Books of Titans Podcast

In today’s podcast episode, I cover the legend of The Flowering Hawthorn and its connection to the King Arthur legend. It’s a tale that begins with Joseph of Arimathea. He’s the rich man who buried Jesus in his tomb. Tradition holds that Joseph traveled to England many years after the resurrection carrying with him the blood of Jesus, a staff, and possibly, the holy grail. Joseph’s staff began to bud each Christmas Day in Glastonbury, England.The story is told across the ages by bards, poets, and kings. Glastonbury attracted pilgrims from around the world to come and see this flowering hawthorn.Is the story true? Or is it just speculation, legend, or tradition? We may never know, but there are enough connection points in this story that make it delightfully intriguing.I recorded this video episode at the Christ Church meadow in Oxford, England.PhotosHere are a set of photos sent to me by Stephen Crotts who visited these sites last year. Crotts is the illustrator of the new Arthuriad, an Epic Poem by Malcolm Guite, recounting the King Arthur legend. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of two of the earliest Greek Philosophers, Anaximander & Anaximenes of Miletus. Anaximander is credited with introducing the idea of the First Principle, of which his was the infinite, and Anaximenes, Air.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Parmenides of Elea. Robin Waterfield calls him “the single most important Pre-socratic thinker.” He introduced a puzzle about Being that required a response by philosophers who followed him. From that puzzle, we have the Atom / Void idea from Democritus and the Forms / Shadows idea from Plato. Plato even has a dialogue named after this influential philosopher who lived from 515 - 450BC.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Gorgias, the father of the Sophistic Movement. We can pinpoint a shift from philosophy to sophism in the life of Gorgias. Each of the early Greek philosophers had a First Principle, an arche they considered to be the foundation of everything else. That stops with the Sophists. Instead of a love of wisdom using speech to seek after truth, the Sophists value persuasion and the ability to get results irrespective of truth.The work of most early Greek philosophers only survives in minor fragments. With Gorgias, we have some surviving full works that are simply delightful. I talk about the life of Gorgias, these surviving works, and the one thing the stuck out to me the most about this early Sophist.Books Referenced:* The Greek Sophists - Translation by John Dillon and Tania Gergel - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Sophists - Philostratus - Loeb Classical Library 134Show Notes:* Encomium of Helen This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Democritus of Abdera. He is one of my favorite early Greek philosophers, mainly because of his wisdom/ethical sayings. He barely made the Presocratic cut, being just 1 - 10 years before Socrates. However, his ideas, way ahead of their time, were picked up by Aristotle and Epicurus and have influenced humankind to our time. A true Renaissance Man before it was popular 😉, Democritus is worthy of study. His First Principle(s) of Atoms and the Void are revolutionary and are great responses to the ideas of earlier philosophers.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. His first principle, the thing that organized everything else, was the nous or the mind. He thought that in the beginning, there was an original mixture of unchanging seeds that a mind set in motion and began to organize. Anaxagoras was born in Asia Minor and moved to Athens, becoming one of the first philosophers to establish Athens as a hub of philosophy. In fact, Anaxagoras is a philosophical grandfather to Socrates through his student Archelaus. Socrates learned from Archelaus who learned from Anaxagoras.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Empedocles of Acragas. He lived from 495 - 435 BC before dramatically diving into the volcano at Mt. Etna to prove he was immortal. As we find out in this episode, the accounts of the life and death of Empedocles are varied and contradictory and contain an element of myth, which is appropriate given his use of epic poetry to present his ideas. With Empedocles, we have the largest stash of fragments of any of the early Greek Philosophers.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Aristotle called Thales the Father of Natural Philosophy. At a very high level, he’s credited with shifting from mythos to logos, from a mythological explanation of the world to one based upon natural observation. Thales believed that water was the underlying principle of everything, that an immortal soul existed, and that earthquakes were caused by waves underneath a flat earth instead of by the gods.Thales of Miletus is one of the earliest Greek philosophers (625 - 545 BC) and in this podcast episode, I look at his life, his ideas, and his impact both now and then.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Last week, I talked about the life and philosophy of Heraclitus of Ephesus. A number of his surviving fragments deal with the concept of Logos, what Eva Brann calls “the order that is the cosmos.” This week, I’m taking a deeper look into what Heraclitus meant by Logos and how that might help us better understand John’s use of it in the New Testament Gospel, where he writes, “In the beginning was the Logos…”In The Logos of Heraclitus, Eva Brann considers the fragments of Heraclitus in order to arrange a cohesive philosophy containing Logos, fire, and flux. I share what I learned from this short book and how it expanded my understanding of the Logos.Show Notes:* March 13, 2026 Episode about Heraclitus* Purchase The Logos of Heraclitus by Eva Brann This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

For the next month or so, I’m going to highlight different early Greek Philosophers on the podcast and in my Substack articles. Last year, I started reading Plato’s dialogues and realized that I didn’t know the philosophers or their ideas that he was referencing. I stopped reading the dialogues in order to get to know these Greek Philosophers.In this episode, I cover Heraclitus, a philosopher famous for his ideas on flux, fire, and the logos. While we don’t have his complete work On Nature, we do have fragments that provide an understanding of his main ideas. This will be a two-part episode with this first one focusing on the life and ideas of Heraclitus and the second one focusing on Heraclitus’ idea of the logos.Here are the books I referenced for this podcast episode:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* Heraclitus Fragments - Translation by Brooks Haxton - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Heraclitean Fire - Erwin Chargaff - Book 20 in 2017* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogene Laertius - Vol 2 of Loeb.* Major Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins - Oxford University Press This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I start each year reading straight through a different version of the Bible during January & February. This year, I selected the Intertextual Tanakh for the Five Books of Moses and the Early Prophets and used the Bibliotheca version for The Latter Prophets, The Writings, and The New Testament. In this episode, I share what stuck out this year over the 80 hours of reading through the Bible. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 7 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the New Testament books of the Gospels, Acts, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.Show Notes:Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark): This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 6 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark Booksellers.Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark): This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

This special mid-week episode is a deep dive into the musical Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell’s folk opera that reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in a haunting, jazz-inflected underworld. Last week, I had the joy of playing violin in the on-stage band for a series of local youth-theater performances of Hadestown, and sharing the stage with my daughter made the entire experience unforgettable.During preparation, I became captivated by the music, the storytelling, and the rich threads of Greek mythology woven throughout Hadestown. I also discovered that the show’s writer published a book, Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown, which opens a window into the creative process behind the musical.In this episode, I explore:* The Greek myths at the heart of Hadestown* The subtle ways the musical reshapes and reimagines those myths* The connection points between this story and narratives found in the BibleThis musical moved me in a way that very few others ever have.Audio RecordingsOriginal Broadway Cast RecordingSpotify / Apple MusicLive from LondonSpotify / Apple MusicThis one is my personal favorite but it only contains about half of the songs. Hermes is played by a female and she just absolutely kills it. I love her passion.Talking Hadestown: Commentary & SongsSpotify / Apple MusicThis is a neat recording where Anaïs Mitchell talks about some of the songs from Hadestown.The BookWorking on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs MitchellThe Band This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 5 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, and Daniel. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark Booksellers.Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark): This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 4 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Ezekiel, the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), and the Psalms. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark Booksellers.Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 3 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark Booksellers.Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 2 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark BooksellersDr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Over the next two months, I’m going to present quick podcast check-ins as I make my way through the Bible. I start each year reading a different translation of the Bible during the months of January and February. This year, I’m starting off with the Intertextual Tanakh, which covers The Five Books of Moses and The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings).In this episode, I share a few ideas that have stuck out so far as well as a theme that is developing that I plan to track as I make my way through the rest of the Bible.Show Notes:Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark)Also, here’s a way to crush your 2026 Bible reading plan! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

READING YEAR THEME: GREEK PHILOSOPHYI’ll be spending most of 2026 ploughing the depths of Plato and Aristotle. I divide eating reading year into semesters:* Spring Semester - March - June* Summer Break - July* Fall Semester - August - November* Winter Break - DecemberI start each year reading straight through the Bible during January & February. The versions I’m using this year are The Intertextual Tanakh (tah knock), Bibliotheca (The Latter Prophets, The Writings, The Apocrypha, and The New Testament)Spring Semester Book List (Subject to Change)I started Plato during Fall Semester last year. I’ll be continuing on, but am first taking a look at philosophers before Plato since he keeps referencing them. I’ll then return to the 20 or so dialogues of Plato that I have remaining within the Complete Works set.* The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists* Early Greek Philosophy* Heraclitus Fragments* The Greek Sophists* Plato: Complete Works* The Republic / Bloom* A Commentary on Plato’s Meno / Jacob Klein* From Plato to Christ / Louis Markos* The Cave and the Light / Arthur HermanSummer BreakI’m going to dedicate the month of July to Gilgamesh. I love that epic so much and am going to read some of the books pictured above. I’ve been collecting anything I find about Gilgamesh and it’s time to read those books. If you know of other books related to Gilgamesh that I must read, please let me know in the comments below.Fall Semester (Subject to Change)If I finish reading Plato during the Spring Semester, I’ll begin reading Aristotle in the Fall Semester. Like Plato, I’m planing on reading the complete works of Aristotle. I realize that’s excessive and may change my tune, but why not. He’s one of the greatest philosophers of all time.* The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 1 / Hackett* The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 2 / Hackett* From Aristotle to Christ / Louis MarkosWinter BreakI’m going to explore another area of interest during December - Trees! I know nothing about these strange things surrounding us outside and simply want to know more. I don’t have a list yet, so suggestions are welcome. There’s only one book so far that I keep seeing over and over again:* The Hidden Life of TreesShort Great Books Reading GroupI lead a reading group in Franklin, TN and this year we’ll be covering the following books, so I’ll be interspersing these books with the list above. More details here.* A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor - Jan 12* The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol - Feb 2* Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman - March 2* One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn April 6* Medea by Euripides - May 4* Apology (Defense of Socrates) by Plato - June 1* Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - July 6* Billy Budd by Herman Melville - August 3* My Antonia by Willa Cather - September 7 (Labor Day)* Candide by Voltaire - October 5* Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius - November 2* The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann - December 7 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Each year, I stack all of the books from the previous year’s reading list next to me and reminisce over the reading year. It’s one of my favorite yearly podcast episodes and it’s a great way for you to hear about some books to add to your reading list.2025 was an incredible year of reading. I continued on in the third year of my Immortal Books project. The main focus was on Greek Tragedies, Comedies, History, and Philosophy.In this episode, I cover the year as a whole, some of my favorite works, and some best of lists.Here are some of my favorite podcast episodes from 2025: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The Braveheart film has had an outsized impact on my life. It first sparked a deep interest in the country of Scotland, that try as I might, I cannot shake. It inspired me to purchase a set of bagpipes and then learn how to play them. But it also had deeper implications in the areas of faith and living.In this book, the author of both the novel Braveheart as well as the screenplay that became the famous film, Randall Wallace, provides an autobiography that shows a close connection between his life and the Braveheart story. It’s an exploration of fatherhood, faith, and truth. And I loved it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The two pillars of this reading project are to read more books and to remember what I read. To that end, I’ve experimented with a variety of practices to attempt to assist with memory. I’m always on the hunt for new ideas.That’s how I came across Rhetorica Ad Herennium by [Cicero]. Cicero is in brackets because it’s not certain that he is the author. So, author unknown, but content exceptional. This is the oldest surviving work we have about ways to remember what you hear and learn.This was written around 90BC and the techniques are still used today. The main idea is to place an intermediary background between your memory and the thing you are trying to remember. I always just go right to the thing. If I want to memorize a poem, I brute force my way into my memory bank by reading it over and over again. I never thought to place that poem against a background to enhance the likelihood of remembrance.In this episode, I cover a very short 10-page section of this larger work that deals with memory. I share how Cicero or not-Cicero suggests creating a background or room in which to place images that relate to words or subject matter. The more striking and odd the image, the more likely it will be remembered.This practice is not natural to me and it actually seems counterintuitive. But, if it’s worked for 2,000+ years, there’s something to it. I’m going to give it a try.Book Version - Loeb Classical Library book 403 - Rhetorica Ad Herennium This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I started reading through the complete dialogues of Plato this year. I came to a point where I realized that Plato was referencing philosophers who came before him and I didn’t know anything about them or their ideas. I took a break from Plato to consider these philosophers who gave the seeds to Plato’s philosophy.These philosophers are called the Presocratics and the Sophists. They are Pre-Socrates in that their ideas precede Socrates, not necessarily that they preceded him historically. The Presocratic philosophers discussed in this podcast episode lived between 600 - 400BC. Socrates lived between 469 - 399BC.I read The First Philosophers with a translation and introduction by Robin Waterfield. In the introduction, Waterfield says “Presocratic thought was holistic : it was an attempt to give a systematic account of the whole known universe and all its major features.” They cover ideas such as the soul, happiness, and the makeup of things. You can see not only their intellectual method but also their ideas in the dialogues of Plato.In this episode, I cover four of my favorite Presocratic philosophers (Heraclitus, Parmenides, Pythagoras, and Empedocles) and some of their ideas. I also share the one thing that stuck out to me the most about these fathers of philosophy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

An introduction to this reading project for anyone new to Books of Titans. I started this in 2017 as an attempt to read more books and experiment with ways to help me remember what I read. It’s morphed into a lifelong reading project that I now expect to last until I die as I slowly make my way through The Immortal Books. Give this episode a listen to learn more and then give my wife Stephanie’s music a listen as well! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”~ Alfred North WhiteheadI’ve been enjoying my Plato Project where I’ve decided to read through the Complete Works of Plato. I’ve read 9 dialogues so far and realized I needed to take a step back and learn more about the philosopher himself. This was the perfect book for that endeavor.Robin Waterfield covers the basic known facts about the life of Plato, his friendships, his practical application of philosophy, especially with the king of Syracuse, and the Academy he started in Athens. It is a fascinating look at how Plato’s life fed into his philosophy.In this episode, I cover the main things I learned about Plato and share the One Thing that stuck out the most.Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I’m making the wild assumption that you like books. Perhaps that’s because you like what’s inside of books - the stories, ideas, information, history. But do you ever just stop and think about the book itself? The physical book that you hold in your hand?Joel J Miller has a book coming out this Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 called The Idea Machine: How Books Built Our World and Shape Our Future. It’s a book about the book. It’s a richly researched account of the history of the book through the ages, how Christians played a large role in its eventual format, and how the organization and categorization of ancient and moderns libraries led to the A.I. tools of today.I read an advance copy of the book a few months back and absolutely loved it. It gave me a new appreciation for book, the perfect idea transfer technology. In this podcast episode, I share some of my favorite ideas from the book and tie in some things Joel spoke about during a book event I attended on Thursday evening, November 13th.If you live in the Nashville area, Joel will be at Landmark Booksellers on the book’s release date of Tuesday, November 18th at 6pm. Jeff Goins will conduct the interview.You can also order a signed copy of the book from Landmark Booksellers. I think you’ll enjoy it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The goal of this dialogue is to define the Sophist. We’ve seen the Sophist pop up in Greek Tragedy and Comedy and it’s never a pretty picture. They are often contrasted with the Philosopher, the true lover of wisdom, and are denigrated as those who have the appearance of wisdom. They are known for charging money to teach their students how to argue a point, irrespective of its truth.In attempting to define the Sophist, Plato must overcome a snag put forward by the philosopher Parmenides. Parmenides has stated that false statements are impossible:“This should not ever prevail in your thought: that the things that are not, are; rather do you keep your mind well shut off from just this way of searching.”Basically, don’t think or talk about things that have no being; things that don’t exist. However, if that is the case, there is nothing false and everything a person says is true. Everything is relative.In order to define the Sophist, Plato must show that something that is not, is. He does this by saying that the false is something other than or different from the true. Plato’s Forms must be true. Do things that are false also have Forms? No, they are simply other than or different from Forms.Therefore, the Sophist is one who makes false imitations of true things. He is not a philosopher.This dialogue hurt by brain. I read it three times using different translations in an attempt to struggle through it and try and understand it. I share what I learned in this episode and I hope the work makes it so that you see the dialogue in a fresh way. As always, if I’ve gotten anything incorrect, please help me learn by commenting below.Show Notes:Book Versions I Read:* Plato Complete Works - edited by John M. Cooper - translated by Nicholas P. White* Plato: Collected Dialogues - edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns - translated by F.M. Cornford* Plato Sophist: The Professor of Wisdom by Eva Brann, Peter Kalkavage, Eric SalemThe Division Thicket (from the introduction in Plato Sophist: The Professor of Wisdom): This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The goal of this dialogue is the definition of a statesman. Can Plato show us the essence or nature of the statesman? This dialogue is a sequel to Sophist. In each dialogue, an attempt at a definition is sought through the method of division. For example, Statesman begins with Knowledge, which is divided into practical and theoretical knowledge. The statesman would be on the theoretical side.This division occurs until the discussion partners Visitor from Elea and Socrates the Younger describe the statesman as a shepherd or herder of humans. That doesn’t work, and so a Deus Ex Machina of sorts jumps in through the telling of a myth. In the myth, the ages of Cronus and Zeus are contrasted and the dialog is set on a different path. That path leads to a definition or essence of the statesman as more of a weaver of disparate parts.The dialogue then gets into different types of governments and the role of law within each set. It posits the best form of government (rule by statesman through special, expert knowledge) but admits that such a person is unlikely. The next best thing is the rule by imitator (Sophist?) who rules by the existing set of laws, despite the likelihood of injustice.I loved this dialogue. The surprise appearance of the myth was so delightful and the discussion about law, types of government, courage, and governance utterly fascinating. In this episode, In this episode, I give an overview of the arguments and take a look at the myth and it’s relation to the definition of the statesman.Show Notes:* Want to discuss White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky? Simply become a paid subscriber here on the Books of Titans Substack and you’ll receive details about our November 12th Zoom call to discuss this short novel. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I finished reading Man’s Search for Meaning as the fireworks announced the start of 2018. I was closing out my first year of this reading project with my final book of the year and was trying to finish it before the clock struck 12. I didn’t make it, but I was close.That book ended up being my favorite for many years. Here was a man claiming that it was possible to develop a spiritual life amidst hell on earth. Amidst hunger, torture, unbearable loss, and despair. There was a flicker of hope.Last week, I led a reading group through Man’s Search for Meaning. It was my first time re-reading it since late 2017. It was startling to see how I’ve changed in that time, both personally and in my reading life. I mark up my books and use different color pens on re-reads, so it was clear what stuck out the first time and what stuck out these 8 years later.I’ve also read a number of books I hadn’t read before my first Frankl reading. Those books have impacted me, have deepened my convictions, and have perhaps provided another angle on Frankl. One of those books, The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, was life-altering. I read that one late 2019. In re-reading Man’s Search for Meaning, I see a number of similarities between these two books.In this podcast episode, I share some things that stuck out to 2025 Erik that didn’t stick out as much to 2017 Erik. I also share some important similarities between Man’s Search for Meaning and The Gulag Archipelago.If you’d like to listen to the original podcast episode after the 2017 reading of the book, you can do so here: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

How do we know what we know? That’s the question Socrates presents to Theaetetus in this dialogue by Plato. I was actually intrigued with the some of the side discussions about learning and memory and how that connects to knowledge. In this podcast episode, I share the general outline of the arguments and highlight the parts about memory that might help us in our reading lives. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

So far, this is my favorite dialogue by Plato. I’ve only read 5 of them, so I have a ways to go, but this one covers the origin of language and the correctness of names. It answers this question - is there a reason behind the name of a thing or is it just by chance?Cratylus believes there is a correct name for each thing, one that belongs to it by nature. Hermogenes believes that names are agreed upon by the community. Socrates leads the discussion to determine if “names are given in accord with nature.”I found this dialogue so interesting and delightful because Socrates spends most of the time guessing at the origin of words of gods, concepts, and names.In this episode, I share some of my favorite word descriptions and ideas from Cratylus. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Were you there?It’s the opening question of this dialogue. Echecrates is asking Phaedo if he was there when Socrates drank the hemlock and died in prison. He was there. This is Phaedo’s account of the final day of Socrates.I wonder what I would do knowing I had a few hours to live. Would I be frantic? Would I conduct a dialogue about the soul as Socrates does here? Would I calmly drink my death sentence that 500 of my peers had bestowed upon me? I doubt it. Socrates was calm. He died as he had lived.There are some incredible parts to this dialogue. With a few hours left to go, we find Socrates “versifying” the Fables of Aesop. He’s setting prose to poetry. He’s not creating anew. He’s improvising on what already exists. It’s an incredible thing to consider. Socrates didn’t leave any writings, but he did apparently leave some poetry.The bulk of this work considers a questions that would be on the forefront of anyone’s mind about to exit this world. What’s next? Socrates argues that we have a soul that will continue into an afterlife. In fact, he argues that that soul pre-existed embodiment and that our learning was simply a recollection of Forms or Ideas encountered in that state. Socrates was being completely rational then in his calm willingness to die. This was simply a continuation of how he had lived his life, a betterment of the eternal part of him. His life as a philosopher was preparation for death.In this episode, I cover the main arguments, talk about three things that stuck out to me, ask 6 questions that I hope to get answered in other Plato dialogues, and close out with the One Thing I always hope to remember from Phaedo by Plato.Book Versions Read or Consulted:* Plato Complete Works - edited by John M. Cooper - translated by G.M.A. Grube* Phaedo - translated by David Gallop - Oxford World’s Classics* The Last Days of Socrates - translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant (intro) - Penguin Classics (just read the intro in this one) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Socrates is nearing the end. He’s been sentenced to death and the time has come where he will be forced to drink hemlock. Crito, his old friend, comes to persuade him to escape this death. He tries to convince Socrates that in this grave injustice, the just thing would be to escape.But Socrates says “we must examine whether we should act in this way or not, as not only now but at all times.” Would it be right for Socrates to escape?This short dialogue allows us see if Socrates will remain true to what he has preached throughout his life.Show Notes:Book Versions:* Plato Complete Works - edited by John M. Cooper - translated by G.M.A. Grube* The Last Days of Socrates - translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant (intro) - Penguin Classics* Defense of Socrates, Euthyphro, and Crito - translated by David Gallop - Oxford World’s Classics This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s Part II of a conversation with author Allen Levi that took place on Saturday, September 6th in Franklin, Tennessee, at the historic Franklin Theatre. Part I released last week and is the discussion from the 3pm event. Part II releases this week and is the discussion from the 7pm event. Each event was sold out and questions were different for each event.Allen Levi is the author of Theo of Golden. In this conversation, I asked him about this book, his inspirations, his life, and potential movie adaptations. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

SPOILER ALERT: This conversation contains book spoilers. Listener beware.Here’s Part I of a conversation with author Allen Levi that took place on Saturday, September 6th in Franklin, Tennessee, at the historic Franklin Theatre. Part I releases this week and is the discussion from the 3pm event. Part II releases next week and will be the discussion from the 7pm event. Each event was sold out and questions were different for each event.Please Note: Static interference is present at various points throughout the interview. I've worked to minimize it, but it is still audible at points.Allen Levi is the author of Theo of Golden. In this conversation, I asked him about this book, his inspirations, his life, and potential movie adaptations. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Last week, Socrates was on his way to his trial in the Euthyphro dialogue. In Apology, Socrates is giving his defense against three charges:* Not recognizing the gods recognized by the State* Manufacturing new gods* Corrupting the youthIf you are expecting any contrition on the part of Socrates, you’ve come to the wrong place. Here, apology means a defense speech in a legal proceeding, and Socrates is anything but apologetic in the sorrowful sense. Here we see a defiant man unconcerned with death but rather in continuing on in a life of justice and piety despite the threat to his life.It’s quite startling actually. The defiance of Socrates in the face of 501 of his peers. But it’s also quite disturbing that a society that produced such great works of art around this exact time (399BC) could also kill one of its best citizens. Can civilization handle this level of truth telling?In this episode, I consider Socrates’ defense to the three charges, look at Aristophanes’ Clouds and another account of the trial, Xenophon’s Apology.Show Notes:Book Versions:* Plato Complete Works - edited by John M. Cooper - translated by G.M.A. Grube* The Last Days of Socrates - translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant (intro) - Penguin Classics* Xenophon Apology - translated by Martin Hammond - Oxford World’s Classics* Xenophon Socrates’ Defense - translated by Hugh Tredennick and Robin Waterfield, with an excellent intro by Waterfield - Penguin Classics This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I have decided to read through the complete works of Plato. Euthyphro is my first dialogue in this Plato Project. I ended up reading it 4 times within 4 different translations. In this episode, I give a brief overview of the dialogue, talk about piety and if/when this word shows up in Homer, the Greek Tragedies, and elsewhere, and cover each of the answers and responses between Euthyphro and Socrates.Socrates has asked Euthyphro if piety and impiety take on an essential form. Poor Euthyphro thinks he is wise by giving particular example after particular example, but Socrates is after something deeper. Will we get to a form of piety and impiety that can be referenced in all circumstances? The stakes are high. Socrates has just been charged with impiety in corrupting the youth, creating new gods, and forsaking the old gods. If he can’t answer this charge, he’s in trouble. He’s hoping Euthyphro can give him a piety form. Or is Socrates just prodding Euthyphro to see if he knows what he is taking about?Here are the four versions I read:* Complete Works - edited by John M. Cooper - translated by G.M.A. Grube* Penguin Classics The Last Days of Socrates - translated by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant (intro)* Loeb Classical Library - translated by Harold North Fowler* Collected Dialogues - edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns - translated by Lane Cooper This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Do you find yourself struggling to remember what you read? This has been a continual difficulty for me and is a main reason that I started this reading project. I wanted to read more books, but more importantly, I wanted to experiment with different ways to help me remember what I read.One of the most powerful ways I’ve found to remember what I read is to apply basic summary frameworks during and after the completion of each book. In this article, I’ll highlight the most powerful frameworks that you can write in the back of the book, in a journal, or in your notes app upon completing a book.The best part about these ideas is that they take a short time to complete but can greatly enhance your reading memory and comprehension.The One SentenceLast week, I had breakfast with my friend DT Slouffman. He’s a contender for the most interesting man alive and one of his roles is teaching the art of storytelling at a college. In that course, he writes the following sentence on the board as a tool for students to apply to fiction:________ wants ________ but ________ so ________ .What I love about this simple sentence is that it requires you to identify the protagonist, his or her desire, the challenge, and the path towards growth, resolution, or fulfillment. Going backwards, it identifies the change required to overcome an obstacle by the main character. It’s an encapsulation of the hero’s journey and it forces you to consolidate the book down to one sentence. If you can then remember this one sentence that you crafted, chances are you’ll be able to recall a large portion of the book.Here’s a One Sentence example I made from The Great Gatsby (yours may be quite different):Jay Gatsby wants Daisy but she is married so chaos and death ensue.I purposefully kept this one simple and short. I could elaborate on each fill-in part and you might choose to do so. The lack of a joyful resolution immediately identifies the work as a tragedy. By highlighting death, I immediately think of those situations in the book. I can picture Daisy and Jay as I did while reading the book. For properly recalling a book, sometimes you just need a simple hook that calls up other memories. This One Sentence framework is that hook.The One ThingA major focal point of this reading project is to attempt to remember just One Thing from each book that I read. It’s counterintuitive and may even sound wasteful, but I found that if I tried to remember many things from a book, I would forget them all, but if I just remembered One Thing, I could usually recall it, and it would in turn unlock other parts of the book.This idea is easier to impose upon works of non-fiction, but I’ll provide ideas for fiction as well. Here are a few ways to remember One Thing in different types of books:* For self-help books, instead of trying to remember One Thing, simply implement One Thing, immediately. If you are reading a book about personal finance, implement one idea from the book in relation to debt, budgets, or investments. If it’s a book about fasting, begin fasting. Running, apply one of the tips on your next run. You will always remember that book if you implement one idea into your daily routine.* For biographies and works of history, try to remember one story from the book. For example, in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Einstein, there was a story about Einstein being invited to a women’s prayer group in the USA during WWII. They prayed together in a circle and when it came to Einstein, he took out his violin and prayed through his instrument without saying a word. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall. That story helps me recall why Einstein was in the USA at that point, what he was working on, and other aspects of his story.* For works of fiction, write out the One Thing you can’t get out of your brain. Maybe it’s a theme you see across a variety of books. Perhaps the protagonist confronts a problem you’ve had in the past and your One Thing is how that person dealt with their situation.In general, you want to highlight the One Thing that stood out to you the most about that book. If you can remember that, it will help you to remember other parts of the book as well.Identifying StakesThis is another tool that my friend DT teaches his children and students. The idea here is that most books will present things of value or desire that are put at risk. That creates a stake and that stake must be paid by the end of the book. The exercise here is to create a two column list in the back of the book, in your journal, or in a notes app and write the stake on the left and its resolution on the right. If a stake is introduced and not resolved, you have a sub-par book (or movie, or tv show, etc.).Here are a few stakes from The Great Gatsby:* Jay Gatsby builds a mansion across the lake from Daisy in an effort to impress her with his wealth. That can’t just remain neutral, either it will have an impact or not. The stake must be paid in one way or another.* Jay tells Daisy’s husband Tom that she never loved him. That creates a stake that must be paid in one way or another by Daisy’s response.* Daisy’s husband’s mistress is killed by Daisy and Gatsby in a car accident. That creates a stake that must be paid through the legal system or through personal revenge.By highlighting these stakes and payments, you are generating your own framework for the book and are actively seeing each stake through to its conclusion. This will help you to remember key occurrences in the book. This tool can be applied to nearly all fiction and many works of non-fiction, including biographies and histories.What are some tools you apply to the art of reading that help you remember what you read? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I’m currently making my way through The Immortal Books by 200 different authors. I expect the project to take 15 years. I’m currently in year 3 and Plato is author 18 out of 200. I had initially planned to read 9 of his works (Apology, The Republic, Laches, Symposium, Philebus, Crito, Phaedo, Theatetus, Meno), but when people on Twitter suggested I pick up this version of his complete works, I began to consider reading Plato’s entire corpus.Why not? Plato has an outsize influence on what comes after him. His ideas are ingrained in our heads. We see some things through his eyes. I’m largely approaching Plato blindly. I read The Republic in 2017 and remember next to nothing. I’ve avoided philosophy out of a deep fear of not understanding it. I’d like to change that. I’d like to dig into Plato, get to know his writings, ponder his ideas, and explore his works.I recorded this podcast episode as a time stamp of sorts. I want to see if there is something that happens to a person after they read Plato. Will there be a “before Plato Erik” and an “after Plato Erik?” We’ll see. I hope you follow along on this journey. I plan to cover most of Plato’s works on this podcast over the coming weeks and months. And I’ll see if I can finish this large tome by the end of 2025. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

A life well-lived. Looking back, what would make you say that about your own life? What would constitute that well-lived life? Would it contain grand gestures seen by many or small, sacred acts seen by few?The Last Sweet Mile is a long letter written by Allen Levi to his family that covers the last year of his brother Gary’s life. They had a special relationship. A relationship we all long for. They were remarkably close. Gary was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011 and died an exact year later on July 22, 2012. Allen called that year with his brother the best year of his life.Allen wrote this book before his latest novel, Theo of Golden. I have Theo on my mind, and so I naturally compared the two books despite Theo being a work of fiction and The Last Sweet Mile a work of non-fiction. I see a lot of Gary in the character of Theo. The sacredness of small things. The signposts of beauty. Sadness. Joy. Laughter.When I finished reading Theo of Golden last December, I had a one word response–Stunning. I had that same one-word response after finishing The Last Sweet Mile. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s sad, but it’s beautiful, for it portrays a life well-lived. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

This episode is for anyone who wants to tackle the Great Books independently—whether you’re years out of college or just looking for a self-guided approach. Not sure where to begin? In this episode, I share ideas on how to prepare, start, and continue on your very own Great Books journey. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I book the author events at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN, and earlier this year, I saw that Dr. Mendelsohn was coming out with a brand new translation of The Odyssey for the University of Chicago Press. I reached out to Dr. Mendelsohn to see if he would be near Franklin any time soon, and to my delight, he was able to do an author event.It was fascinating. I learned so much about The Odyssey and about his translation choices. It shed new light on the epic. You can watch the event here and here are some of my main takeaways.The book I cover in this podcast episode is one that Dr. Mendelsohn wrote 8 years earlier in 2017. It’s account of an Odyssey cruise he had taken with his father, Jay Mendelsohn. His father decided to audit his son’s seminar course about The Odyssey and after that course, they took this cruise that stopped at all of the major locations in Homer’s epic.The book is a fascinating look at Homer’s Odyssey, a relationship between a father and a son, and a dive into major themes through out the epic. I learned a ton. I share some of those things in this podcast episode.I really enjoyed this book. It was not just an intellectual endeavor, it was a journey of the heart. The book is beautifully written and the format allowed for deep literary analysis, heartwarming father/son dynamics, and wonderful insight into the intangibles that make a marriage last forever. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

This book is seared into my memory. I first read it in August of 2002 and just re-read it for the second time in my life. My memory of the work from my first reading was near exact, something that almost never happens to me. It struck such a cord in my 20s that I thought about it often over the subsequent 20+ years. It is one of the most important novels I have ever read.Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to retain his youth in exchange for his soul. A painted portrait then takes on his “passions and his sins” while his body does not change. We witness him go from age 22 to 38 with no visible change in his physical appearance. This makes it difficult for people to believe the horrible rumors they year. Surely someone so good looking and youthful could not do such things.Despite being written 130 years ago, this novel feels modern. Youth is still highly prized and now we use social media filters and botox to keep the facade alive. We are still really good at covering the degradation of our lives like Dorain covers and hides his portrait. It’s Adam & Eve all over again. An immediate desire to cover and hide when exposed by the Coldplay Cam.This novel is a tragedy but does fate guide Dorian’s actions? Is he irreparably influenced by Lord Henry to where there’s no turning back? Or does Dorian have a choice in the matter? What if he did change course? Would the portrait change back to what it was? Or would it remain the same?This is an endlessly fascinating novel. One with vivid pictures that have stuck with me for 23 years. It’s a novel I think about often. In this podcast episode, I talk about themes, questions, and my One Thing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Ashurbanipal was king of Assyria from 669 to 631BC. He was a warrior poet, a scholar who carried a pen in his belt while decimating foes with cruel and unusual punishments. In a miraculous twist of history, the fire that destroyed his famous library is the very thing that ensured its survival. The fire solidified his 30,000+ clay tablets.Those clay tablets, lost to history for 2,400+ years, now mostly reside in the British Museum, where Cuneiform scholars work their way through works of astrology, exorcism, medicine, entrail divination, lamentation, and literature. The most and best preserved copies of The Epic of Gilgamesh come from Ashurbanipal’s library.This book looks at three main things: Cuneiform, Ashurbanipal, and the contents of Ashurbanipal’s Library. The author, Dr. Selena Wisnom, connects ideas from the surviving works to our own. We see how ideas that seem completely foreign to us are not that far removed from our experience. She shows how the Mesopotamians discovered many things long before others. In turn, these discoveries made our modern world. We’re continually learning more and more from what was discovered in Ashurbanipal’s Library.In this podcast episode, I talk about the book, Cuneiform, Ashurbanipal, and the contents of his library. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I find it helpful to take a step back from day to day reading to consider overall themes that show up over spans of reading time. That’s what I do in this episode. I look at the first half of reading for 2025 and talk about the 19 books I’ve read so far. I then talk about my favorite books, things I enjoy about Greek Literature, and share the one idea so far this year that has had the biggest impact. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Last week, I discussed Anabasis by Xenophon, which covers the failed attempt of Cyrus the Younger to rule the Persian Empire with the help of 10,000+ Greek Mercenaries. The Education of Cyrus covers a different Cyrus, Cyrus the Great (600 - 530BC). This is the Cyrus in the Bible. The Cyrus of the British Museum’s Cyrus Cylinder. The Cyrus who conquered the Babylonians.The Education of Cyrus differs from Xenophon’s Hellenika and Anabasis in that it is largely a fictionalized account of Cyrus’ life. It allows Xenophon to share his moral philosophy and teachings through a famous person. It’s exciting and informative but also quite weird in that Cyrus repeatedly prays and sacrifices to Zeus and Hera, something Cyrus would not have done. It’s a mix of fact and fiction.Some have found it helpful to think of this book as a novel. Others as a moral treatise. It influenced Machiavelli’s The Prince and Thomas Jefferson was said to be fond of it. I felt like I was gaining secret knowledge in parts of it. Other parts moved slowly along before moving into the brilliant strategic move to take down the Babylonian empire.In this episode, I provide an overview of the book, discuss the fact or fiction debate, highlight wise leadership by Cyrus, and share the one thing I can’t get out of my head.Show Notes:* Version of The Education of Cyrus that I read This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The Persian Cyrus the Younger recruits Greek mercenaries (12,900 to be exact, although Ten Thousand has a nicer ring to it) to help him try to claim the throne of Persia. The battle doesn’t go well, Cyrus loses a hand and a head, and the Greeks are forced to retreat to their country of origin. These events, take place between 401 - 399BC.Anabasis means a movement upwards, but can also refer both to an advance and a retreat. Both occur in this work, with Xenophon not only authoring the work but being a main character in the history.Xenophon was both a friend and a student of the philosopher Socrates. He was also a leader of these soldiers and he used what he learned from Socrates to try to persuade his men.This is an action-packed thriller of a tale. The Greeks meet unique people groups with wild customs, eat some mad honey, and party with clowns. All the while, they are longing to return home, a place many of them will never see again. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I love experiencing a book for the first time. There’s the rush of discovering a new story, an intoxicating idea, or a memorable character. By the time I’ve finished the book, I’m ready to get that hit again with a new book. I actually fear the high won’t be as good if I go back and read a book for a second time, even if it’s a book I really enjoyed.But that’s not how books work. Re-reading a book creates a new experience, not a recreation of the first reading. I’ve changed during readings. Life experience clues me into things I missed the first time around. I’m reminded of people, places, and things that stuck out the first time that made an indelible mark on my life.Many experiences in life can deteriorate with continued exposure. Reading a great book multiple times over the years is not one of those experiences.What I hope to do in this podcast episode is to encourage you begin re-reading certain books as part of your reading life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

It took me 5 comedy plays by Aristophanes to begin to enjoy them. This was the 5th. It wasn’t as crude or banal as the first four I read (Clouds, Birds, Lysistrata, Women of the Assembly). I really enjoyed this one. Dionysus journeys to Hades to meet Euripides. A verbal contest ensues between the great tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides to determine who is the Best Tragic Poet. On the way to Hades, Dionysus hears the song of the Frogs, the title for this play.The Frogs was first performed at the City Dionysus festival in 405BC. It won first prize. This was one year after the death of Euripides and 51 years after the death of Aeschylus.In this episode, I talk about The Frogs, discuss aspects of comedy that had bothered me just a week ago, and share the one thing the stuck out the most. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe