The Herodotus Podcast

<p>Croesus makes his opening move against the Persians—guess how well that goes? Plus cannibalism, a solar eclipse, and ancient hydraulics.</p>

<p>We get a look at how Sparta became the militarized city-state that we know and love(??), and Croesus picks his Greek ally.</p>

<p>As Croesus chooses between the Athenians and the Spartans as allies against the Persians, Herodotus introduces us to Pisistratus, the tyrant of Athens, who used trickery to conquer Athens on three separate occasions...

<p>Croesus decides to play Bachelor with some Greek oracles to figure out which is the True One, and so we take a long look at the Delphic Oracle. Plus, the voice of Apollo!</p>

<p>Croesus meets with tragedy.</p>

<p>In this episode, we finally meet Croesus, hear about his domination of Anatolia, and witness his schooling by the sage Solon of Athens. We'll also learn more about Lydia, and take some time to talk about the origin...

<p>We look at King Alyattes of Lydia's novel war tactics and Arion's magic dolphin ride. Also: what really happened to Gyges?</p>

<p>We delve into the family history of King Croesus of Lydia, whom Herodotus identifies as the first Easterner to wage war on Greeks. Croesus' great-great-grandfather, Gyges, takes the Lydian throne in an unexpected...

<p>We start digging into the text of the Histories: in a shocking twist, Herodotus opens his text in the realm of myth, not history, and begins by turning to Persian, not Greek, sources. With this surprising beginning...

<p>Beginnings are important, and in this episode, we delve deep into the first sentence of the Histories. In it, Herodotus identifies himself, gives his reasons for writing, and lays out his topic. A close reading...

<p>Welcome to the Herodotus Podcast! This episode is a brief introduction about who Herodotus was, what The Histories is all about, and what makes it so special (and so fun).</p>