Wine-Dark Sea

As the Roman Republic slid into civil war and re-emerged as an empire in the late first century BC, Marcus Agrippa was a key figure in this radical transformation. The best friend and right-hand man of Augustus, first Roman emperor, he was both a witness to and active participant in the climactic battles and sweeping reforms that birthed the Pax Romana. A story from Roman history (63 - 12 BC), fea...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* As the Battle of Salamis looms, the Athenian leader Themistocles struggles to save Athens--and all of Greece--during a second war against Persia. How will Themistocles and the allied Greeks defend their land against the invading Persian Empire of King Xerxes? A mysterious oracle from Delphi may hold the answer: they must trust in the "...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* War rages between the Titans and the Olympian gods as the story of Zeus' rise to kingship continues. The Olympians battle to establish their reign against Cronus, the other Titans, and finally the fearsome monster Typhon, the very embodiment of primal chaos. A story from Greek mythology, based on Hesiod's Theogony, featuring: Zeus,...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The origin of Zeus, king of the gods, is a tale of danger and deception. How did his father, the Titan Cronus, come to reign as king of the cosmos, how was Zeus born, and how did he free his brother and sister Olympians to usher in a new age? A story from Greek mythology, based on Hesiod's Theogony, featuring: Zeus, Cronus, Rhea, Gaia,...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* Julius Caesar stands at the Rubicon river, as the Roman Republic teeters on the brink of civil war. Will he cross the Rubicon, march on Rome against his rival Pompey the Great and the Roman senate, and plunge the Republic into civil war? A story from Roman history (Late Roman Republic, Civil Wars, 49 BC), featuring: Gaius Julius Caesar, Gna...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The tale of the Great Flood from Greek mythology continues, as the gods and goddesses of Olympus decide how to end human injustice...and Zeus and Poseidon unleash the great flood that destroys the world. A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 1), featuring: Zeus, Poseidon - - - CREDITS Music by Kevin MacLeod S...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The Greek myth of the Great Flood begins, as Zeus informs the other Olympian gods of his encounter on earth with the evil king Lycaon. What were Lycaon's crimes, how was he punished, and what does this portend for the fate of humanity as Zeus and the gods sit in council? A story from Greek mythology, adapted from Ovid's Metamorphose...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The Roman emperor Nero's murder of his own mother, the empress Agrippina the Younger, is among his most shocking crimes. A lurid tale of power, conspiracy, and violence emerges as the unstable Nero plots the death of an empress. A story from Roman history (Early Imperial Period, Julio-Claudian dynasty, 59 AD), based on Tacitus' Anna...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus creates a new law code and way of life in ancient Sparta—revered thereafter as the Laws of Lycurgus—that pave the way for Sparta's rise as one of the greatest city-states in Greece. A story from Greek history (Early Sparta, Archaic Period, c. 800 BC), based on Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus - - - CREDITS M...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* Actaeon, a young hunter, unexpectedly meets the goddess Artemis in the forests of Boeotia near the ancient city of Thebes. What will happen to Actaeon when Artemis unleashes her power, and the hunter becomes the prey? A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 3), featuring: Actaeon, Artemis - - - CREDITS Music by...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* Phaethon, a young demigod and son of Helios, the Greek god of the Sun, meets his divine father at the ends of the earth. Recklessly eager to prove himself, he takes a terrifying ride across the heavens in his father's chariot. As the earth faces total destruction by an out-of-control sun, Phaethon's fate offers a timeless lesson in...

*Stay tuned after the story for analysis and commentary!* The hero Odysseus meets Circe, a powerful sorceress, on her mysterious island in this story from Homer’s epic Odyssey. Will Odysseus outwit Circe, rescue his crewmates from the sorceress, and survive to complete his journey home to Ithaca? A story from Greek mythology, based on Homer's Odyssey (Book 10), featuring: Odysseus, Circe, Herm...

When the god Apollo wins the mortal king Admetus permission to evade death through the sacrifice of another, Admetus' beloved wife Alcestis willingly dies in his place. Death is cheated, and Admetus is devastated. But as Alcestis' funeral begins, fate takes a surprising turn when a famed hero arrives in town... A story from Greek mythology, based on the tragedy Alcestis by Euripides (stage...

Archimedes' life and achievements gained mythic stature in ancient times, and his reputation for genius endures today. Past the equations and feats of engineering was a man committed to finding answers--whether in contemplating the physics of water, or resisting the power of Rome. A story from ancient history, based on Vitruvius ( De Architectura , Book 9), Polybius ( Histories , Book 8), and...

Hippolytus is the young prince of Athens, son of the king and famed hero Theseus, and stepson of Phaedra, the queen. When Aphrodite, goddess of love, makes the innocent Phaedra a weapon of her divine wrath against Hippolytus, a tragic tale of lust, deceit, and death ensues as the royal family of Athens is torn apart. A story from Greek mythology, based on the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides (stage...

The Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage saw one of the most daring strategies of ancient times: the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca leading an army fully equipped with horses, elephants, and pack animals across the dangerous peaks of the Alps, to attack the Roman Republic from its northern Italian borders. Hannibal remembers this legendary mountain march, and describes it in his own wor...

Despite its fame in ancient myth and history, the city of Troy was long lost to the ages, as the real site immortalized in Homer's Iliad faded from the landscape of western Anatolia. But in a series of astonishing excavations in the late 19th century, the mythical world of Greek epic came back to life at the hands of Heinrich Schliemann, a businessman-turned-archaeologist with a lifelong passi...

Isolated and betrayed in the heart of the Persian Empire, the mercenary army of ten thousand Greeks is faced with a grim future. But against the odds, they undertake a grueling journey north to reach the Black Sea, their avenue to return to Greece at last--yet their march will be anything but easy.   A story from Greek history (401 BC), based on Xenophon's Anabasis (Books 3-4), featuring: Xeno...

Legends tell of the hero Hercules' journey through Italy, where he faced off against a fire-breathing monster named Cacus. A generation later, the Trojan hero Aeneas finds himself in the little town that Hercules saved from the monster's fury, and hears the tale from his host, King Evander. Little does Aeneas know that this humble town will one day become the grand city of Rome, the capita...

Living in Judea after the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Roman centurion Cornelius receives a vision that leads him to seek the guidance of Simon Peter, once the close companion of Jesus. At the same time, Peter receives a vision of his own, that invites him to spread his teachings outside the Jewish community. The fateful encounter between Cornelius and Peter paves the way for the rise of Christ...

Agamemnon is the mightiest ruler in Greece, and father of the young princess Iphigenia. When an accident invites the wrath of the goddess Artemis, a dreadful sacrifice is demanded from Agamemnon: the slaughter of his own beloved daughter. A tragedy of anger, deception, and despair envelops the Greek camp at Aulis, with the Trojan War and the life of the princess hanging in the balance.   A story f...

Philemon and his wife Baucis, an elderly couple, live happily in a humble cottage in the land of Phrygia. But a nighttime visit by two weary travelers will change their lives forever...when their guests turn out to be gods in disguise.    A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (8.612-723), featuring: Philemon, Baucis, Zeus, Hermes  --- FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now availabl...

Polycrates (r. 540s - 522 BC) rules the Greek island of Samos, feared for his might as much as he is admired for his many achievements. Polycrates' name is synonymous with success...but too much worldly fortune risks the envy of the gods. The ancient legend of Polycrates' ring weaves a tale of the mysterious ways of fate, and the tragic fall of a man at the height of mortal glory.     A st...

Terrifying creatures stalked the dead of night in ancient Rome, as a man named Niceros has learned all too well. A guest at a lavish dinner party thrown by the fabulously wealthy Gaius Trimalchio, Niceros reveals a hair-raising encounter from his past: the time he met a dreaded werewolf!    A story from ancient Roman literature, based on Petronius' novel Satyricon (mid-1st century AD; 61-62) -...

The Peloponnesian War rages between Athens and Sparta, enveloping the ancient Greek world. The city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, once allied with Athens as part of the Delian League, stages a rebellion against Athens' increasing tyranny. When the revolt fails, the citizens of Athens must decide the fate of the Mytileneans, and a fiery debate ensues: are the people of Mytilene to be exe...