When you're feeling blue, all you have to do, is take a listen here, then you're not so blue. Why? We've got a Marrouvy kind of show. This week Jeff and Dave wrap up Part II of this portion of the book (and you might be say, "well it's about tome!") Tune in to learn all about how music iand gymnastics began to fade, and language study and literature became dominant. The Hellenistic era formed a bridge to Roman education, and while we might have a certain fondness for the wonder years of childhood – thank you Fred Savage, Danica McKellar, and Jason Hervey – the Greeks saw things quite differently. Childhood was simply a precursor for adulthood, and the whole purpose of education was to lead the youngster out of his unformed stage into the full-blown, mature adult toward which nature aimed. This took place not so much through school, but by the careful mentorship of a paedagogus, that man who led the child to and from school and taught him all the ropes. In this way, Isocrates triumphed over Plato, rhetoric over philosophy, and poetry was never completely banished from the culture. Homer reigned supreme an dclassical humanism was thoroughly traditional. Be sure also to sign up for the giveaway of the two-volume Aristotle set from Hackett! You'll need the secret code-word (it's Kontos).

This week Dave and Jeff are joined in the vomitorium by Dave's former colleague and long-lost friend Dr. Bob Stacey. Bob is headmaster and instructor in government at the St. Augustine school in Jackson, TN. The menu today includes a discussion of Alexis de Tocqueville's famous work Democracy in America, specifically a portion of Vol. II.1.15. Should everyone be allowed to study Greek and Latin? Can the pursuit of literature, art and music thrive in the hurly-burly of a representative democracy? Is it the case that in "democratic centuries", as Tocqueville says, "the education of the greatest number [of citizens] be scientific, commercial, and industrial rather than literary"? These and other questions occupy the hosts and guest for a happy 60 minutes or so, along with occasional digressions on presidential politics, the delights of gift shops, and more. Don't miss it! Also, tune in to sign up for your chance to win the new Hackett Complete Works of Aristotle, in 2 volumes.

Did you know that when Martin Luther (1483-1546) wasn’t nailing things to doors and fomenting major splits in Christendom he was writing poetry? In Latin? Well, thanks to Carl P. E. Springer we now have all of it in one fascinating volume. Join the guys and see how Luther runs the gamut—lines which express his deep faith, his longing and loss, his reworking of the Psalms, invective against Erasmus and Pope Clement VII, not to mention those verses that express his, um, earthier side. So tune in and revel in this hidden side of one of the most pivotal figures in world history and see if Jeff can stop giggling. Also, don't forget to sign up for your chance to win the new Hackett Complete Works of Aristotle, in 2 volumes. You'll need the secret code word (it's Kontos).

This week Jeff and Dave conclude their brisk and breezy, dramatic reading through that old comedy standard, the Clouds. Featuring a rich smorgasbord of hilarity, inanity, and some nearly "postmodern" trends and politics, the episode starts out with an homage, a listener's letter, and some outrageous paronomasia: just what Aristophanes ordered! The hi- and lo- jinks then move on to some rather serious business, a debate between Superior Argument and Inferior Argument. Here we see that despite exuberant flatulence, and more than a little bit of invective and vituperation, the old playwright is dealing with deadly serious issues: does might make right? Is rhetoric all there is to law, or is there some abiding and underlying moral structure to the world and human society that populates it? Is it okay for children to beat their parents? What to do with a doddering fool like Strepsiades (Mr. Twisty-turny)? And, can the young like Pheidippides (Horsey Coupon-cutter) be trusted with education and a dangerous tool like logic? Also, tune in to sign up for your chance to win the new Hackett Complete Works of Aristotle, in 2 volumes.

In an AN first, Dave and Jeff take the show on the road to the Michigan state capital. Hosted by the world-class nerds of the Michigan Junior Classical League, the guys slush their way into Lansing to talk Ovid once more—specifically the crushing demise of "gym bro" Acis, who stood zero chance against that hulking, one-eyed colossus, the Cyclops. Here is your opportunity to master the geometry of emotion: do Polyphemus, Acis, and Galatea form a love Dorito, a rectangle of spite, or a dodecahedron of nostalgia? Join us for a unique, live format, featuring crowd participation with sharp questions and comments from bright Classical minds across Michigan. Plus, listen in for a chance to win the collected works of Aristotle from Hackett, edited by C.D.C. Reeve and Pavlos Kontos!

This week the guys take another stab at Aristophanes, this time with his Clouds. Will they rain in their criticisms? Will their jokes float lazily over your head? Haven’t the foggiest, but tune in anyway. The episode begins with a discussion of Aristophanic comedy and its genre-bending mix of the lofty and the scatological. Following translator Meineck, exactly how many different ingredients did Aristophanes put in this soup? Is there anything like it today? Or, maybe it's too “localized” to properly translate? Well, step on the gas, and see what the guys find. Maybe you, too, can study with Socrates and learn how to dodge those Christmas credit card bills that recently came calling by making Inferior Argument - whoever that is - stronger. But first, try on these Persian paraffin wax booties and let’s see how far you can jump.

Join the conversation this week as Jeff and Dave go back into the world of Henri-Irénée Marrou’s History of Education in Antiquity, Part II, Chapter XI. First up is philosophical conversion: when you read Plato or Aristotle for the first time, does a lightbulb go off in your mind? What's the wattage, and is it epiphanic? Should everyone study philosophy? The hosts carefully break down the three levels of philosophical instruction: confraternities with chosen heirs that dominated official city life, freelancing, roving lecturers, and the "tub-thumpers" who heckled and harangued innocent passersby. The rivalry could be fierce between the different philosophical sects, not to mention the ongoing feud they maintained with those practical intellectuals, the rhetors. Ancient schooling in philosophy was not so different than the modern variety, with immature pranks, grungy flannels (the tribon), and more. It's a deep dive, but someone's gotta do it. So grab some brew from your Ratio Four, pull up a chair, and join the classical gourmands for a feast of intellectual history. Also, tune in to learn how you can win a free set of the Hackett edition of the Collected Works of Aristotle, as the guys somehow finagled a second giveaway!

Porphyry, Isaac Casaubon, and Richard Rietzenstein walk into a bar. Well, that's not true, seeing that they were separated from each other by hundreds of years. But if they did, they would be talking about the Corpus Hermeticum, that mysterious forged document that dates to the Hellenistic era, and claimed to have been written by "Hermes Thrice-great" (the Triple-decker). Thanks to the brilliant work of Guggenheim fellow and all-around savant Anthony Grafton, Jeff and Dave have the opportunity this week to tease out the differences between forgers and literary critics. Digging through chapter 3 of Grafton's 1990 work, the guys show how Porphyry (third century A.D.), Casaubon (16th century), and Reitzenstein (20th century) each tackle this forgery from a different angle, united in their quest for the truth and using some of the same tools. But as it turns out, are truth and falsehood more closely linked than at first they may appear? And do we have something to learn from the forgers and their methods? Tune in to find out.