Episode · EconTalk · 2021-08-30
Books mentioned on Bret Devereaux on Ancient Greece and Rome
Historian Bret Devereaux of the University of North Carolina talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about our understanding of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Devereaux highlights the gap between the reality of Greece and Rome and how they're portrayed in popular culture.
Brett Devereaux recommended The golden asse of Lucius Apuleius, and discussed The Works of Virgil and Homer: Iliad Book XVIII. Russ Roberts discussed The Odyssey.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Works of Virgil
Discussed“and here i think the big advantage is that the greek and latin literary culture comes to unite elites the very wealthy the educated across society over the whole mediterranean so all those folks are reading homer they're all reading virgil the same as their roman overlords are”
Where to get it
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Homer: Iliad Book XVIII
Discussed“and here i think the big advantage is that the greek and latin literary culture comes to unite elites the very wealthy the educated across society over the whole mediterranean so all those folks are reading homer they're all reading virgil the same as their roman overlords are”
Where to get it
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The golden asse of Lucius Apuleius
The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius is widely celebrated as the only completely preserved ancient Roman novel in Latin, offering a vivid and satirical look into antiquity through the fantastical misadventures of a man transformed into a donkey.
Recommended“you know i talk about um uh you know appalachianists uh who as a roman author writes in latin roman citizen upperclass um writes the world's oldest complete surviving novel um the golden ass you can go read it it's hilarious it's a comedy um dark comedy but a comedy not g-rated but it's funny”
Where to get it
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The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic ancient Greek poem that follows Odysseus on his long, perilous journey home after the Trojan War, remaining one of history's most influential foundational narratives.
Discussed“achilles odysseus um you know i'm writing a book where i think i'm going to include the scene where odysseus comes back to his waiting wife penelope to find about 108 people hanging out in his living room wooing her not a pleasant situation and he immediately kills them he kills them all”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“i would just point out that you know there is a money python skit about this from the life of brian i encourage we'll put a link up to it if we can copyright wise if we can't just google whatever the roman's ever done for us you'll find it's one of john cleese's better moments”
“i mean i love die claudius but when i was younger i don't know if i could watch it now it's it's slow by modern standards i love the book too by the way robert graves loved it loved it”