Classical Wisdom Speaks Classical Wisdom

Throughout the ages people have imagined “apocalypses”... but how they determined the end of the world shaped their philosophies... as is still the case. From natural disaster and moral revenge to our modern situation of increasing AI and anthropogenic concerns, contemplating the ‘end of days’ can help us cope with the world as it is... or prepare us for difficult times ahead.

In an actually not morbid at all conversation, Christopher Star, professor of classics at Middlebury College and author of Apocalypse and Golden Age: The End of the World in Greek and Roman Thought, discusses how the ancients thought about catastrophe and why we should think about it now.

You can find Professor Star's book, Apocalypse and Golden Age: The End of the World in Greek and Roman Thought, Here.

This conversation is brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and to sign up for our free newsletter, please go to:

https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/
 

How aware are we when we make choices? From playing rock paper scissors and gambling to complex ethical decisions like the trolley problem and self-driving cars, game theory and choice theory are hugely important and impactful in our modern era... but so too did they play an essential role in the ancient world.

Today’s Classical Wisdom Speaks Podcast is with Josiah Ober, the Mitsotakis Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Professor of Political Science and Classics and Senior Fellow Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is also the author of the recently released book, "The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason."

You can find Josiah's book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520380165/the-greeks-and-the-rational

This podcast is brought to you by Classical Wisdom. You can learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter here:  https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

In 45 B.C., the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero embarked on an almost impossible task... He wrote a philosophical dialogue trying to understand the gods, their nature, how they interact with the world of human beings... and indeed, if they care about humans at all! 

On the Nature of the Gods (De Natura Deorum) tries to answer these eternal questions through the ancient philosophical approaches of Epicureanism, Stoicism and Skepticism. While Cicero is present in all the dialogues, he does not participate... instead three speakers represent the three differing perspectives and help illuminate his thoughts. 

Containing profound psychological and moral insights, this seminal text - recently translated by George J. Thomas (with the pen name Quintus Curtius) - is a compelling testament to the necessity of human agency in an indifferent universe.

But what do these approaches say... and what can they teach us today?  

Famed translator George J. Thomas and Professor of Classics at Cornell University, Michael Fontaine, discuss the Nature of Gods and how ancient philosophy can help us understand the divine. 

You can enjoy George's new annotated translation here: https://qcurtius.com/books/on-the-nature-of-the-gods/

For more information about Classical Wisdom and to sign up for our free newsletter, please check out our website at: http://classicalwisdom.com

What is the future -as well as the past - of literary fiction? It is time for a Renaissance?

Destined for the dustbin of history, to be discarded along with so many quaint anachronisms, or is the genre itself bound for a long overdue renaissance?

Author and self-confessed “hopeless optimist,” Joel Bowman joins us for an in-depth discussion about these subjects in the context of his newest novel – the classically inspired Night Drew Her Sable Cloak.

About the Speaker:

A journalist by vocation, Mr. Bowman’s essays and columns have appeared in numerous news outlets and academic journals in the US and abroad. After two decades writing and speaking publicly about politics, economics and international living, Mr. Bowman turned his hand to fiction. His first novel – Morris, Alive – received critical acclaim from multiple New York Times bestselling authors. Night Drew Her Sable Cloak is his second work of literary fiction.

You can find Joel’s books here: https://joelbowman.substack.com/s/books

This event is brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing Ancient Wisdom to Modern Minds. You can learn more about our mission to promote and preserve the Classics and sign up for our free newsletter here:

https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

Though it was the largest religion in the ancient world by both the number of adherents and geographical scope, Zoroastrianism is still vastly understudied in religion, history, and especially classics.

What is Zoroastrianism? How has this Iranian religion impacted the Classical World? And why is one of the world's oldest organized faiths so often over looked?
 
Pablo Vazquez, a noted scholar of and convert to Zoroastrianism, provides an introduction to one of the oldest continuously practiced faiths in history, how the faith influenced the ancient world, and what it is like today.

Central to this will be the Gathas and the Old Avestan texts which are said to be composed directly by the religion's enigmatic founder, Zarathushtra, and thus form the core of Zoroastrianism.

You can order Pablo's book, The Sacred Gathas of Zarathushtra & the Old Avestan Canon: A Modern Translation of Ancient Wisdom, here: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Gathas-Zarathushtra-Avestan-Canon/dp/1785359614

This podcast was brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to: 

https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

How does the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachus play out? What does the son think about the murder of the suitors? And why exactly has this story of the Trojan Cycle captivated its listeners and readers throughout the millennia... to this very day? 

Today’s Podcast is with TAD CRAWFORD, founder and publisher of Allworth Press as well as author of A Floating Life: A Novel, The Secret Life of Money and most recently, On Wine-Dark Seas: A Novel of Odysseus and His Fatherless Son Telemachus...

Now, is this the sequel to the Odyssey? You decide...

You can find Tad's book, On Wine-Dark Seas: A Novel of Odysseus and His Fatherless Son Telemachus, here: On Wine-Dark Seas: A Novel of Odysseus and His Fatherless Son Telemachus

This podcast was brought to you by Classical Wisdom, a site dedicated to bringing ancient wisdom to modern minds. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to: 

https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/