It's here: our last episode on the Iliad! Achilles continues to mourn Patroclus, and to try to disfigure Hector's body. After days of this, Apollo intervenes, and the gods help Priam to retrieve his son's body from Achilles' tent. Brian, Shilo,

Ep. 81 Homer's "Iliad" Book 23

Jun 23rd, 2023 35m 3s

After our antepenultimate Iliad episode comes... the penultimate episode! In Book 23, Hector is dead, and Achilles mourns Patroclus, who comes to Achilles in a dream and demands a funeral. So Achilles organizes funeral games: chariot and foot r

Ep. 80 Homer's "Iliad" Book 22

Jun 14th, 2023 32m 50s

Here's our antepenultimate episode on the Iliad! In Book 22, Apollo, disguised as Agenor, lures Achilles away from Troy. When he sees through the deception, Achilles goes after Hector, and chases him around the city's walls. This goes on until

Ep. 79 Homer's "Iliad" Book 21

Jun 2nd, 2023 30m 10s

We're back, with our preantepenultimate episode on the Iliad! In Book 21, we get into the action. Achilles kills so many Trojans that the river Scamander protests the mess he is making. So Achilles fights the river, and nearly dies. Then ther

Ep. 78 Homer's "Iliad" Book 20

May 26th, 2023 31m 40s

In Book 20, Achilles gets new armor from his mom, and rejoins the battle. Zeus tells the gods to take sides, and to go nuts. And Achilles faces Aeneas and Hector, and fights them, so that the gods have to save them. Brian, Shilo, and Jeff talk

Ep. 77 Homer's "Iliad" Book 19

May 20th, 2023 26m 4s

We're back! And so is Achilles. But what is he back for? Join Brian, Shilo, and Jeff as we ask why the Iliad isn't over, now that Achilles says his wrath is done. We discuss whether Achilles has a new cause for wrath, against Hector, for the de

Ep. 76 Homer's "Iliad" Book 18

Feb 26th, 2023 30m 6s

Achilles is crushed by Patroclus' death. Thetis, his mother, helps him to revenge himself on Hector by asking Hephaestus to make Achilles some new armor. We ask about the elaborate and famous description of Achilles' shield. How should we un

Ep. 75 Homer's "Iliad" Book 17

Jan 29th, 2023 29m 2s

Shilo gets a new gig, and we offend a whole county! But back in the Iliad, Patroclus is dead, and the Greeks and Trojans fight over his body. Why is a whole book concerned with Patroclus' body? And why do we care about the armor and the hors

Ep. 74 Homer's "Iliad" Book 16

Jan 22nd, 2023 28m 24s

In this book, Achilles comes upon the crying Patroclus, and pities and chides him. Then Patroclus puts on Achilles' armor, joins the fight, is stunned by Apollo, and killed by Hector. Brian, Shilo and Jeff ask why Achilles lets Patroclus join

Ep. 73 Homer's "Iliad" Book 15

Jan 6th, 2023 26m 38s

Zeus wakes up, and gives us a spoiler of the rest of the Iliad. Then he sets his will in motion. Apollo fills Hector with chutzpah, and he leads the Trojans to fight among the Greek ships. In this episode, Brian, Shilo, and Jeff ask about th

Ep. 72 Homer's "Iliad" Book 14

Nov 27th, 2022 24m 18s

Poseidon interferes with the will of Zeus because Hera has seduced the king of the gods with a sexy belt. Also, the battle between the Greeks and Achaeans continues to escalate.We return to the question of "who should be in charge?" and try to

Ep. 71 Homer's "Iliad" Book 13

Nov 8th, 2022 26m 26s

We wonder why Book 13 doesn't have a cool name like Book 12 did.Then we turn to other questions, like what is on the minds of both sides of this conflict? is it true that military prowess, or military virtue, gives you other virtues, such as s

Ep. 70 Homer's "Iliad" Book 12

Oct 29th, 2022 25m 17s

Shilo, Jeff and Brian continue their read through of Homer's Iliad. We try to figure out why Book 12 exists as the midpoint of the story and how Homer is using it to build on his themes and continue the narrative. Specifically we ask why is the

Ep. 69 Homer's "Iliad" Book 11

Oct 11th, 2022 24m 55s

[Yell-y war voice] "CARNAGE ON THE BATTLEFIELD!!!!"Our opening question from Jeff is "can we spoil the Iliad?"We try to understand what's going on with the story in terms of the hierarchy of Greek heroes on the battlefield and who the "good g

Ep. 68 Bonus Pod Q&A with Mr. Mark Eleveld's AP Literature Class at Kankakee High School

Oct 4th, 2022 20m 30s

We got some calls! Thanks a ton to Mark Eleveld and his students at Kankakee High School. Truly honored that you all took the time to call or write in your questions on our Episode 62 on the Iliad Book 5 where we discussed the apparent blurring

Ep. 67 Homer's "Iliad" Book 10

Oct 4th, 2022 30m 31s

The Night Raid! Important book in the kinda middle of the story with lots of action. Agamemnon wakes up in the middle of the night and convenes a war planning committee. Nestor says the Greeks should send some spies out, Diomedes and Odysseus v

Ep. 66 Homer's "Iliad" Book 9

Oct 4th, 2022 29m 46s

The Trojans have pushed the Greeks all the way back to their ship. Night falls, and a panicked Agamemnon and Menelaus need a plan. They decide to send an embassy to Achilles, to beg him to rejoin the fighting. And (spoiler alert) the embassy

Ep. 65 Homer's "Iliad" Book 8

Sep 7th, 2022 26m 13s

The gods assemble on Mount Olympus after the Trojans put a whooping on the Greeks. The Greeks decide to build defensive fortifications for the first time in the nine year war. Zeus gives a speech to the other gods warning them about going again

Ep. 64 Homer's "Iliad" Book 7

Sep 7th, 2022 23m 37s

Book 7 opens with a duel. The Greeks draw lots to fight Hector and (supposedly) end the war. Nine Greeks volunteer to fight and lots are drawn. Ajax wins the lottery and fights Hector. Ajax seems to be winning but the fighters make a truce and

Ep. 63 Homer's "Iliad" Book 6

Aug 17th, 2022 31m 3s

Oh hey! You can call us now! 703.677.8645. Leave a voicemail with your question and we may play it on the air and try to answer it.You can also email us at [email protected] this week's episode we find the Trojans getting beat pre

Ep. 62 Homer's "Iliad" Book 5

Aug 10th, 2022 25m 53s

We've reached Book 5, and Diomedes isn't playing around. He even stabs Ares himself. Brian, Shilo, and Jeff ask: what does it mean to have a war in which men and gods fight one another? We consider whether war is an uncanny world where the g

Ep. 61 Homer's "Iliad" Book 4

Aug 2nd, 2022 34m 59s

Athena appears to cause an end to the truce by wounding Menelaus. Brian, Shilo and Jeff look at how "the will of Zeus is fulfilled" through the wrath of Achilles and through Zeus' lying.In Book I we framed the wrath of Achilles in terms of his

Ep. 60 Homer's "Iliad" Book 3

Jul 21st, 2022 32m 41s

In this episode, Paris and Menelaus duel over Helen and the fate of Troy. Menelaus wins (yeah, he does) -- so why doesn't the war end here? Brian, Shilo, and Jeff discuss what this book of the Iliad teaches us about the difference between Gre

Ep. 59 Homer's "Iliad" Book 2

Jun 24th, 2022 22m 30s

Would Agamemnon have made a bad Marine? Join Brian, Shilo, and Jeff as we discuss Brian's question: why does Agamemnon get a dream from Zeus telling him to test his troops before Troy, but the Trojans hear from a disguised messenger direct fro

Ep. 58 Homer's "Iliad" Book 1

Jun 21st, 2022 23m 32s

We embark on our journey through Homer's "Iliad," humanitiy's longest surviving poem on war.We ask "why is human rage a good subject for a war poem, and not the wrath of gods?"You can ask us questions on our pod by emailing us at combatandcla