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Ad Navseam Episode 26: “It’s all Fun and Games Till Someone Pokes an Eye Out” - Homer’s Odyssey, Part 4 (Book 9)

This week Dave and Jeff find themselves trapped with Odysseus and his men in the cave of the dreaded chatterbox Cyclops. Here they're confronted not only with the question “How do we get out of here?”, but also “Is the Cyclops really that bad of a guy?”, “How do the Greeks define civilization?”, “What’s the true hierarchy in the Vomitorium?”, and even, “Can you base a whole society on cheese?” Brace yourself for non-stop, root-crackling, sheep-strapping, lamb-cramming, epic-simileing, cheese-filching action, and, as always, best to save your hubristic braggadocio for well after your ship has cleared the harbor.

Ad Navseam Episode 25: Schmidt-en with the Classics

This week we welcome our first in-studio guest (and it’s a big one)—Newberry Award winning young adult author (and Calvin University English Professor) Dr. Gary D. Schmidt. Tune in for a wide-ranging discussion about the influence of the Classics on Gary's life and writing, including his love for Odysseus, his loathing of Achilles, and a sneak peek at his next novel, based on the labours of Heracles. Along the way watch out for those liminal spaces, whether they are middle school or entrances to the Underworld, and wait…is that the Piano Man himself, Billy Joel? Listen to the end to hear Dave and Jeff riff their way through some viewer mail.

Ad Navseam Episode 24: "A Toast to the Host who can Boast the Most Roast” — Homer’s Odyssey, Part 3 (Books 5-8)

In this week's episode Zeus sends Hermes to demand that the fair-tressed Calypso release weeping Odysseus (still with us?) after seven years of island imprisonment. No amount of organic oat hair milk can cheer her, the added shine, volume, and bounce notwithstanding. We look at books 5-8, with Odysseus and Nausicaa having a go at jarts, while Demodocus (Homer himself in disguise?) plucks out the hottest hits of the Mycenaean Era. Odysseus weeps (again!) and drops some layered metanarratives, but not before the white goddess offers him a magic, life-saving pair of trousers in the middle of a shipwreck. And stay-tuned for a new, *stellar* sponsor.

Ad Navseam Episode 23: Down on the Pharmaka—Homer’s Odyssey, Part 2

This week Dave and Jeff clamber aboard a trireme and follow Telemachus as he leaves Ithaca (for the first time?) and heads to the Peloponnese in search of news of his missing father. After leaving Nestor (and escaping his grumpy old man, “back in my day” monologues) it’s on to Sparta to visit Menelaus and Helen. Here things are so tense that Helen has to mix some sort of magic sedative into the Mountain Dew. Stick around for Menelaus and Helen’s strikingly different versions of the Trojan Horse story, and possible answers to the questions “Could the Trojan War have been avoided if they had just had better coffee?” and “Who cares what Jeff wore on his first day of high school?”

Ad Navseam Episode 22: When will Dad be Home? - Homer's Odyssey, Part 1

In this first of countless (?) episodes on the Odyssey, Jeff and Dave wash ashore on the opening books, Castaway style. Here we find Odysseus’ wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus, besieged in their home on Ithaca by greedy, gluttonous, mindless suitors, and with no idea when Odysseus is ever coming home. As with the Iliad, we consider the first word of the poem — ἄνδρα (andra, man) — and investigate how this might be a guidestone for understanding the epic’s deeper themes. Other key questions: will Telemachus rise to the occasion? How do the meanings of names (glint-eyed Athena) give us insight into character? And what’s Lazy Steve doing in this neck of the woods? Don’t miss the concluding yogurt.

Ad Navseam Episode 21: Cowboy Up, Verg! Eclogue One and the Origins of Augustan Literature

This week Dave and Jeff gambol off near sylvan fields to tackle the earliest example of Vergil’s poetry, the Eclogues. In Eclogue 1 we meet the shepherd Meliboeus lamenting to his friend Tityrus: "How'd I get evicted?" Meanwhile, Tityrus plays his oaten pipes and suggests Rome is over-rusticating. You’ll hear the amoeboean bees a-buzzing and the cattle a-lowing (with a digression on Psalm 23) as we investigate the deeper meanings of bucolic imagery, Greek precedents, and pressed cheeses. Look! Octavian Augustus, smack dab in the center of Vergil’s poetic programme. Speaking of programs, you’ll need one to tell your willows from your chestnuts from your tamarisks from your cypresses from your low-lying myrtles.

Ad Navseam Episode 20: A Lion at the Gates - The Battle of Thermopylae, Part 2

Late August, 480 BC. The tension in the pass finally gives way to violence and for the first two days of battle the Persians learn their wicker wear can't match Spartan discipline. Xerxes gets throne-hopping mad until a local traitor (Ephialtes - boo!) tells him of the mountain pass that will allow him to outflank the Greeks below. Leonidas has excruciating choices to make and resigns himself to death, but not before dropping a series of action hero one-liners that had Schwarzeneggar taking notes. So molon over, don’t linger in the labe, and rest easy—the bon mots in this one fly so thick you’ll be listening in the shade.

Ad Navseam Episode 19: A Lion at the Gates - The Battle of Thermopylae, Part 1

Is this Shhhparta?  In this episode Jeff and Dave (with help from Peter Green) make their way toward the narrow pass at Thermopylae and lay the groundwork for one of the most crucial and mythic battles in the history of Western civilization.  What led up to this heroic and tragic encounter?  We watch as Darius the Great gets out-run at Marathon, Darius’ son Xerxes I seeks revenge with a horde of wicker-wearing Immortals, and the Greeks squabble over where to make a stand and how to pronounce “isthmus”.  Join us by channeling your inner Leonidas and inexplicably brushing up on your Scottish accent. 

Ad Navseam Episode 18: Cranks for the Memories – William Perkins, Alexander Dicson, and the Ars Memoriae

Don’t forget to join us this week as we ask the question, “What’s the best way to develop a super memory?” 16th century memory mavens William Perkins and Alexander Dicson each thought he knew best, and the result was a full-on, throttle-your-Aristotle dustup. Leaning on more familiar thinkers Giordano Bruno and Peter Ramus, P and D hash out competing memory systems. Should it be image-based, or use dialectical trees? Do walnuts and a decent haircut help? Come along with us for a tour de force of – wait, what was that again? And be sure to check our social media for a free giveaway of the big fat Perkins Volume 6.

Ad Navseam Episode 17: “Honey, I’m Home!”—Alcestis, Part 2

This week Dave and Jeff wrap up their journey through Euripides’ Alcestis and the second half has everything—weeping, wailing, sarcastic dads, guest stars on their way to wrangle flesh-eating horses.  You know, typical theater fare.  Yes, Admetus continues his mope-a-thon, but suddenly Heracles himself shows up and who hasn’t been in that cliched situation where you’re trying juggle a funeral and a call-the-cops house party?  Then hang on tight for the twist ending.  What does it all mean?  Is it time for cheering or more mourning?  Strange, silent, veiled women showing up at the last minute have a way of unsettling a household.