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), featuring: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Gaius Octavius / Octavian / the emperor Augustus, Julius Caesar, Sextus Pompey, Mark Antony, Cleopatra
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CREDITS:
Music by Scott Buckley
Thumbnail Images:
Bust of Agrippa (c. 25 BC)
Augustus of Prima Porta (1st century AD)
Panel from Trajan's Column featuring Roman soldiers (113 AD)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
*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 "Wooden Walls" at "Divine Salamis"...
A story from Greek history (Persian Wars, 480 BC), based on Herodotus' Histories, featuring: Themistocles, Xerxes, the Pythia/Oracle of Delphi, Artemisia, Eurybiades
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CREDITS
Music by Scott MacLeod, StoryBlocks, and Scott Buckley
Battle of Lade, 494 BCE (Radu Oltean, 2014; featured in Ancient Warfare VIII.2)
*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, the Titans, Typhon, the Hecatonchires (Cottus, Briareus, Gyges), the Cyclopes, Gaia, Tartarus, Prometheus, Atlas
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CREDITS
Music by Scott Buckley
Thumbnail Image: The Gods of Olympus (Giulio Romano, 1528)
*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, Uranus, Metis, the Titans
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Image: Council of the Gods (Giovanni Lanfranco, 17th century)
*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, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), Marcus Licinius Crassus
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Image:
Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (Adolphe Yvon, 1875)
*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
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Sound effects from YouTube Audio Library
Thumbnail Image:
Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon from Cape Artemision, Greece, 5th century BC (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zeus_or_Poseidon_bronze_460_BC,_NAMA_X_15161_102617.jpg)
https://pixabay.com/photos/ocean-storm-waves-cloudy-weather-7461792/
*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 Metamorphoses (Book 1), featuring: Zeus, Lycaon, the Olympian gods
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Image:Engraved gem with scene of Zeus and Lycaon (19th century; Beazley Archive, Oxford University)
*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' Annals, featuring: Agrippina the Younger (Julia Agrippina), Nero, Seneca, Burrus, Anicetus
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Images:Relief of Nero and Agrippina from the Sebasteion in Aphrodisias, Turkey: c. 54-59 CE, Aphrodisias Museum
View from the Amalfi Coast, Italy
*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
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Images:Statue of Lycurgus: c. 1880, Palace of Justice, Brussels View of the Eurotas valley, near Sparta in Greece
*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
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Images:
Roman statue of Diana/Artemis (1st/2nd century CE copy of a Greek original)Actaeon (#1) by Paul Manship (1925, Smithsonian American Art Museum)Samaria Gorge, Crete
*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 knowing your limits.
A story from Greek mythology, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 1-2), featuring: Phaethon, the Sun, Clymene, Epaphus, Gaia, Zeus
- - -CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Image:The Fall of Phaethon (Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1608)
*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, Hermes, Eurylochus
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CREDITS
Music by Kevin MacLeod
Thumbnail Images:Minoan fresco from Knossos, Crete ("Ladies in Blue"): c. 1500 BCE, Heraklion Archaeological Museum
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 (staged in 438 BC), featuring: Admetus, Alcestis, Heracles, Apollo, Thanatos (Death)
Original story contributed by Konstantinos Christidis
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music by Scott Buckley
Thumbnail Image: Hercules and Alcestis (Eugène Delacroix, 1962)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 Plutarch (Life of Marcellus), featuring: Archimedes, Hiero II, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Hieronymus
Original story contributed by Alba Wolf
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music by Scott Buckley
Thumbnail Images: Fresco from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence showing Archimedes' "heat-ray" weapon atop the walls of Syracuse (Giulio Parigi, 1600) Monument to Archimedes in Syracuse (Luciano Campisi, 1885; photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 (staged in 428 BC), featuring: Hippolytus, Phaedra, Theseus, Aphrodite, Artemis, Phaedra's Nurse
Original story contributed by Konstantinos Christidis
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music from www.storyblocks.com
Thumbnail Images: Phaedra and Hippolytus (Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, c. 1802) Phaedra (Alexandre Cabanel, c. 1885)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 words.
A story from Carthaginian and Roman history (218 BC), based on Livy's Histories (Book 21) featuring: Hannibal Barca
Original story contributed by Wesley Coulson
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music from Storyblocks and Scott Buckley
Episode Thumbnail Image: Hannibal's army crosses the Alps (20th century)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 passion for the tales of the Trojan War.
More information on the sites excavated by Schliemann can be found here-- Troy: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/849/ Mycenae and Tiryns: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/941
Original story contributed by marceloburlon
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music from Storyblocks
Thumbnail Images: historical photos of the Lion Gate in Mycenae, Schliemann, and "Priam's Treasure"
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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: Xenophon, Cheirisophos, Soteridas, Tissaphernes
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music from Storyblocks
Episode Thumbnail Image: the army arrives at the sea (B. G. Baker, 1901)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 capital of Aeneas' descendants -- and the tale of Hercules' victory will give rise to his worship in Rome for more than a thousand years.
A story from Roman mythology, based on Vergil's Aeneid, Book 8 (19 BC), featuring: Aeneas, King Evander, Hercules, Cacus
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music by Tunc Alicioglu, Psystein, Volodymyr Piddubnyk (www.storyblocks.com), and Kevin MacLeon (www.incompetech.com)
Episode Thumbnail Image: Faience plate depicting Hercules and Cacus (Francesco Xanto da Rovigo, 1533)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)
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 Christianity across the Roman Empire.
A story from Roman Judea, based on The Acts of the Apostles, Ch. 10 (late 1st century AD), featuring Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and Peter, Apostle of Christ
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FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop
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CREDITS: Music by Humans Win (www.storyblocks.com)
Episode Thumbnail Image: James Tissot, "The Confession of the Centurion" and "The First Denial of Peter" (1886-1894)
WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)