Venus, mother of Æneas and wife of Vulcan, obtained from her husband, by seductive witchery, a marvelous shield whose surface reflected a thousand years of future events. Venus describes the wonders of the magic armor. (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Mar 21, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1135
Introductory note on Virgil (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Mar 21, 2022•4 min•Season 1Ep. 1136
Introductory note on Voltaire (Volume 34, Harvard Classics)
Mar 20, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1134
Sir Isaac Newton was aided in his momentous discoveries by the most insignificant objects --- even apples, feathers, and coal. Voltaire discusses the wondrous discoveries of Newton. (Volume 34, Harvard Classics) Sir Isaac Newton died March 20, 1727.
Mar 20, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1133
The mysterious Egyptian temples, the floating islands, the huge pyramids and the many wonders of ancient Egypt are pictured for you by Herodotus. (Volume 33, Harvard Classics) Last recorded event in Herodotus' history dated March 19, 478 B. C.
Mar 19, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 1131
Introductory note on Herodotus (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)
Mar 19, 2022•5 min•Season 1Ep. 1132
A cunning uncle cheats his worthless nephew out of his fortune. The nephew, laughing stock of his former servants, sets out to retrieve his old position and riches. (Volume 47, Harvard Classics) Massinger buried March 18, 1640.
Mar 18, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 1129
Introductory note on Philip Massinger (Volume 47, Harvard Classics)
Mar 18, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1130
Introductory note on Ernest Renan (Volume 32, Harvard Classics)
Mar 17, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1128
An old Irish legend tells how, while St. Patrick was preaching about Paradise and Hell, several of his audience begged to be allowed to investigate the reality of these places. St. Patrick actually satisfied their curiosity. (Volume 32, Harvard Classics) St. Patrick's Day.
Mar 17, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1127
Introductory note on Charles Darwin (#2) (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)
Mar 17, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1126
Many amazing things happen in the Malay jungles. For example, Darwin tells about a crab that climbs trees and walks down the trunks for an occasional bath in a pool. (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)
Mar 17, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1125
Introductory note on Plutarch (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)
Mar 15, 2022•4 min•Season 1Ep. 1124
Twice warned of the danger that threatened him on the Ides of March, although "the earth rocked and the stars fell and headless men walked in the Forum," Cæsar goes to the doom awaiting him in the Senate Chamber. (Volume 12, Harvard Classics) Ides of March, March 15.
Mar 15, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1123
Introductory note on Sir Thomas Malory (Volume 35, Harvard classics)
Mar 14, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1122
"This gentlewoman that ye lead with you is a maid?" demanded the knight. "Sir," said she, "a maid I am." "Then she must yield us the custom of this castle." (Volume 35, Harvard Classics) Malory, recorder of King Arthur stories, died March 14, 1470.
Mar 14, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1121
Introductory note on Alessandro Manzoni (Volume 21, Harvard Classics)
Mar 13, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 1120
Manzoni has pictured in this thrilling romance of the seventeenth century nobility, the pompous and sporting life of those good old days when nobles lived sumptuously in spacious castles surrounded by vast estates. (Volume 21, Harvard Classics)
Mar 13, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 1119
Introductory note on George Berkeley (Volume 37, Harvard classics)
Mar 12, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1118
Berkeley believed in a great religious future for America. He lived three years in Rhode Island, and made plans for a college in Bermuda. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics) Bishop Berkeley born March 12, 1685.
Mar 12, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1117
Introductory note on Ralph Waldo Emerson (Volume 5, Harvard Classics)
Mar 11, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1116
We are paid for our suffering and we pay for our happiness. Every ache, every sorrow receives its recompense here on earth. Emerson gives the basis for this conviction. (Volume 5, Harvard Classics) Emerson ordained Unitarian minister, March 11, 1829.
Mar 11, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 1115
In the days when contact with the theatre meant exile from the best society, Beaumont and Fletcher, men from good families, dared to ally themselves with the stage as playwrights. "Philaster" won them immortal praise. (Volume 47, Harvard Classics)
Mar 10, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 1113
Introductory note on Beaumont and Fletcher (Volume 47, Harvard classics)
Mar 10, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1114
Introductory note on Jonathan Swift (Volume 27, Harvard classics)
Mar 09, 2022•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1112
Swift regretted the laws against dueling because dueling at least was a good means of ridding the country of bores and fools. His keen eye penetrated social customs and saw the common sense that governed good manners. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics) Passage of laws against dueling in England, March 9, 1679.
Mar 09, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 1111
Introductory note on Miguel de Cervantes (Volume 14, Harvard Classics)
Mar 08, 2022•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1110
Anselmo and Lothario were close friends. Anselmo, anxious to learn if his wife were perfect, as he believed her to be, makes an unusual proposal to his old friend. (Volume 14, Harvard Classics)
Mar 08, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1109
Bacon pointed out that a judge's duty was to interpret laws and not to make laws. This single essay of Bacon's is a richly condensed summary of the ethics of law. (Volume 3, Harvard Classics) Bacon made Keeper of the Great Seal of England, March 7, 1616.
Mar 07, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 1107
Introductory note on Francis Bacon (Volume 3, Harvard Classics)
Mar 07, 2022•4 min•Season 1Ep. 1108