Series 2: The Greek Sun

Pyrrhus, Greek king and general, fights the Roman tide that threatens to wash over the entire Greek world. The Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt flourish

Alexander the Great dies and leaves behind a fragmented world of multi-cultural states led by Greek soldiers. The Hellenistic period which follows brings western ideas

Alexander the Great at the Battle of Granicus, the Battles of Issus and Gaugamela. Jerusalem and Gaza. The Temple of Ammon in Egypt. His horse

The youth of Alexander the Great. His strange mother Olympias. His friends Ptolemy, Nearchus and others. Cleopatra , Darius III and the fall of Thebes.

Phillip II of Macedonia. Alexander the Great. The Sacred Band of Thebes. A brief digression on Greek sexuality. Demosthenes. Olympias. Leuctra, Mantinea, Chaeronea. Epaminondas. Pelopidas

The philosophical works of Aristotle. Metaphysics, Ethics and Politics.

Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes and more. Over the centuries, the ancient Greeks separate Mathematics and other fields of study from philosophy.

The Aristotelian contribution to Greek Science. Defining first principles. Substance, Accidents and the nature of being.

Socrates envisions a just society in which men and women are equals, and all are suited perfectly for their station in life. But is the

From his jail cell in Athens, Socrates makes his last argument in defense of the immortal soul. Death as separation of body and soul. The

Xenophon disregards the advice of Socrates and joins the army of Cyrus the Younger. When Cyrus dies in combat against his brother, Artaxerxes, King of

Socrates stands trial for impiety. The Apology and the Crito. The similarities between Socrates and Christ.

Aristophanes mocks and derides the latest developments in Athenian society, and lambasts the motives for the seemingly endless Peloponnesian War. His play, The Clouds, takes

Introduction to Socrates and Plato and the tetralogies of dialogues. First Principles. Post-war Athens. Analysis of Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro.

Alcibiades finally comes to power. Lysander leads Sparta to victory. The long walls of Athens come tumbling down.

The mystery religions of Ancient Greece: Eleusis, Orphism and Christianity. From the Kykeon of Demeter to the Eucharist of Jesus.

The proud Athenians invade Sicily only to suffer inglorious defeat and annihilation. Nicias and Demosthenes executed. Alcibiades in exile.

One quarter of our food keeps us alive. The rest keeps doctors alive. Medical science in Classical Era Greece. The works of Hippocrates.

The Spartans surrender at Pylos. The rise and fall of Brasidas and Cleon. The Peace of Nicias.

All is the One. All is a perfect sphere of being, and we are all part of this One, as is all matter and all

Everywhere treachery, bloodshed, fury and destruction.

The playwrights Sophocles and Euripides. Focus of tragedy on the Trojan War and Heracles. The role of women in Greek tragedy. A review of Medea,

It begins at Epidamnus but only after conflicts at Potidaea and Plataea are all the cities of Greece brought into general warfare. The Plague of

Greek drama. Aeschylus and some of his plays: Agamemnon, The Persians and Prometheus Bound.