The fact that many of the marbles from the Parthenon reside in the British Museum (London) has been controversial since they first landed there in the early 19th century. In this complex tale Lord Elgin has often played the villain—he being the one who greedily had the sculptures removed from Athens to decorate his drafty Scottish mansion. But is the story that simple? In this episode Dave and Jeff tell the whole story front to back with an eye to several questions: does Elgin perhaps deserve a ...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 70
Ever since the 1960 publication of Winnie Ille Pu (Winnie the Pooh...or is that Winnie that Well-Known Pooh Over There?) there has been a steady stream over the years of popular, contemporary texts translated into Latin. But why? Are these just gimmicky forays on shelves, unread and unthumbed heores, or can they be effective tools in actually learning Latin? Jeff and Dave tackle this question and many more as they walk the listener through Latinized versions of Seuss, Carroll, Sendak and Rowling...
Jan 06, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 69
By now listeners have gotten used to (and maybe even enjoyed?) the loose, devil-may-care, locker room atmosphere that tends to dominate in the Vomitorium. But what about a ladies' perspective on all this folderol? And not just any old feminine perspective, but that of the extraordinary women who made the decision to marry these chuckleheads? That’s right—this week the guys are joined by Tara and Bec (married, respectively, to Dave and Jeff) where they get a chance to unload on what it’s like to ...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 68
Desperate to find the perfect gift to slip into your favorite scholar’s (budding and otherwise) stocking this year? Of course you are, because if he or she finds another bath bomb or scented whazzit in there someone’s going to get hurt. Fear not! Dave and Jeff are here to help with their curated best-of lists. And the gamut is run—yes, there are plenty of heady tomes to set your beloveds on the proper path, but also many surprises along the way, including shred metal guitar, stunningly bad movie...
Dec 23, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 67
It’s “Bring Your Daughter to Work Week” in the vomitorium and today Dave’s daughter Jillian stops by to talk about what it was like being homeschooled, speaking Latin and Ancient Greek from a young age, and what has kept her interest in the Classics to the present day. Jillian weaves and dodges her way through a barrage of dad jokes as she takes us through Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and reasons why it sparked her interest in mythology. Before she bolts for her 2nd semester of Classic...
Dec 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 66
This week the guys hopscotch from Babylon, to Memphis (not TN), to Alexandria (not VA), and even to Venice (not FL) in search of an answer to one of the most captivating and lingering archaeological questions of all time—what happened to the tomb and body of Alexander Ille Magnus? How could this centuries-long tourist attraction (visited by some of the greatest Caesars who ever caesared) and massive, Wal-Mart sized complex simply vanish? As they say, it’s complicated. We’ve got cross-desert cata...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 65
Transliminate your favorite room, grab a cronut and get ready for some top-shelf edutainment! Dave and Jeff set the table, tackling terms and probing provenances with deep dives into etymologies, derivatives, cognates, and malapropism (be careful not to die in the barn!) After some stretching, the guys even break a sweat with high-intensity calquing. Next up, some favorite mondegreens as Dave flakes on Phil Collins and Jeff trips over Toto, followed by some of Dave’s best practical principles on...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 64
What’s the best way to learn, retain, and teach Latin? The old school, passive “grammar and rote memorization” route or the hip, (relatively) new active, “spoken and living language” approach? You don’t need to be versed in COBOL or FORTRAN or know your way around those punch-cards that used to operate refrigerator-sized computers back in the ‘70s to answer that question (though it might help). Dave and Jeff are here to share the stories of their own journeys through various Latin curricula on b...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 63
Ever wonder why the American capitol is chock full of columns, pediments, and triglyphs, or why the Washington Monument appears supremely suited for roasting large quantities of meat? Then this is the episode for you. The guys begin their journey way back in the 18th century when Europe was undergoing a wave of “Greek Fever” and “Egyptomania”. They had it all: romantic poems, shady trinket collections, and enlightened revolutions which eventually spilled over into neo-classical architecture. And...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 62
It's tufa one in the Vomitorium today! Two petrifying tales from the Metamorphoses, that is. First, Perseus gets hopelessly lost and takes it for granite that big-boned Atlas will offer him directions and a snack. But a dread prophecy leads Atlas to slam the door instead and Perseus to say "No More Mr. Gneiss Guy". He whips out his secret weapon from his Gorgon's head-sized holster with predictable results. Next it's on to Niobe whose Latona-directed trash talk knows no bounds. Even when Apollo ...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 61
Do you encourage your children to stay in their beds at night by telling them that, if they get up, a vampiric meany will sneak in through a window and slurp their haematids? No? Well, the ancient Greeks would like to have a talk with you about your parenting skills. Keep your favorite apotropaic talisman handy as we mull the blood-thirsty Mormo, disengawk the seductive Lamia, and evade the, um, dung-footed Empousa (!) in this spooky season special. If you make it through that gory gauntlet, the...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 60
Jeff and Dave wade into the Olympic-sized pool that is Ovid’s masterpiece, the Metamorphoses. After untangling etymological tendrils of the word “vignette”, the guys dive right in. First up, “Apollo and Daphne”. Not happy with Apollo’s arch trash-talk, Cupid shows him who’s really the boss—his arrows unleash unstoppable passion and malodorous disdain between the titular two. This is not the chubby bowman on your Valentine’s card. Then it’s on to “Diana and Actaeon”. What’s the message here? Anot...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 59
Today the guys tackle the life and work of public intellectual Joseph Campbell, best known for his theory of the monomyth which proposes that all hero narratives are, at root, simply variations on the same story. Once they get past the irritating, almost Forrest Gumpian nature of Campbell’s self-mythologizing biography, Dave and Jeff get down to the stages of the “journey” itself. Behold calls to adventure, tests, mentors, katabaseis, resurrections; and a Frodo, Harry, Katniss, and Skywalker hid...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 58
This week Dave and Jeff sit down with intellectual powerhouse and controversialist Heather Mac Donald. Known primarily for her incisive social commentary on policing, Heather is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a New York Times bestselling author. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including higher education, immigration, policing, homelessness and homeless advocacy, criminal-justice reform, and race relations. The guys enjoy ...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 57
This week join Jeff, Dave, and Toto on a climb up the fragrant slopes of Mount Parnassus to consult what was the premier divination site in the ancient Mediterranean—the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. But you don’t just barge on in and start a-consulting left and right; there are purifications to be made, various deities to appease, hearts and brains to find, and sacrifices to offer. Only then you may ask your question of Delph the Great and Powerful. So come along, take in the view, and hope our a...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 56
Ever run into the phrase Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur (“Whatever is said in Latin seems profound”)? Well, most of the states in the American union took that sentiment to heart when they came up with their personal mottoes (institutions and tattoo-getters too). After a brief detour through the pitfalls of collegiate apophthegms and bare midriff-commenting, Dave and Jeff rip and riff through all the mottos of the lower 48 (and those other two). Little mercy is shown as they decide who’...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 55
This week Jeff and Dave wrap their look at Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, doing their best to break down the essentials all the while dodging those clinamen-controlled atoms. Because according to Luc these little cueballs explain everything. Earthquakes? Swerving atoms. Human speech? Swerving atoms. That dream you had about being late for your myth final while inexplicably juggling fuchsia avocados? Swerving atoms. Tune in to discover how the world blows its nose, and how to answer your kids' awkwa...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 54
This week Dave and Jeff make their way through the heart of the matter with a close look at Books 2-4 of Lucretius' Epicurean masterpiece. The guys serve up dreams, gossamer atoms, Stonecutters , Steve Gutenberg , and a whole lot of Dave's irascibility. Along the way, you'll learn not only how E. got his physics from the pre-Socratic atomists Leucippus and Democritus , but also how the late Kurt Cobain may just rip apart this long-term, literary friendship. Jeff reprises his brief but brilliant ...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 53
Our dive into Lucretius continues this week and after a quick review of Epicureanism we get to the particulars. First up, Memmius , Lucretius’ patron to whom he dedicated his work. Why him? From the few shenanigans we know about Memmy he seems like a very un-Epicurean sort. Was Lucretius trying convert him? Then the thesis of the work—freeing oneself from superstition and the fear of death. If religion forces you to sacrifice you own daughter, what good is it? Can Venus and Mars stay in détente ...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 52
This week Jeff and Dave may have bitten off more than they can chew as the subject of the day is, well, everything. In the 1st century BC Lucretius sat down and attempted to, in dactylic hexameter mind you, explain the origin of all things without resorting to divine explanations. How would this have played amongst the smart set of his day? And why should we listen to someone who may have bought the farm by overdosing on Love Potion #9 ? We might better understand all of it with a better grasp o...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 51
What better way to ring in our 50th than with the ribald, ridiculous, and righteous ruckus that is Athenian Old Comedy? After a quick trip through the quasi-mythic origins of comedy, Dave and Jeff dive into the particulars of Aristophanes’ Frogs. In this play we find ourselves in 405 BC and the great tragedian Euripides has just died. Dionysus, the god of tragedy itself, decides that because there are now no good poets left he’ll go down into Hades and bring Euripides back from the dead. And fro...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 50
This week the throw-down continues as Dave, Jeff, and Dr. Patrick M. Owens dig into a pile of Latin textbooks and see which ones are worthy of a podium finish. Need to brush up on your ecclesiastical Latin? You’d better know your Collins from your Henle. Do the names “Cambridge” and “Oxford” conjure images of Britishy erudition? Maybe not so fast. Dashed off caricatures of oddly proportioned “melon heads” not your thing? Learn which books NOT to open. So, tune in (if you can take a break from gi...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 49
This week Dave and Jeff sit down for Part I of a wide-ranging discussion with good friend and Latin guru Dr. Patrick M. Owens of Hillsdale College . We take a brief look at Patrick’s fascinating bio and how he came to love and practice spoken Latin at a very high level. Then we seek to answer such questions as “What makes a good Latin textbook?” “What is the role of the teacher in presenting a Latin curriculum?” “What are the strengths of the inductive vs. deductive methods of language instructi...
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 48
Jeff and Dave bring the first show from Vomitorium West, where they take a close look at the sophist Gorgias (483–375 BC). When he wasn’t hitting the Olympia/Delphi orators circuit for some cool drachmai, Gorgias was in Athens claiming to be able to answer any question anyone one might put to him. Who was this guy? Did he actually believe his own press? In this work, G defends Helen of Troy so convincingly you’ll be fist-pumping. That is, until he pulls the rug out from under the whole project w...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 47
This week the Vomitorium is graced with the presence of Dave and Jeff’s friend, former colleague, mentor and professor, Dr. Ken Bratt. Join us as Dr. Bratt shares his vast knowledge of the ancient Roman colony of Philippi--site of game-changing battles, crossroads of culture, and where the first European converts to Christianity (including Lydia) were made. Ken walks us through the archaeological remains, connecting them to biblical narrative and dispelling a few likely legends along the way. Is...
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 46
This week Dave and Jeff sit down with New York Times Bestselling author Ross King whose works such as Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling have set the gold standard for erudite, popular history over the last twenty years. We cover Ross’ career from academia, to novel writer, to his latest book, The Bookseller of Florence (2021). Come along as we walk the streets of Renaissance and contemporary Florence where one might have a life-altering epiphany atop a red-tiled dome or...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 45
Oh say can you see where this one is going? Many people have heard about the influence of the Roman Republic on the shaping of the American government but are perhaps unaware how much deeper the ancient underpinnings go. This week, with Carl Richards' The Founders and the Classics: Greece, Rome, and the American Enlightenment , as their guide, Jeff and Dave take a star-spangled look at the Greeks and Romans read, revered, and almost rejected by the founders of the United States. From the earlies...
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 44
Dear Starry-Eyed Undergrads, you know that dream of your future grad school you have where you’re strolling through a leafy quad on your way to share a bottle of port with a kind, nurturing mentor, as you scoop up tray parfaits ? Well, in this episode Dave and Jeff take those notions, drop them into the Cuisinart , and hit frappe. Take a trip with us down this pothole-ridden memory lane where you’ll find cutthroat politics, failed airport pickups, doomed lectures, lucubrations and excoriations, ...
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 43
This week Dave and Jeff take a close look at a well-known passage from ch. 14 of the Lukan history of the early church. As the apostles extend their preaching ministry into the Lycaonian region of Anatolia , they are mistaken for the gods Zeus and Hermes because of a miraculous healing Paul performs. The priest of Zeus wants to gin up a sacrifice, but the apostles risk life and limb, barely averting the ceremony. This story bears some interesting resemblance to a famous account in Ovid’s Metamor...
Jun 22, 2021•57 min•Ep. 42
This week Jeff and Dave do some spelunking to try figure out what the strange mystery rites of the Persiany cult of Mithras were all about, and why they were so popular during the Roman Empire. We begin with a breakdown of what exactly a “ mystery cult ” is, and then move on to Mithras himself, a hero whose myths do not survive in any written form. What do we make of the strange iconography that does survive, such as the bull-slaying motif ( tauroctony )? Was this some kind of death-killing, sol...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 41
