Literature and History
Episodes
Episode 120: The Rashidun Caliphate
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Rashidun caliphate, from 632-661, completely changed the history of the world. Learn the story of the greatest imperial expansion of the first mil...
Episode 119: The Qur'an, Part 3: Origins
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Qur'an has deep roots in the Bible and in the unique religious climate of Late Antique Mecca. Learn about its many references to the Bible and anc...
Episode 118: The Qur'an, Part 2: Ordinances
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Learn about the foundations of Islamic Law in the Qur'an - the 350 or so verses that tell believers what they're required to do, and what's prohibited...
Episode 117: The Qur'an, Part 1: Overview
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Learn the basics of the Qur'an - its size, structure, how and when it came together, and the book's most important contents. Episode 117 Quiz: https:...
Episode 116: The Life of Muhammad, Part 3: Conquest
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During the final years of the Prophet Muhammad's life and the immediate aftermath of his death, the Muslims conquered Mecca, the first caliph Abu Bakr...
Episode 115: The Life of Muhammad, Part 2: Community
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Between 622 and 628, Muhammad and the first Muslims made a home from themselves in Medina, fended off assaults from the Quraysh and others, and change...
Episode 114: The Life of Muhammad, Part 1: Cobwebs
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An orphan and caravan trade agent, Muhammad (570-632) lived a fairly ordinary life up until the age of 40. Then, everything changed. New Songs Page: ...
Episode 113: Antarah ibn Shaddad
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Antarah ibn Shaddad, a killer, a lover, and an epic hero, was also one of early Arabic literature's most famous poets. Parker's Song: https://youtu.b...
Episode 112: Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prior to the dawn of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula had a great poetic tradition, with many genres, and many poets who are still celebrated and studied ...
Episode 111: Pre-Islamic Arabia
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leading up to the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in about 570 CE, the Arabian Peninsula was an increasingly populous and globally interconnected region...
Episode 110: Questions
22 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 110, Literature and History host Doug Metzger answers dozens of listener questions about making the show, books, and how and why the podcas...
Episode 109: Cornerstones
15 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 109 brings our long season on Late Antiquity to a close, reviews the past 24 programs on the beginnings of the Middle Ages, and introduces our...
Episode 108: Isidore of Seville
15 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the great scholars of Late Antiquity, Isidore (c. 560-636) left behind a compendium called the Etymologies, an encyclopedia of his epoch's know...
Episode 107: Venantius Fortunatus
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Merovingian court poet Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-600), at work in Francia in the late 500s, shows us the world of the Middle Ages blooming from...
Episode 106: Gregory of Tours, Part 2
14 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The second half of the History of the Franks (591) is a deep dive into the grime and intrigue of the Merovingian dynasty, written in a style that's as...
Episode 105: Gregory of Tours, Part 1
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594) completed The History of the Franks in 591. The long book's account of Clovis and the Merovingian Dynasty has been one o...
Episode 104: An Introduction to the Talmud
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Second only to the Tanakh, the 63 Tractates of the Talmud are the main text of Rabbinic Judaism, containing the teachings of thousands of ancient rabb...
Episode 103: Boethius
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the twilight of the Western Empire, Boethius (c. 476-523) served as consul, but ended his life imprisoned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, writin...
Episode 102: An Old Man's Book (Augustine's City of God, Part 2 of 2)
04 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Augustine's City of God, Part 2 of 2. The second half of the City of God contains some of Late Antiquity's most influential writings – most notab...
Episode 101: Against the Pagans (Augustine's City of God, Part 1 of 2)
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Augustine's City of God, Part 1 of 2. The first half of the City of God is a broadside against paganism – its culture, religion, and history, subjec...
Episode 100: Late Have I Loved You (Augustine's Confessions, Books 9-13)
30 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Augustine's Confessions, Part 2 of 2. The second half of Augustine's Confessions contains some of the most famous theology in Christian history. E...
Episode 99: The Boy Who Stole Pears (Augustine's Confessions, Books 1-7)
10 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Augustine's Confessions, Part 1 of 2. The first half of Augustine's Confessions tells of his wayward early years, his intellectual journey, and his...
Episode 98: The Life and Works of Saint Jerome
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Polyglot Jerome (347-420) had a gigantic impact on all subsequent Christian history, leaving behind a huge body of works, including the Latin Bible. ...
Episode 97: Blood and Ivy (Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Books 25-48)
08 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Dionysiaca, Part 2 of 2. The last surviving Greek epic of antiquity draws to a close with Dionysus fighting wars far to the east, in India. Epis...
Episode 96: The Last Pagan Epic (Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Books 1-24)
31 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The last epic from Greco-Roman antiquity that survives in full, Nonnus' fifth-century Dionysiaca tells of the wine god Dionysus' journey eastward, t...
Episode 95: Rutilius Namatianus
17 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 417 CE, the Roman poet Rutilius Namatianus journeyed from Rome back to his homeland of Gaul, not knowing whether there was a home to return to. Ep...
Episode 94: Ausonius
12 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of the later Latin poets of the Empire, Ausonius' expansive body of work gives us a window into the changing world of fourth-century Roman culture...
Episode 93: Severus' Life of Saint Martin
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sulpicius Severus' (c. 363-425) life of St. Martin is one of the great hagiographies – a portrait of a timeless saint, but also of a human being and...
Episode 92: Athanasius' Life of Antony
08 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Athanasius (c. 297-373) wrote a wildly popular biography of the desert hermit St. Anthony, touting the ideals of asceticism and triumph over demonic t...
Episode 91: The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
25 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Carthage, in 203 CE, a Roman noblewoman and her retinue were butchered in an amphitheater. Learn her story, and the earliest history of Christian m...
Episode 90: Ante-Nicene Catholicism
04 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earlies...
Episode 89: The Aethiopica of Heliodorus
19 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd/4th century CE) wrote the longest novel to have survived from antiquity, an adventurous romance that reemerged into Europe in...
Episode 88: Ancient Greek Sci-fi
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In roughly the 160s CE, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote A True Story, one of history's earliest surviving novels, with strong tinges of w...
Episode 87: Lucian of Samosata
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The satirist Lucian (c. 125-180) was popular in his own time and during the Renaissance, among other things probably being the first author of science...
Episode 86: An Introduction to Late Antiquity
25 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Once pervasively described as a period of fall and decline, today Late Antiquity is often understood as a period of cultural flowering and economic re...
Episode 85: River
04 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A primer on Biblical canon formation, retrospective on what we've covered so far, and introduction to the upcoming season. Episode 85 Quiz: https://l...
Episode 84: Manichaeism
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to le...
Episode 83: Gnosticism
28 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early...
Episode 82: Zoroastrianism
31 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly eart...
Episode 81: Revelation
10 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world's religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians. Episode 8...
Episode 80: The General Epistles
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the ancient Mediterranean. Episode 80 Quiz https://li...
Episode 79: The Pauline Epistles
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Possibly the most influential theologian in history, Paul codified and clarified Christianity as it emerged into the diverse world of the Eastern Medi...
Episode 78: The Book of Acts
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Christianity's first missionaries is a sweeping , intercontinental narrative, filled with danger, strange encounters, and the hope for a ...
Episode 77: The Gospels
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of the New Testament. And today, historians and Biblical scholars know more about them than ever before. E...
Episode 76: Judea Under Herod
07 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea for thirty years. Learn about his rule, and the political and religious climate of Judea just be...
Episode 75: Dusk and Starlight
25 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A retrospective on the material we've covered thus far as we head into Early Christianity and Late Antiquity, plus some announcements. Episode 75 Qui...
Episode 74: Marcus Aurelius (The Meditations)
14 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius' Meditations shows an intelligent emperor coping with the realities of an empire buckling under its own weight. Episode 74 Quiz htt...
Episode 73: The Golden Ass (Apuleius' The Golden Ass)
29 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Apuleius' The Golden Ass is Ancient Rome's only novel to survive in full – a strange, often disturbing fairytale that had a huge influence on poster...
Episode 72: Bread and Circuses (Juvenal's Satires)
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Juvenal's Satires, produced some time in the decades around 100 CE, mercilessly mock some of the more colorful aspects of Roman life. Episode 72 Qui...
Episode 71: The Gods Depart (Statius' Thebaid)
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Statius' Thebaid, Books 7-12. Six hundred years after Aeschylus, Statius once again brought the Theban epic to a thunderous conclusion. Episode 71 Q...
Episode 70: Rome's Forgotten Epic (Statius' Thebaid)
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Statius' Thebaid, Books 1-6. This epic is hardly ever read or taught these days, but in 100 CE, it was as famous as anything in the Roman world. Epi...
Episode 69: Rome's Comic Novel (Petronius' Satyricon)
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Petronius' Satyricon is a contender for history's first novel, a picaresque filled with sex, misadventures, and details about daily life. Episode 6...
Episode 68: Love Means Sin (Seneca's Phaedra)
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca's Phaedra (c 50s CE) is the story of an illicit passion, a stoic cautionary tale and simultaneously vivid character study. Episode 68 Quiz h...
Episode 67: Jaws Dripping Blood (Seneca's Thyestes)
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca's Thyestes, probably written around the 50s CE, is one of the most horrifying and influential plays ever written. Episode 67 Quiz https://lit...
Episode 66: Stoicism, Seneca, St. Paul
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Stoicism, starting with Zeno in 300 BCE, was a popular philosophy by the lifetime of Seneca, perhaps even making its way into the New Testament. Epis...
Episode 65: Seneca and the Julio-Claudians (The Life of Seneca)
30 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca the Younger (c 1 BCE-65 CE) practiced the philosophy of stoicism over the course of several volatile, and very different imperial reigns. Epis...
Episode 64: Ovid's Exile (The Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto)
23 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For mysterious reasons, in 8 CE, Ovid was exiled from Rome. Ovid's last works were composed an ocean away from Italy, on the western shore of the Blac...
Episode 63: All Is in Flux (Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 11-15)
08 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 11-15. The vast Metamorphoses draws to a resonant conclusion as Ovid brings his great poem to Rome itself. Episode 63 Qu...
Episode 62: A Curious Passion (Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 6-10)
27 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 6-10. In the middle portion of Ovid's great poem, psychological transformations become as gripping as physical ones. Epi...
Episode 61: Changes of Shape (Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 1-5)
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This book influenced thousands of years of later literature, and remains one of our best source texts on classical mythology. Episode 61 Quiz https:/...
Episode 60: How to Make Love to a Roman (Ovid's Art of Love and Cure for Love)
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ovid's Art of Love is ancient Rome's manual of seduction – a record of the steamier side of the Augustan Age. Episode 60 Quiz https://literaturea...
Episode 59: Early Ovid (Amores, Heroides)
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The love poetry of Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) was standard Latin curriculum for hundreds of years, but it was also the product of a very specific historical ...
Episode 58: She Caught Me with Her Eyes (Propertius' Poetry)
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Propertius (c. 50-1 BCE) took the Latin elegiac form to new heights of complexity and passion, even weaving subtle satire throughout his work. Episod...
Episode 57: The World Grows Dim and Black (Virgil's Aeneid, Books 10-12)
01 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 10-12. The end of Rome's great epic is about something Romans of Virgil's generation knew very well indeed. War. Episode 57 Q...
Episode 56: I Shall Release Hell (Virgil's Aeneid, Books 7-9)
13 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 7-9. Aeneas' arrival in Italy begins auspiciously enough, but soon things take a turn for the worse. Episode 56 Quiz https://...
Episode 55: Among the Shades (Virgil's Aeneid, Books 4-6)
06 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 4-6. The story of Dido and Aeneas, and his subsequent journey to the underworld, is the heart of Rome's most famous poem. Epi...
Episode 54: Out of Troy (Virgil's Aeneid, Books 1-3)
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 1-3. The Aeneid is Rome's great epic. Learn the story of its first three books, and when and why Virgil began writing it. E...
Episode 53: Then Came Hard Iron (Virgil's Georgics)
04 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Georgics (c. 29 BCE), or agriculture poems, show the poet reaching his full strength as a writer, and using an old form to analyze the hist...
Episode 52: White Flowers Die (Virgil's Eclogues)
12 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Virgil's Eclogues (c. 38 BCE) are poems about country life. Far from being innocent celebrations, though, they are often cryptic, and filled with a ...
Episode 51: Horace and Augustan Age Poetry
19 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Horace (65-8 BCE) was a central figure in shaping Augustan Age tastes in satire and literary criticism. His bumbling, self conscious persona has been ...
Episode 50: Our Brutal Age (Horace's Poetry)
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman poet Horace (65-8 BCE), a contemporary of Augustus, endured wars, regime changes, and became a literary spokesman for the new principate. E...
Episode 49: The Strange Roots of Love (Catullus' Poetry)
31 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Catullus (c. 85-54 BCE) is Rome's most famous early poet. Departing from epic tradition, Catullus wrote a canon of short works that have been famous s...
Episode 48: The Right and the Expedient (Cicero's Career, 62-43 BCE)
15 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Following his consulship, Cicero did his best to salvage the battered Republic, eventually going head to head with the powerful young general Mark Ant...
Episode 47: O Tempora, O Mores (Cicero's Career, 80-62 BCE)
20 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Cicero's career is an epic tale, filled with courtroom dramas, corruption, conspiracy, greed, and Cicero's own enduring hope for a better...
Episode 46: The Republic at Twilight (Cicero's Early Life)
09 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cicero (106-43 BCE) was the undisputed master of the Latin language. During his first thirty years, he witnessed events that heralded the Republic's e...
Episode 45: The Uncuttables (Lucretius' On the Nature of Things and Epicureanism)
16 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lucretius (c. 94-53 BCE) is our most important source for Epicurean philosophy, perhaps the most misunderstood school of thought from the ancient worl...
Episode 44: Homo Sum (Terence's The Brothers)
20 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman playwright Terence (c. 184-159 BCE) produced a string of brilliant comedies in the 160s BCE. His masterpiece, The Brothers, continues to ast...
Episode 43: On the Move (Plautus' The Rope)
29 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Plautus (c. 254-184 BCE) was a prolific comedy writer. His late play, The Rope, captures the dizzying changes sweeping Rome after the Second Punic War...
Episode 42: The Beginnings of Roman Literature
17 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Roman literature grew slowly from Greek traditions during the 300s and 200s BCE. Learn about its earliest figures, and how they paved the way for the ...
Episode 41: Everything So Far
03 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A retrospective of everything L&H has covered so far, plus some special announcements. Episode 41 Quiz https://literatureandhistory.com/quiz-041/ E...
Episode 40: Hellenism and the Birth of the Self
24 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Hellenistic period – 330-30 BCE, saw Alexander's successor kingdoms rotting away in the east, the rise of Rome, and the birth of modern consciou...
Episode 39: Medea and the Argonauts (Apollonius' Jason and the Argonauts)
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Apollonius' Jason and the Argonauts, Books 3-4. Mesmerizing Medea takes center stage at the Argonautica's end, dominating the epic's events. Episode...
Episode 38: The Epic Anti-Hero (Apollonius' Jason and the Argonauts)
22 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jason and the Argonauts, Books 1-2. Journey with Jason to find the Golden Fleece, and learn about the Greco-Egyptian writer, Apollonius of Rhodes. Ep...
Episode 37: The New Comedy (Menander's Old Cantankerous)
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Menander's Old Cantankerous (316 BCE), produced during the New Comedy period, shows theater beginning to take on its modern form. Episode 37 Quiz htt...
Episode 36: War and Peace and Sex (Aristophanes' Lysistrata)
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Aristophanes' Lysistrata, with all of its nudity, sex, and explicit language, was nonetheless his most powerful salvo against the Peloponnesian War. ...
Episode 35: The Great Thundercrap (Aristophanes' The Clouds)
07 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Aristophanes' The Clouds is a dazzling satire on Athenian philosophy, showing a very different Socrates than Plato's. Episode 35 Quiz https://liter...
Episode 34: The Traditions of Our Forefathers (Euripides' Bacchae)
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Euripides' The Bacchae, one of the darkest and bloodiest works of Ancient Greek tragedy, is about the spread of cult religions during the late Pelopo...
Episode 33: Woman the Barbarian (Euripides' Medea)
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Euripides' Medea is Ancient Greece's most famous play. But what did it mean to the Athenians in 431 BCE who watched it on the Acropolis? Episode 33...
Episode 32: Trees Bending to the Torrent (Sophocles' Antigone)
21 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sophocles' Theban Plays, 3 of 3. Antigone is a timeless and dark story about a clash of wills. But it's also fascinating snapshot of the philosophic...
Episode 31: The Requiem at Athens (Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus)
07 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sophocles' Theban Plays, 2 of 3. Oedipus at Colonus, out of the ashes of the Peloponnesian War, is a story about a man who has lost everything but hi...
Episode 30: Two Legs in the Afternoon (Sophocles' Oedipus the King)
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sophocles' Theban Plays, 1 of 3. Oedipus the King is one of literature's great stories. It's also a haunting window into the fears of war torn Athen...
Episode 29: The Mound and the Furies (Aeschylus' The Eumenides)
11 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy, 3 of 3. Pursued all the away to Athens by the monstrous Furies, will Orestes prevail, or be torn apart? Episode 29 Quiz...
Episode 28: A Mother's Curse (Aeschylus' The Libation Bearers)
27 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy, 2 of 3. The infernal House of Atreus had witnessed almost every imaginable act of depravity. Except for one. Episode 28...
Episode 27: The Bloody King (Aeschylus' Agamemnon)
14 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy, 1 of 3. A terrible family curse. A wronged queen. The Trojan War was only the start of the bloodshed. Episode 27 Quiz h...
Episode 26: Ancient Greek Theater (The History of 5th-Century BCE Athenian Drama)
30 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Masks. Choruses. Huge prosthetic penises. Before you read Sophocles, Euripides, and company, it's a good idea to know a bit about Ancient Greek theate...
Episode 25: Lyrical Ballistics (Sappho, Pindar, Archilochus, and Greek Lyric Poetry)
15 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The work of Sappho, Pindar, and other remarkable Greek lyric poets makes us question everything we think we know about poetry, what it is, and what it...
Episode 24: God May Relent (The Bible's Prophetic Books)
01 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Old Testament, Part 10 of 10. The seventeen Prophetic Books, produced during war and diaspora, are both despairingly bleak and searingly hopeful. ...
Episode 23: Love. Desire. Exegesis. (The Song of Songs/Solomon)
25 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Old Testament, Part 9 of 10. What's the Song of Songs doing in the Bible? Is it a pious hymn to God, or just a couple of horny lovers talking to e...
Episode 22: Fatalism (The Book of Ecclesiastes)
16 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Old Testament, Part 8 of 10. If there is one Biblical book that explains all of life, thick and thin, love and anguish, that book is probably Eccl...
Episode 21: The Bible's Magic Trick (The Book of Psalms)
27 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Old Testament, Part 7 of 10. In the Book of Psalms, a single, fascinating, familiar linguistic device propels the world's most famous poems. Epis...