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Robin Lane Fox begins with the lost empire of Turkey whose myths of creation were to influence the Greeks. In Crete, he visits the birthplace of the supreme Greek god Zeus, and at Delphi he pinpoints the moment when Euboean tales were transformed into the great poetry of Hesiod and Homer.
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Robin Lane Fox concentrates on the titanic battles of the Greek gods against giants and monsters. He demonstrates how these stories were to emerge from seemingly disparate elements woven together byEuboean travelers and reveals how the Greeks very idea of divinity was shaped by the landscapes of the Mediterranean.
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Artemis, Apollo's twin sister, was noted for both her beauty and her cruelty. She protected flora and fauna, especially wild animals, and was not reluctant to punish those who acted against nature. In this program, we visit the temple at Brauron, Arcadia, Mount Cithaeron, and other Artemisian haunts, and learn about Artemis' birth and youth. Also told are the stories of Orion, Niobe, Callisto, Echo and Narcissus, and Actaeon.
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The Greeks worshipped Dionysus and honored him widely and often. In fact, Greek drama was written as part of the great Dionysian celebrations. In this program, we learn about Semele, Dionysus' mother, and the efforts of Hermes and Apollo to save the baby's life; the purification of Dionysus; how mortals received the gift of the grape, and the dangers it can cause; and how Dionysus freed Hera from Hephaestus' golden net. Also discussed are Theseus,...
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The Greeks prayed to Poseidon before embarking on sea journeys. They offered him the first fish caught, called him "the savior," and attributed their naval victory over the Persians to him. In this program, we learn how Poseidon was saved by his mother Rhea, and how he acquired his trident and used it to help his brother Zeus in his struggle against the Titans and Giants. We see some of the places where Poseidon was worshipped and meet characters...
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Two of Italy's greatest artists are eternally linked, one genius having paid homage to another. Two hundred years after Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, Sandro Botticelli illustrated the classic with a series of exquisite drawings crafted at the height of his career. In this program, translator Mark Musa, art historians, clergy, and other experts guide viewers through Botticelli's exquisite portrayal of Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso,...
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It is said that every road movie and novel about a defining journey owes a debt to the Odyssey. This imaginative program uses the poem's division into groupings of books as a framework to allow Dr. Tom Winnifrith, of Warwick University; Dr. Douglas Cairns, of Leeds University; and Ken Dowden, senior lecturer at Birmingham University, to analyze the oral tradition and key elements of the story line. Readings and dramatizations from the Odyssey enhance...
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The main event in Greek mythology was the Trojan War, in which thousands of mortals died, while the gods watched and laid wagers on the outcome. Among the war's prime movers were Ares, god of war, whose stone heart thrived on quarrels and wars; his sister Eris, whose name means discord; and her dolorous offspring Ponos (pain), Mahes (battles), Foni (murder), Dysnomia (anarchy), Limos (famine), and Lethe (oblivion) This program focuses on Troy, where...
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In this program, we discover that Athene sprang full-grown and fully-armed from Zeus's head, and that Aphrodite emerged from the sea where the physical evidence had landed of Cronus' castration of Uranus. Also explored are love stories of Aphrodite, the myths of Neritis, Anchises, Pygmalion, and Galatea, the mythological roots of the Trojan War, and the lives of Ares and of Adonis. Athene gives mortals the olive tree, becomes patroness of Attica,...
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The Greeks also called Apollo, Phoebus - brilliant one, perpetually reborn, who shoots darts from afar, and who incorporates the radiant characteristics of the sun. In this program, we learn about Apollo's mother Leto, his birth on the island of Delos, his twin sister Artemis, Python and Pythia, and the oracle of Delphi. Also discussed are Cassandra's prediction of the fall of Troy; Apollo and the concept of spiritual cleansing; and Apollo and the...
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The earth is the foundation of all Greek mythology, for it was the abundance of the earth that caused the birth of the sky and the formation of the universe. This program begins in Eleusis, one of the oldest sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter and site of the Eleusinian Mysteries. We learn about Triptolemus, who taught mortals the art of agriculture, and visit Thessaly - home to the myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the Greek version of Noah's Ark. We hear...
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In the beginning was Chaos. And Eurynome divided the seas from the sky, set the wind in motion, and released the forces of nature. Out of the Universal Egg emerged the sun and moon, the planets, the stars, the earth, and all living things. This program tells that story, and that of the first family: Gaea, Uranus, and Cronus. It then moves on to Zeus: his birth on Crete, the trick by which he was saved, and how he dethroned his father. Also discussed...
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are generally regarded as the authors of the Gospels. But did they actually write them? And if not, who did, and when? This program focuses on accounts and theories pertaining to the identities of the four Evangelists, as well as the authenticity of the texts attributed to them. Scholars and clerics examine and discuss original manuscripts, such as Codex Sinaiticus, with its Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas,...
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Of the 27 compositions that comprise the New Testament, 21 are letters: some guide, some warn. This program explores the content as well as authenticity of the various letters attributed to Paul, James, Jude, and Peter. Location footage brings to life Paul's missionary journeys to Antioch, Athens, Corinth, and Rome. The Pastoral Epistles, Gospel of Thomas, letters of Pontius Pilate, and the theological differences between James and Paul are also examined....
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The early Church saw a proliferation of writings all claiming divine authority. This program surveys many of these texts and their adherents, as well as traces the course of the New Testament's codification. Original manuscripts and critical commentary are used to explore the infancy gospels, St. Clement's letters to the Corinthians, and the Gnostic gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and Gospel of Philip. Key figures...
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The medieval era was the heyday of illuminated manuscripts. In the 14th and 15th centuries, there was a flowering of religious texts set into beautifully decorated pages. Among these devotional books were psalters, or books of psalms. Hundreds of these were produced, but the Luttrell Psalter is remarkable for its whimsical, humorous and vivid pictures of rural life and a demonic world that is terrifying and grotesque.
20) Plato
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The dialogues of Plato are analyzed in this program by world-renowned author and professor Bryan Magee and Cambridge philosophy professor Myles Burnyeat. Seeing Plato's ideas initially as extensions of those of his teacher, Socrates, Burnyeat explains the development and content of Plato's original doctrines of knowledge as virtue, the immortality and tripartite division of the soul, and the theory of forms (ideas) Plato's political philosophy is...