Episode 330: Where to Start with Ancient Literature with Dr. Anne Phillips
The Literary Life Podcast
Angelina Stanford
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2026
⏱️ 98 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts seek to answer your questions about reading ancient literature. Angelina and Thomas and joined by their colleague, Dr. Anne Phillips, and together they cover some of the most frequently asked questions about diving into the ancients, including the following:
- Which epic should a person start with, and why?
- How should kids be introduced to the epics?
- What is a good place to begin reading the Greek dramatists?
- Where to begin becoming familiar with Greek myth?
- Where should someone start to dip into ancient history?
- What if a person wants to read ancient philosophy?
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars. Also, you can visit Cassiodorus Press to order Dr. Jason Baxter's newest books, and get on the email list so you don't miss any publication news!
Finally, if you want to view the full show notes for this episode, including links to books and authors mentioned, as well as today's poem and quotes, please visit https://theliterary.life/330.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is not just another book chat podcast. |
| 0:21.6 | Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well. |
| 0:32.6 | Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature. |
| 0:40.2 | Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week, we will rescue |
| 0:47.1 | story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the |
| 0:55.9 | words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into |
| 1:02.2 | reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world. |
| 1:09.7 | This is the Literary Life Podcast. |
| 1:12.6 | Hello and welcome to the Literary Life podcast. |
| 1:30.9 | I'm Angelina Stanford, and today we have a very special episode for you. |
| 1:35.7 | One of the things I've been trying to do more on the podcast is notice the sorts of questions we get repeatedly |
| 1:41.7 | and try to have one episode devoted to answering all the questions |
| 1:45.6 | and variations of the questions we get, you know, just so you can have like a one-stop shop. |
| 1:50.0 | And a question we get very regularly is where to start with the ancients. |
| 1:54.9 | What epic should I start with? |
| 1:56.1 | What translation? |
| 1:57.1 | Which place should I start with? |
| 1:58.8 | Which history? |
| 1:59.4 | Which philosophy? |
| 2:00.7 | So, joining me today to answer the question, where to start with the ancients are our two |
| 2:07.2 | classicists here at the House of Humane Letter. |
| 2:09.8 | So my very own mysterious Mr. Banks. |
... |
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