“I’ve only listed to a few episodes far. I tried vetting the hosts, and of the two I could find much about, they both work at Veritas Academy, a Christian school in Austin that focuses on a classical education.
I love the idea of this podcast - giving people easily accessible and engaging content about classical works that are often befuddling. But I don’t see that any of the hosts have any kind of specialized, in-depth background in the field, and that makes me take their words with a grain of salt. (By way of contrast, the Nordic Mythology podcast is hosted primarily by a Ph.D/university professor who does research, writes, and teaches in the field).
This was accentuated when, in episode 3, they reference King Priam of Troy of having 50 sons plus an unmentioned number of daughters, and say ‘poor Queen Hecuba’ and ‘Is that possible?’. I am not a classicist, but I’m well aware that Priam had, as was usual for the time, a ton of concubines, and many of those children were not by his queen but by his concubines. They sidestep this by making a joke of it and feigning ignorance. That may present a picture more in line with their Christian worldview, but it isn’t accurate, and it makes me wonder what else they alter/ignore in favor of trying to present the classics as in line with Christian values. It’s doubly odd since the Christian Bible, in whatever version, is full of kings with plenty of mistresses and concubines and illegitimate kids.
Anyway, I think it is a relatively fun podcast, but one has to look elsewhere for a truly accurate information set on these subjects. Hopefully this podcasts leads people to do more digging, and they don’t just stop at the Christianized/sanitized version of things presented by these dubiously-qualified hosts. They mean well. But I’d love to see them get someone who has actually got a degree, preferably from a less religiously-oriented institution, to help them with the podcast.”
MamaKatSi via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
03/20/21