It's All Greek (and Latin) To Me

This week, Jimmy and Armand plunge into the tense world of ancient Athenian democracy, where the fate of an entire city hung on a single vote. The fierce Mytilene Debate showcased the incredible power of demagogues, the importance of the thin line between justice and vengeance and the undeniable power of ‘sleeping on it’… They also unpick the origins and intricacies of Ancient Athenian Democracy,...

“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” – “It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.” This week, Jimmy and Armand dive into the conflicted world of Horace, the Roman poet who famously threw away his own shield, switched sides in a civil war and then wrote stirring verses urging young men to die for Rome’s new leadership. We explore Horace’s transformation from the carefree party bard many...

Was Herodotus the Father of History — or the Father of Lies? Jimmy and Armand dive into the strange and spectacular world of Herodotus — a world filled with fox-sized, gold-digging ants, Pharaohs running brutal language experiments on babies and cultures who’d never dream of burning their dead… but would happily eat them. They explore how Herodotus crafted his Histories, why later Greek historians...

He gyrated, he pouted, he played two pipes at once – and he may have been the Elvis of ancient Greece... This week, Jimmy and Armand plunge into the strange, stirring soundscape of the classical world, where music wasn’t background – it was everything . We meet professional pipers who whipped crowds into frenzies, women whose musical talent could buy them out of slavery, and frogs who sang in rhyt...

“They make a desert and call it peace.” It’s one of the most brutal lines in ancient history – but was it ever actually spoken?  Jimmy and Armand unpack the sharp, unsettling world of Roman historian Tacitus, who often slipped his most biting critiques of Ancient Rome into the mouths of her enemies. We explore the fine line between history and drama, how Roman speeches were crafted rather than rec...

Armand and Jimmy follow the pawprints of history to uncover the deeply emotional – and sometimes bizarre – relationships the ancients had with their animals. From the heartbreaking moment Odysseus returns home to find his loyal dog Argos dying, to a Roman epitaph that mourns a beloved pup named Patrikhi, they reveal a world where grief and love for pets were immortalized in verse. Along the way, t...

Armand and Jimmy plunge into the smoke and ash of one of Ancient Rome’s most haunting eyewitness accounts: Pliny the Younger’s letters describing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. With ash raining from the sky and the sea vanishing before their eyes, the Roman world seemed to collapse in real time. But beyond the drama lies a deeper story – of science, courage, superstition, and family. Why...

Armand and Jimmy dive into the passionate, mysterious world of Sappho – the iconic lyric poet of archaic Greece, whose fragments of song have echoed across millennia. From fiery expressions of desire to haunting lines of loneliness, they explore how Sappho’s poetry defined love, lyricism, and the female voice in a male-dominated world. Along the way, they unpack why she was called the “10th Muse,”...

Armand and Jimmy follow Julius Caesar to the banks of the Rubicon - and the moment that changed Roman history forever. With the help of Britain’s best-known classicist, Mary Beard, they unravel the famous phrase "The die is cast" and reveal why it doesn’t mean what most people think. Along the way, they explore Caesar’s love of Greek drama, the surprising truth about ancient dice (made from donkey...

Armand and Jimmy set sail through the timeless tale of The Odyssey, Homer’s epic poem that follows the long and perilous journey of Odysseus as he fights monsters, resists temptresses, and outwits gods to return home. Along the way, they uncover the story’s deep emotional core — Penelope’s cleverness, Telemachus’ coming of age, and Odysseus’ own struggle between glory and homecoming. From the Cycl...

Armand and Jimmy explore the hilarious and bold story of  Lysistrata , the comedic tale of Ancient Greek women who devise an unexpected strategy to end the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex from their men. They also dive into the unique brand of humour of its author, Aristophanes, which cleverly lampooned prominent figures of his time, as seen in other works like  The Frogs … Main text explored...

Armand and Jimmy delve into one of the greatest masterpieces of Roman literature, The Aeneid, shedding light on its historical significance and the political motivations behind its creation by the poet Virgil. They explore the enduring power of the famous line, Sunt Lacrimae Rerum ("There are tears of things"), and offer an in-depth discussion of Book 6, where Aeneas, the hero, descends into the U...

Join Armand and Jimmy as they delve into Plato’s Symposium, unraveling the diverse perspectives on love shared by Plato, Socrates, and their fellow guests. Armand reveals the intriguing figure he believes was instrumental in shaping Plato’s views on love before explaining the origins of the term 'Platonic Love...' Main text explored: The Symposium by Plato Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mu...

Armand and Jimmy discuss Juvenal, one of the earliest and most influential satirists, emphasising how every aspect of his work was crafted for comedic effect—from the absurd content, such as the foolish desires his fellow Romans prayed for in Satire 10, to the very structure of his verse itself... Main text explored: Satire 10 of Book 4 by Juvenal Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mulville Pr...

Armand and Jimmy delve into the myth of Narcissus and Echo, revealing how it has left its mark on modern psychology by prompting the ideas of 'Narcissism' and more recently 'Echoism.' They also shed light on the poet Ovid, who told the tale in his Metamorphoses shortly before his own life story took an unfortunate turn... Main text explored: Book III of Metamorphoses by Ovid Presented by Armand D’...

Armand and Jimmy discuss Homer's epic poem The Iliad and in particular the moment where the Greek warrior Diomedes and the Trojan Glaucus meet on the battlefield...  Main text explored: The Iliad by Homer Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mulville Produced by Diggory Waite A Hat Trick Production For more on the charity Classics For All, who support state schools to introduce or develop the te...

Odi et amo  - 'I hate and I Iove' Armand and Jimmy chat about the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus and the trials and tribulations of his love affair with a young woman whom he calls Lesbia—who, Armand explains, may have been misidentified for centuries... Main texts explored (in order of appearance in episode):  Catullus 85 Catullus 83 Catullus 8 Catullus 2 Catullus 3 Catullus 10 Catullus 1 Pre...

A multidisciplinary approach to this episode, as Jimmy and Armand explore the exclamation ‘Eureka!’ uttered by Archimedes, known from a story told by architectural historian Vitruvius about how the inventor discovered how to assess the metallic content of a gold crown. However, is the story fake news? If so, what was the true story? A bit of classical detective work provides a more plausible expla...

In this episode we take the oft quoted idea of the Oedipus Complex and find out its origins in Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex . Armand and Jimmy first present a handy guide to the key points of the story, then explore how we believe the themes of the play might have been received by its audience at the time, as well as current thinking on how plays such as this were presented to their audiences in...

We kick off the series with an expression that is often heard; but what do we know about who wrote it and from which literary work it is plucked? Armand and Jimmy discuss possible translations of the phrase, what the writer was trying to convey with it as well as how we interpret the meaning of Carpe Diem in our lives today. There’s also a quick potted history of how Armand and Jimmy both got draw...

Join Armand D'Angour (Professor of Classics at Oxford University) and Jimmy Mulville (Comedy Producer, Chairman of charity 'Classics For All' and lifelong classics devotee) as they explore the ancient world through expressions, stories and quotes from Classical literature that we use in our everyday lives. Ever said 'Carpe Diem!' or heard about the 'Oedipus Complex'? Ever really thought about wher...