Myths and History of Greece and Rome

Time to meet Romulus and his successors.  The foundation of Rome and the following 250 years are the mythical basis of that great civilisation.  The stories may not be true but they say a lot about the character of Rome and of its people.

The History Collage is a project produced by a group of history podcasters.  Each episode has a theme and is made up of short, no longer than nine minute, articles on the topic.  The current theme is 'Unsung Heroes'.  You can hear about my unsung hero on part two of the podcast which was released on 20th November 2013.  Give it a listen.

www.historypodcasters.com

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/history-podcasters-podcast/id741485933?mt=2

Introducing Cupid and Psyche from a Roman perspective.  Also we tell two other tales from Roman Mythology in which Venus plays a prominent role.

Not a happy ending in sight as we follow three more tragic tales.  Expect plenty of divine interference and a fair amount of drowning!

Three tales from the Roman poet Ovid's unique take on Greek mythology.

A quick look at the similarities and differences between the Greek and Roman pantheons.

An epilogue: How Greece emerged from Roman rule and then fell to the Turks before rebelling and forming the modern country which exists today.

More Greek philosophers. Introducing the Cynics, the Stoics, and the man who lived in a barrel.

Greek independence comes to an end.  The last king of Macedon does his best but when there are Romans around there is only going to be one outcome.

Philip V of Macedon does his best but he's only delaying the inevitable. The Romans are only getting stronger and the days of independence for the Greeks are numbered.

It's finally time to introduce the people who will finally and Greek independence. The city of Rome has risen from being an unnoticed backwater to a major regional power.

A brief look at some famous Greek mathematicians and their groundbreaking discoveries. There are some links on the website to helpful diagrams!

We concentrate now on the Greek and Macedonian part of Alexander's fractured empire.  The Antigonids do their best to hold things together while the cities fight amongst themselves (again!)

Hold on tight everyone as this is a bit of a rollercoaster of a chapter.  Alexander's generals spend forty years fighting over his legacy!

Alexander the Great.  A man who really lives up to his billing... even if he's a bit crazy too!

The King of Macedon goes about executing his plans but comes up against a bit of an issue: his own death!  His successor, though, is just marvellous.

In a quick detour we take a brief look at philosophy in Ancient Greece. We barely scratch the surface but there is plenty of information out there for those who want to dig a bit deeper!

With Greece in disarray, brought to its knees by constant internal warfare, the time is ripe for a confident, clever and determined conqueror to take advantage. Enter Philip II of Macedon.

The title of the chapter says it all. More infighting results in all of the poleis becoming weaker and the city state culture beginning to collapse.

Athens and Sparta have knocked the stuffing out of each other for years. Two men from another city, helped by a fair amount of luck, take advantage.

Two men take centre stage in the battles between Athens and Sparta. And everyone gets weaker. Again!

Athens and Sparta fight to a standstill. One of them comes out on top but they are both weakened. Neither learns the lesson they so need to learn!

With the Persians defeated it is time for the Greeks to band together to increase their power. Unfortunately they don't. Both Athens and Sparta form alliances with other local cities but exclude each other. Athens particularly goes a bit too far!

At last, the Greeks band together to defeat an external enemy. The Persians are coming!

We've done Sparta. Now Athens takes centre stage. The largest and most cultured of the Greek poleis became the centre of the Greek world and, a few detours excepted, remains so today.

Sparta was a very important city in Archaic Greece. Not only that it was a very strange one. In this chapter we find out why!

As Greece drags itself from the Dark Ages an entirely new kind of society emerges. The city states which would dominate the Greek world for the next few hundred years rise and the citizen populations try to work out how to govern themselves. A few interesting characters get a taste of power!

The Mycenaean civilisation fell and nothing much rose to replace it. In this chapter we look at why it fell and why the following few hundred years are known as the Greek Dark Ages.

Did the Trojan War actually happen? Was it a real event or just mythological? In this chapter we assess the evidence from archaeology, from Homer and from the records of other civilisations.

Ancient Greek history began a very long time ago! In this first history chapter we look at the pre-history of Greece and at the bronze age peoples that populated the area. Step forward the Minoans and the Mycenaeans!

A brief introduction to our journey through Ancient Greek history.

It's history time now!

The adventures of Odysseus and Aeneas come to an end.  We see what happens when Odysseus finally arrives home and find out whether Aeneas's city ever gets built!  The age of heroes is over.

Poor old Odysseus. The creator of the Wooden Horse knew he wasn't destined to get home for ten years but he never imagined quite how horrible the journey would be. On the way he loses ships and men, meets a scary one-eyed giant and has to choose between Scylla and Charybdis. Will he ever see his beloved Ithaca again?

 

The Trojan War is over. Troy is gone, destroyed by the marauding Greek army and all of its leaders, except one, are dead. The weary Greek heroes make their various ways home. Some of them don't get the welcome they expected!

At last everything is in place for the Greeks to take Troy. It is not all plain sailing, though; it takes trickery and cunning to complete the quest. Fortunately, in Odysseus, the Greeks have the trickiest and most cunning of all the heroes. Odysseus does not disappoint!

Introducing the new mythandhistory website! www.mythandhistory.co.uk

 

At last, Hector and Achilles finally meet in battle. One of them dies and the other revels in his glorious victory. Sadly, for him, the victor doesn't have much time left to enjoy it.

Wrathful Achilles may be sitting on the sidelines sulking but the war rages on. Man mountain Ajax takes on the mighty Hector in single combat. Diomedes and Odysseus capture a Trojan spy and Agamemnon is injured in the fighting. When one particular Greek is killed, though, wrath turns to rage.

Unfortunately, for the Greeks, Kalchas is proved to be correct. The poor heroes struggle to get to Troy and then have to wait nine years before the real fighting starts. A couple of the warriors are lost and then Agamemnon upsets his best fighter. It doesn't bode well!

All the prophecies start coming true as the Apple of Discord does its work. An inevitable chain of events leads to the launching of a magnificent fleet carrying the greatest army of the mythological world. The heroes of Greece are on their way to Troy!

The story of the Trojan War is one of the most famous and exciting of the Greek myths. It is a tale full of friendship, treachery, love, revenge, tragedy and death. This is the first of nine chapters which will tell the whole story of the build up to the war, the war itself and what happened to the survivors. In it we meet some of the important characters and hear about the wedding at which the seeds of the war were sown.

We have reached what is, for me, the most exciting part of our journey through Greek mythology. Later this week we will begin the tale of the Trojan War. Paris, Helen, Achilles, Odysseus and the rest are names familiar to people in most of the world and their story is both heroic and tragic. Look forward to an action-packed nine chapters!

The story of Heracles draws to a close. We hear how he completes his final labour and then goes off on a spree of revenge before meeting a sticky end!

He's done the easy ones! Now it's time for the greatest hero of them all to get down to some really difficult tasks. As he goes about his last six labours Heracles drops in on the city of Troy and meets a couple of the Titans!

At last, it's time to begin the story of the greatest hero of them all. First we hear about the early life of Heracles, known to the Romans as Hercules. Everyone knows about the twelve labours he performed, though he was originally only set ten! We find out what causes him to have to perform his labours and we follow him as he sets out to complete them.

A chapter all about the goings on in the city of Thebes. We hear about the city's foundation and how it came to be ruled by one of the most unfortunate men in Greek mythology. We also solve the Riddle of the Sphynx!

In this chapter we complete the tale of Theseus. We see him reach the height of his heroism and then fall from grace. We will also hear about one of the most famous incidents in Greek myth, commemorated by artists as different as Breughel and Iron Maiden: the flight of Icarus.

It's time to begin the story of King Minos and the terrifying Minotaur. We will hear about the building of the labyrinth in which the beast was imprisoned. We will also meet the hero Theseus and have a good laugh at his interesting journey to Athens.

It's time for the story of the king who turned everything to gold simply by touching it. No trip through the myths of Greece would be complete without it. We will also hear about Meleagros of Kalydon and the great hunter Atalanta and we will finish with the sad tale of the young man who fell in love with his own reflection.