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Do the Rite Thing: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part II (Ad Navseam, Episode 127)

This week Jeff and Dave wrap up their two-part series on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Here we learn about Demophoon, infant child of Queen Metaneira of Eleusis. It seems he has a problem with mortality, and Demeter has the cure: nightly fire purgations. As the kids say, "srsly?" But things don't go so well when the blazing goddess of grain is caught in the act of burning off Demophoon's (not huggable but mortal) portions, and rather than wreak havoc on the innocent inhabitants of Eleusis, she decides to set up a cult and allow them to worship her. Meanwhile, what about Persphone? Hey girl, beware the pomegranate! Tune in for an update on Dave's Greece trip, the usual, blithe and bland banter, and maybe a pun or two about Grape Nuts. As the kids say, "Whaaa?"

No Pain, No Grain: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part I (Ad Navseam, Episode 126)

After a welcome hiatus for all of us (especially you, listener), Jeff and Dave are back in the studio for a look at the archaic hymn to the goddess Demeter. Was this intended to be used in the ritual and liturgy of the mystery cult, or is it just a breezy, Saturday afternoon matinee poem? Clocking in at 495 lines, how does this eypllion differ from the shorter poems from the seventh century? What is a mystery religion, how does this one compare to the cults of Mithras and Dionysus, and exactly how small do scientists intend to make tomatoes, while being sure we will still ingest them? Tune in for the answers to these and other pressing questions as the summer rolls along.

Whoa, Milo, Come on, Come On, Let’s Go: The Greatest Ancient Athlete (Ad Navseam, Episode 125)

This week Jeff and Dave talk about Milo of Croton, by all accounts the most accomplished athlete of antiquity. This incredible individual was the winner of multiple Olympiads, strongman, wrestler, supposedly deadlifting a stone of more than 1100lbs. The ancients like Pausanias, Galen, Strabo, Cicero and more were fascinated not only by his tremendous physical prowess, but equally by his enormous appetite for food and drink. Did he really eat an entire heifer in one sitting? Along the way we look at the Olympic Games, have a short travelogue to Olympia and Nemea, discuss Mohammed Ali, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Flo Jo, and more. It's summer, get out, be active, and take AdNavseam along on your workout. You won't regret it. Maybe if you do enough reps you can snap your headband, like Milo, just by flexing the blood vessels in your head!?

Use Your Allusion II: Classics in Pop Music (Ad Navseam, Episode 124)

Wait a minute…this STILL sounds like rock and/or roll, or at least the synthy stuff wants to. Join Johnny Pop Winkle and Ye Olde Curmudgeon for a look at seven songs inspired by the Classics. From Abba, to Clientele, Utopia, Perfect Circle and more, you'll get to hear Jeff's perfect aesthetic judgment tear like a buzz saw through Dave's carefully curated, gross ignorance of most "music" from 70s through to today. What rhymes with Lysistrata? And why not a song about Thesmophoriozusae? Should be catchy. Hey, it can't be all discussion of translating endusted Latin tomes, grave and staid epics, the dignity of man, and so forth. Kick back, tune in, and remember, at AdNavseam, you've got friends in low places.
 

Gildy as Charged: Arachne and Midas in two More Ovidian Vignettes (Ad Navseam, Episode 123)

This week it’s back to the bottomless well of Ovidian goodness with a walk through a couple more vignettes. The guys start off with a look at the well-known tale of Arachne.  While the “hubris-meets-nemesis” theme does seem to be at the heart of the story, there are some striking bits of context that complicate simple interpretations—is Minerva primed to punish from the tale that precedes this one? Does Arachne truly know what she’s getting into or who she’s dealing with? Then it’s on to another of Naso’s greatest hits—King Midas and the Golden Touch. As we zero in on the details reveals we find here as well a much richer tale than the usual Cliffs Notes version—How does this tale play with the "deadly wish" motif? What about the aetiology of the River Xanthus?  And, wait, where is Midas' petrified daughter? Isn’t she always part of this thing? Tune in to find out.

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: A Conversation with Margolit Fox (Ad Navseam, Episode 122)

This week we sit down for a fascinating, lively discussion with author Margalit Fox about her 2013 book, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: the Quest to Crack an Ancient Code.  The story centers around the race to decipher the mysterious “Linear B” script. The first large supply of this script was uncovered on clay tablets on Crete by archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in 1900, but remained a puzzle for years after Evans failed to crack it.  Young genius (and amateur scholar) Michael Ventris has long been famous for finally getting the job done in 1952, but is that all there is to the story?  Ms. Fox introduces us to classicist Alice Kober of Brooklyn College as the woman who dedicated her life to solving the mystery and is truly the unsung heroine in the narrative.  Tune in and hear how Kober’s painstaking, deliberative work paired with Ventris’ own extraordinary skills finally solved one of the great archaeological mysteries of our time.

Loading the Canons: The Art of Classical Rhetoric (Ad Navseam, Episode 121)

This week Jeff and Dave take a look at the 5 canons of classical rhetoric, and how it is that great orators like Aeschines, Demosthenes, and Cicero gave their speeches to such successful effect. Was it nature? Were these men endowed with towering genius and preternatural giftedness? Yes, of course. Or was it nurture? Did they write speeches according to a fixed and carefully honed set of formulae? Yes, of course. This wide-ranging discussion has plenty of the nitty-gritty of the exordium, collocatio, etc., but we also look at some of the broader issues of what makes human communication effective – or not. You won't want to miss this one, especially if you are a teacher or practitioner of rhetoric. And as Aristotle explains, that's all of us.

Here Comes the Rage Again: Aeneid XII, Part 2 (Ad Navseam, Episode 120)

Well ladies and gentlemen, this podcast within a podcast has finally come to an end: Jeff and Dave, at long last (denique, tandem, demum) have reached the final episode on the Aeneid. We start out by looking at how the end of the Iliad and the end of the Aeneid compare, verge off into some Shakespearean and Miltonian digressions, recite some beautiful Latin poetry, talk about Annie Lennox, and round it all off with a look at interpretive possibilities from a wide range of 20th century scholars. These include: Bowra, Elllingham, Brooks, Lewis, Parry, Putnam, and Commager. Who is correct in their interpretation of the Aeneid? When the ancients said that Vergil's twin purposes were to "rival Homer" and "praise Augustus all the way back to his ancestors", were they correct? Or is the man from Mantua up to something quite different and more subtle? Should we go with the revisionist interpretation – adopting Jeff's maxim "the Romans were wrong"– or side with the traditional school? Pull up your can of Campbell's Soup, make your way to your own Fortress of Solitude, and settle in for a rip-roaring interpretive ride.

Duel Unto Others: Aeneid XII, Part 1 (Ad Navseam, Episode 119)

This week, Jeff and Dave get back to the Aeneid after a brief, Tarzanian hiatus. As the epic nears its end, we witness the intense and interesting interplay between Turnus and the titular hero. Aeneas seems quite secure in his fate, but still he begins the move from representing civilization to savagery. Turnus, on the other hand, ricochets between the poles of Hector and Achilles: sometimes cruel and bloodthirsty, other times sympathetic and winsome. What does Vergil really want us to think about these hulking war machines? Why does Lavinia blush? What's gotten into Amata? And most importantly, why won't Jeff mow his lawn? These questions and more we will seek to answer over the course of 70 tedious, grueling minutes. Still, you might just find this episode the bees' knees.

Tarzan and Tradition: Classical Myth in Popular Literature II (Ad Navseam, Episode 118)

This week Jeff and Dave wander back into the lush, crowded undergrowth of Edgar Rice Burroughs' prose, guided by the inimitable Erling B. "Jack" Holstmark. Does the vine-swinging, croc-wrestling, ape-aping Tarzan really have anything to do with Odysseus? Hercules? Neither? Or does Dave's late Prof. have a case of academicitis, "seeing what's not there"? Come along with us as we finish up looking at the abiding influence of Animals, Hero, and Themes, the final chapter of Holtsmark's 1981 monograph. And remember, "We live in a world of illusion, where everything's peaches and cream. We all face a scarlet conclusion, but we spend our time in a dream." You're going to (jungle) love this episode! Just make sure that crate of papaya doesn't wait all night by your door.