 3-11) for an epic tour of Greece's northern regions, focusing on mountains and oracles. For more information or to reserve your spot, email us at greecepodcast@gmail.com

Oct 1, 2022

Plato argued that the inevitable next step in political evolution after democracy is tyranny. Many political thinkers throughout history agreed with him. Were they right?

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Support Ancient Greece Declassified on Patreon: patreon.com/greecepodcast

Or make a one-time donation: paypal.me/greecepodcast

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A full transcript of this episode with references can be found on our website at greecepodcast.com

Jul 31, 2022

Was Marcus Aurelius really the enlightened ruler that history books and modern movies portray him as? And is his brand of Stoic philosophy applicable to the modern world?

With us to discuss these and other questions is Donald Robertson, a psychotherapist and the author of How to Think Like and Emperor and Verissimus.

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Support Ancient Greece Declassified on Patreon: patreon.com/greecepodcast

Or make a one-time donation: paypal.me/greecepodcast

Jun 4, 2022

An update on the AGD Tour happening in Greece from August 16-24

For an outline of the itinerary click here

Jun 1, 2022

Thirty three scholars, philosophers, and archaeologists answer the question: If you could time travel to the ancient world, who would you want to meet?

Scholars featured + the timestamps when they appear:

2:10  Edith Hall

3:36  Eric Cline

4:30  Andromache Karanika

5:45  Josiah Ober

6:48  Rush Rehm

7:30  Ian Morris

8:02  Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

9:20  Patrick Hunt

9:46  Raffaella Cribiore

11:04  Mark Adams

12:20  Peter Adamson

13:47  Richard Martin

15:08  M. M. McCabe

16:37  Zina Giannopoulou

18:45  Greg Nagy

19:43  Caroline Winterer

20:04  Melissa Lane

22:28  Alicia Stallings

22:57  Rhiannon Evans

24:04  Barbara Graziosi

24:54  Walter Scheidel

25:12  Matt Simonton

26:30  Emily Greenwood

27:57  Olga Levaniouk

30:00  Steele Brand

32:55  Rachel Barney

33:36  Angie Hobbs

35:31  Adrian Goldsworthy

36:30  Mary Bachvarova

37:42  Jonathan Lear

39:40  Mary Townsend

40:31  Gabriel Richardson Lear

42:14  Ben Morison

May 13, 2022

Philosophers today often dismiss Plato's Theory of Forms as an outdated and failed attempt by a pre-modern thinker to explain knowledge. However, cognitive scientist John Vervaeke offers a radically different take on Plato's theory and how it ties in with recent debates about the nature of intelligence.

John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular YouTube series Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. 

May 4, 2022

An announcement about the upcoming Ancient Greece Declassified tour in Greece this summer. 

Apr 30, 2022

The cave analogy, which takes up the majority of book 7 of the Republic, is one of the most famous passages in all of western philosophy.

In this episode, we are joined by Ben Morison, professor of philosophy at Princeton, to dive deep into the allegory and unpack its various levels of meaning. 

Apr 29, 2022

Plato is at once the most loved and possibly the most hated philosopher of all time. This episode explores five reasons why he drives some people mad.

Contents of the episode, with timestamps:

Reason 1: Who should rule? [7:30]

Reason 2: What political system is best? [12:20]

The Ship of State [15:10]

Reason 3: What is truth? [20:20]

Reason 4: What is knowledge? [30:35]

The Divided Line [40:25]

Reason 5: What is good?

Jan 27, 2022

Where does the notion of 'moral duty' come from? In this conversation with Simon E. Drew we dive deep into the history of the concept and discuss my recent book The Invention of Duty

This episode was originally published on The Walled Garden podcast and is here republished as a crosscast. 

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