Show Notes
THE STORY: (43 minutes) Operation Trojan Storm needs the craft and cunning of Odysseus, Greece’s most clever man. But Odysseus has mysteriously vanished. Agamemnon puts his best man, Palamedes, on the case. “Find Odysseus; bring him to me, one way or another”, Agamemnon commands. But what Palamedes discovers when he finally locates Odysseus ….! Tune in to the podcast to learn the whole, horrifying truth!
THE COMMENTARY: GREEK PIRATES vs. TROJAN MERCHANTS (17 minutes; begins at 43:00) I shamelessly spend this entire post-story commentary geeking-out on Greek naval technology and tactics. First I paint a quick picture of sort of ships that Agamemnon was building in order to launch his amphibious invasion of Troy. Then I review Greek naval tactics, explaining how Agamemnon’s fast, nimble and highly mobile ships managed to terrorize the towns and cities of the Mediterranean world. Then I explain how the Greeks of 1250 B.C.E. “looked outward” for economic opportunity: how they proudly sacked, pillaged and raped their way through the Mediterranean with the help of their boats. Then I turn to Troy – a Mediterranean power with no navy at all. I explore the reason for this: namely that the Trojans were merchants who had no need to venture outward for economic opportunity. They simply sat safely behind their high walls and waited for the world’s wealth to come to them. Finally I review doubts expressed by contemporary historians concerning the actual size of Agamemnon’s invasion fleet: were there really 1186 ships, as Homer claims? Lots of fun! Jeff
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Odyssey: The Podcast picks up right where Trojan War: The Podcast leaves off: with the city of Troy a smoldering ruin, and Odysseus staring out across the wine-dark sea, readying to guide his surviving 600 soldiers back home to Ithaka. The fourteen episodes of Odyssey: The Podcast follow the identical format of Trojan War: The Podcast--an entertaining story (this time grounded in Homer's Odyssey) followed by Post Chapter Commentaries. Your storyteller and traveling companion, Jeff Wright, remains the same!
ODYSSEY: THE PODCAST - my 14 episode, 24 hour sequel to Trojan War: The Podcast - is now recorded and waiting for you. Subscribe through your usual podcast provider, or go to odysseythepodcast.com! THE STORY: (40 minutes) Zeus, King of the Gods, hosts a wedding. An uninvited guest crashes, bringing an unwelcome gift. In mere moments, all Hades breaks loose. And the wheels of Western culture’s most awesome epic - the Trojan War - are set in motion.
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