We interview Emily Wilson, whose new translation of the Odyssey for Norton was published in November to great acclaim and critical praise. She tells us about some of her choices in the areas of metre, vocabulary, register, and more, and we discuss the very concept of 'choice' in translation, the notion of a 'faithful' translation, the complicated question of heroic women, and 70's blaxpoitation films!
Episode 49: Stocking Stuffers & Christmas Treats
This year's holiday podcast looks back at last year's Christmas video, Stocking, and we talk about the Christmas treats our families enjoy, their history, and their etymology. All you could ever want to know about plum pudding and tourtiere, along with the story of St Nick himself. (PS: since the recording, I've seen indications that the 'mincepie ban' by the Puritans may be a myth, but Christmas celebrations in general definitely were banned, and mincepies and plum puddings were strongly associated with observances of the holiday, so were presumably included.)
Show Notes
Gerry Bowler, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas
Bruce David Forbes, Christmas: A Candid History
Desmond Morris, Christmas Watching
Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History
Kaufman, Cathy. “The Ideal Christmas Dinner.” Gastronomica, vol. 4, no. 4, 2004, pp. 17–24.
Leach, Helen. “Translating the 18th Century Pudding.” Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, Seafaring and the Archaeology of Maritime Landscapes, edited by Geoffrey Clark et al., vol. 29, ANU Press, 2008, pp. 381–396.
Canadian Encyclopedia "Tourtière"
Lemasson, Jean-Pierre. "The Long History of the Tourtière of Quebec's Lac-St-Jean", in What's to Eat? Entrees in Canadian Food History, edited by Nathalie Cooke, McGill-Queens UP, 2009.
Episode 48: Talking Teaching with Mythtake!
Alison & Darrin from MythTake Podcast dropped by Sudbury -- and sat down with us for a chat about teaching myth, literature, and more. Make sure you check out their podcast for great discussions about myth and Greek literature.
Show Notes
Introduction to Mythology from Oxford UP
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Episode 47: Why Bob Dylan Matters, with Richard Thomas
We talk to Prof. Richard Thomas about his new book about Bob Dylan and the Classics, discussing Latin poetry, intertextuality in music and literature, Dylan's similarities to Catullus and use of Virgil and Ovid, and the unexpected connections between Classical scholarship and research into folk music archives.
Show Notes
Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 at Newtonville Books in Boston, MA
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 at the University of Tulsa, in Tulsa, OK
Episode 46: Mike Duncan & The Storm before the Storm
We talk to podcaster and author Mike Duncan about his book, podcasting, Roman history, and more. Thanks to Mike for joining us -- and everyone, go get his book, it's great!
Show Notes
The Storm before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic
Episode 45: Costumes & the Language of Fashion
Our Hallowe'en themed episode this year is about costumes -- and etymologies and origin stories of a whole bunch of iconic items of clothing. We talk about the semiotics of fashion, the many varieties of the toga, and hats that caused fainting fits, and finish off with a couple of spooky Roman stories! Also, check out this year's Hallowe'en video, on words for Ghost.
Show Notes
"Costume" video
"Jack o'Lantern" video
Ep 22: Jack o'Lantern podcast
Justin Trudeau in Canadian Tuxedo (Source)
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Episode 44: "Us" & "Them" in the Ancient & Early English Worlds
What words did the Greeks, Romans, and early medieval English use to talk about different groups of people? What differences did they think were important? How do those compare to modern conceptions of ethnicity, national identity, or race? We try to give some basic background on this complicated question, starting with the etymology of the vocabulary and addressing some of the ways differences were conceptualized.
Show Notes
Full transcript of this episode
Video on the Anglo-Saxon Invasion, collaboration with Jabzy
Ethnicity in Herodotus--The Honest Entry
How is the Ancient Mediterranean Diverse If Everyone There Is "White"?
“Black Odysseus, White Caesar: When Did "White People" Become "White"?” James H. Dee. The Classical Journal. Vol. 99, No. 2 (Dec., 2003 - Jan., 2004), pp. 157-167
“Did ancient identity depend on ethnicity? A preliminary probe” Erich Gruen. Phoenix. Vol. 67, No. 1/2 (2013), pp. 1-22.
“Medieval and Modern Concepts of Race and Ethnicity” Robert Bartlett.
Caitlin Green’s blog, for general evidence of diversity in Britain
Race and Ethnicity in Anglo-Saxon Literature. Stephen Harris, Taylor & Francis, 2003.
Where the the term "White People" come from?
Colorlines in Classical North Africa
Episode 43: Hercules the Much-Filmed
Time to talk about the greatest hero of them all! Why are there so many movies about Hercules? Why do they all have lions and snakes in them, but no journeys to the underworld, and only a sprinkling of family murder? Who's the most Herculean Hercules, and how did Mr. Universe do in the role? And, most importantly, how much virtue is in every part of the mighty Hercules???
Show Notes
Movies discussed:
Hercules, 1957, Steve Reeves
Hercules in New York, 1969, Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Adventures of Hercules, 1985, Lou Ferrigno
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 1995-1999, Kevin Sorbo
Hercules, 1997, Disney, Animated
Hercules, 2005, Paul Telfer
Hercules, 2014, Dwayne Johnson
The Legend of Hercules, 2014, Kellan Lutz
Wyke, Maria. “Herculean Muscle!: The Classicizing Rhetoric of Bodybuilding.” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, vol. 4, no. 3, 1997, pp. 51–79. JSTOR
The Emperor Commodus
Episode 42: Bugging Out!
We discuss the murky origins of the word 'Bug', some Latin & Greek words for insects, ancient notions of authorship, medieval guild secrets, and the history of patents. Also, sacred geese, burglar alarms, and a Latin mock-epic about a heroic gnat!
Show Notes
Song Exploder podcast Jóhann Jóhannsson
Hughes Telegraph Printing
Episode 41: Arrival, Linguistics, & Time
We're declaring this the first episode of Season 3 of the podcast! In this episode, long after everyone else has talked about it, we review the movie Arrival and discuss the linguistic and philosophical issues that it raises, including of course the infamous Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Oh, and check out our attempt at creating a theme cocktail!
Episode 40: The Cottage, Language, & Poetry
We're back at the cottage, and this time we're talking to Ian and Susan McMaster about language, computer programming, poetry, music, theatre, and more, as we chat about the serendipitous connections that led to careers, performances, and relationships. Along the way we play a few tracks of Susan McMaster's poetry, more of which (both texts and recordings) can be found at her website. Susan's recent publications include Crossing Arcs: Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me and Lizard Love: Artists Scan Poems.
The three works included in the podcast are "Shadowless" from Pass This Way Again (Underwhich Editions), the beginning of "The Pleasure of Lusting" from Geode Music & Poetry, and "Science Song #1" from Dark Galaxies.
Show Notes
Susan McMaster's website (with links to poems & list of publications)
Episode 39: From Fossil Hunters to Mammoth Cheese
We talk about the early history of paleontology and geology, the first fossil hunters, the Bone Wars, and the possible ties between fossils and Greek myth. Also, a bonus poem about a mammoth cheese!
Show Notes
“Ancient Fossil Discoveries and Interpretations”, Adrienne Mayor, The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life, Edited by Gordon Lindsay Campbell
Mayor, A. (2011), The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2nd revised edition of The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times (2000)), Princeton, Princeton University Press.
The Feast Podcast: A Victorian Dinosaur Dinner & Thomas Jefferson & the Mammoth Cheese of Cheshire
See the end of this blog post for the "Ode to a Mammoth Cheese" poem.
Episode 38: Wonder Woman & the Amazons
Photo: Mark Morgan
We saw Wonder Woman -- and have lots to say about the history of the comic, Amazons, Greek myth, ancient Greek dolls, and more.
Show Notes
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
The Amazons: Lives & Legends Of Warrior Women Across The Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor
"The Real Amazons" by Joshua Rothman (New Yorker)
Episode 37: What is a Recipe? with Laura Carlson
We talk to Laura Carlson from The Feast Podcast about recreating historical recipes, the many meanings of food, and what exactly defines a 'recipe'. This is part of The Recipe Project's Virtual Conversation: What is a Recipe? which started on June 2nd, 2017 and is continuing until July 5th, and you can join in the conversation by leaving a comment here or by checking out the hashtag #recipesconf on Twitter and Instagram.
Show Notes
The Recipe Project: A Virtual Conversation, "What is a Recipe?"
Episode 3: The Medieval Michelin Guide: Finding Food on the Camino de Santiago, 1490
Paul Freedman's Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination
Episode 36: Looking for the Legend in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur
We discuss how the recent Guy Ritchie movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword fits into the history of adaptations of the Arthur legend. What kind of Arthur does it present, how does it interact with the Arthurian tradition, and what themes does it explore? And who has the biggest...er...elephants?
Show Notes
"What is the Earliest English Word?" video
History of English podcast episode on the English King Arthur
More reading:
"Color in Ritchie's Legend of the Sword"
"Will the Real King Arthur Please Rise"
Episode 35: Season to Taste
Caesar cocktails with pickled asparagus garnish
We're getting saucy with a discussion about the etymology and history of condiments -- from Roman garum to Worcestershire sauce, through Escoffier and seasonings, to the global implications of ketchup.
Show Notes
Sources for this episode:
Jurafsky, Dan. The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu
Bober, Phyllis Pray. Art, Culture, & Cuisine: Ancient & Medieval Gastronomy. U of Chicago P, 1999.
Curtis, Robert I. “In Defense of Garum”. The Classical Journal, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1983), pp. 232-240.
Corcoran, Thomas H. “Roman Fish Sauces”. The Classical Journal, Vol. 58, No. 5 (Feb., 1963), pp. 204-210.
Episode 34: The Gimlet & the Diseases of Colonialism
We discuss the origins of the Gimlet cocktail, the stories about its name, and its connection to the treatment of scurvy; then we talk about some of the other diseases tied to the early era of European expansion and colonialism, including the classical history of malaria in Greece and Rome. Also featuring conversation about gin, the pronunciation of quinine, and a cameo appearance by Alexander the Great!
Show Notes
Gin, Glorious Gin: How Mother's Ruin Became the Spirit of London by Olivia Williams
"The Dead Do Tell Tales", Ethan Barnes, Corinth, Vol. 20, Corinth, The Centenary: 1896-1996 (2003), pp. 435-443. JSTOR
Malaria and Rome: A History of Malaria in Ancient Italy, Robert Sallares, OUP 2002.
"A Note on Alexander's Death", Donald Engels, Classical Philology, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Jul., 1978), pp. 224-228. JSTOR
"The Rhodes Colossus" – cartoon by Edward Linley Sambourne, published in Punch after Rhodes announced plans for a telegraph line from Cape Town to Cairo in 1892.
St. George Terroir Gin (from California)
Episode 33: Purple, Pink, & Brown
Show Notes
We finish up our colour series (for now!) with a discussion of Purple, Pink, & Brown. From Phoenician shellfish, Virgil's Aeneas,& Propertius's Cynthia, to flowers, beavers, & bears, this episode covers a lot of ground. Let us know what fun colour facts we've missed, and what colourful topics you might like us to cover in the future!
Note: one area of discussion we rather left out is the place of purple in Byzantium/the Eastern Empire... maybe we’ll pick that up in the next episode briefly!
Episode 32: Ariadne's Clue
We've joined forces with the MythTake podcast for a pair of episodes about the myth of Theseus, the Minotaur, and Ariadne. In our episode we talk about the story of Theseus & Ariadne, and the development of the word 'Clue' from Chaucer's version of the tale, as well as Catullus and Ovid's depictions of Ariadne's abandonment, and the connections to fingerprints, detective fiction, and Agatha Christie's life. Meanwhile, Alison & Darrin in their episode talk about two poems by Bacchylides, and the Greek sources for the life of Theseus and his heroic exploits, as well as a few more English words derived from his adventures.
Show Notes
Episode 31: #CreateICG
It's #CreateICG Week! A bunch of internet creators are putting out videos, podcasts, blogs, & more, all on the theme of CREATE – with all sorts of different approaches and interpretations. The event is centred around the Internet Creators Guild, a non-profit organization with a mission to support, represent, and connect creators whose primary platform is online. If you’d like to find out more about them, you can go to internetcreatorsguild.com – and to find more amazing creations by ICG members, search #CreateICG on your social media of choice, check our show notes for links, or go to createicg.wordpress.com for lists of creators and their works.
In this episode we talk about the etymology of CREATE, the origin of breakfast, how mealtimes moved around the day, the history of theatrical and artificial lighting, and Greek and Norse creation myths -- including the story of the body-fluid-filled mead of inspiration!
Show Notes
"Create: Myth, Mealtimes, & Matinées" video
Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology