Why doesn't Homer mention Thebes? It was a powerful city-state, at one point the most powerful in the Mediterranean... and yet it's conspicuously not prevalent in the great epics. Perhaps its absence speaks volumes...

This Classical Wisdom Speaks episode is with Elton Barker and Joel Christensen, joint authors of both Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts as well as Homer: A Beginner's Guide.

Elton Barker is Professor of Greek Literature and Culture at the School of Arts & Cultures at the Open University, in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. He is also the General Secretary at Pelagios Network and Author of “Entering the Agon: Dissent and Authority in Homer, Historiography, and Tragedy”.

Joel Christensen is Professor and Chair at the Department of Classical Studies in Brandeis University. In addition to his and Elton’s joint books, he is Author of The Many-Minded Man: The "Odyssey," Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic (Myth and Poetics II)

We’ll discuss women in Archaic Greece, the possibility of a Theban Epic and whether or not Homer stole... or sampled from other traditions.

You can purchase Elton and Joel’s, book, Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts here:

https://chs.harvard.edu/book/barker-elton-and-joel-christensen-homers-thebes/

You can learn more about Classical Wisdom and Classical Wisdom Speaks here: https://classicalwisdom.com/

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Homer's Thebes... or lack thereof?