Inherit the Humanities.

1. Introduction to Old Western Culture 16 min
2. The Backdrop to the Iliad 36 min
3. The Anger of Achilleus (Iliad I-IV) 31 min
4. The First Critical Turning Point (Iliad V-IX) 19 min
5. The Deception of Zeus (Iliad X-XV) 20 min
6. The Second Critical Turning Point (Iliad XVI-XXI) 25 min
7. The Death of Hektor (Iliad XXII-XXIV) 26 min
8. The Telemachy (Odyssey I-IV) 25 min
9. The Court of Alkinoös (Odyssey V-VIII) 21 min
10. Odysseus Tells of his Wanderings (Odyssey IX-XII) 30 min
11. The Homecoming of Odysseus & The Judgement of the Suitors (Odyssey XIII-XXIV) 30 min
12. The Legacy of Homer in Western Civilization 22 min

Greeks: The Epics covers the two great poems of Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey. Join Wesley Callihan, a veteran teacher of the classics, as he guides the student through the world of Homer. In story-like fashion, he steers the reader through the plot, poetic devices, background, philosophy, history, and beauty of the poems, as well as how we should approach these monuments of Western culture from a Christian perspective.

1. Background of Greek Drama: Development of Theater 24 min
2. Background of Greek Drama: The Period, the Poets, and the Presentation 29 min
3. Aeschylus’ Oresteia: The Agamemnon 25 min
4. Aeschylus’ Oresteia: The Libation-bearers and The Eumenides 14 min
5. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King 32 min
6. Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus 25 min
7. Euripides’ Medea and Trojan Women 34 min
8. Aristophanes’ The Frogs and The Clouds 22 min
9. Lyric Poetry: Sappho and Pindar, and Theocritus 37 min
10. Lyric Poetry: Hesiod 23 min
11. Lesser Epics: Quintus of Smyrna, The Fall of Troy 28 min
12. Lesser Epics: Apollonius of Rhodes, The Argonautica 34 min

The Greeks: Drama and Lyric covers the beginning of drama and some of the earliest comedies and tragedies known to the Western world. This course includes lectures on the three primary tragedians from the Ancient Greek world by Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides and also one of the most famous writers of Greek comedy, Aristophanes. The course also offers an introduction to Greek lyric poetry from the same era, including passages by Pindar, Sappho, and Quintus of Smyrna. A lecture on the minor epic poetry of Hesiod is also included as a complement to part Greeks: The Epics.

1. Overview of Greek History 29 min
2. Herodotus 1: Introduction and Croesus 26 min
3. Herodotus 2: Stories of Egypt and the other nations 30 min
4. Herodotus 3: The Beginning of the Persian Wars and the Battle of Marathon 19 min
5. Herodotus 4: The Battle of Thermopylae 27 min
6. Herodotus 5: The Battle of Salamis, and the End of the Persian Wars 25 min
7. Thucydides 1: Introduction, Thucydides’ Philosophy of History, and the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War 33 min
8. Thucydides 2: The Early Years, Pericles, and the Great Plague 26 min
9. Thucydides 3: Mytiline, Exile, Revolution, and Melos 44 min
10. Thucydides 4: The Sicilian Campaign, and the Downfall of Athens 29 min
11. Xenophon: The March of the Ten Thousand 29 min
12. The Lessons of Greek History 23 min

Greeks: The Histories introduces students to three of history’s most influential early historians. Students will learn about Herodotus, the “Father of History”, as they read his masterpiece, The Histories, and its inquiries into the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. They will read and learn about Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War and its forays into the earliest expressions of political philosophy. And last they will read Xenophon’s Anabasis, the famous account which reads like a novel as it chronicles the march of ten thousand Greeks soldiers on their treacherous journey home through enemy territory.

1. Overview of Greek philosophy, introduction to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle 28 min
2. Plato: The Apology: Socrates, St. Paul, and The Doctrine of Wisdom 31 min
3. Plato: The Crito and Phaedo: Socrates, Christianity, and the doctrine of body and soul 31 min
4. Plato: The Phaedrus: Socrates, Augustine, Dante, C. S. Lewis, and the Dialectic of Desire; True teaching 38 min
5. Plato: The Republic: understanding morality 30 min
6. Plato: The Republic: The Forms and the influence on Medieval Christendom 28 min
7. Aristotle: The Metaphysics: Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Doctrine of Wisdom 30 min
8. Aristotle: The Metaphysics: the Cosmos in Antiquity and the Middle Ages 33 min
9. Aristotle: The Ethics: Happiness the Chief End of Man 23 min
10. Aristotle: The Ethics: Friendship 24 min
11. Aristotle: The Poetics: Stories, Oedipus, and Jane Austen 30 min
12. The Lessons of Greek Philosophy 29 min

Greeks: The Philosophers covers the most important works of Plato and Aristotle and introduces students to the ideas that have been wrestled with by Western Civilization for over two thousand years. The texts covered in this unit include Plato’s Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, and Republic; and Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Ethics, and Poetics. Wesley Callihan draws from decades of teaching experience as he unpacks the concepts, dispels common misconceptions, and explains how the Christian church and society at large have been influenced by the ideas of these men—both for good and for ill.

1. Historical Overview of Christendom 31 min
2. Benedict’s Rule and Monasticism 36 min
3. Transition to the Middle Ages 37 min
4. Procopius and Gregory 26 min
5. Maximus the Confessor 29 min
6. Celtic Christians 39 min
7. Beowulf 41 min
8. Bede I: Early History of England 37 min
9. Bede II: The Coming of Christianity 34 min
10. Bede III: The Confirming of Christianity 22 min
11. Lives of Charlemagne and Alfred 38 min
12. John of Damascus 46 min

Christendom: Early Medievals, The Growth of European Christianity, introduces students to life in the Middle Ages from a Christian perspective. Students will read about the military exploits of the Eastern Roman Empire under the emperor Justinian as chronicled by Procopius, the last great historian of the Roman world. Learn how the development of monasticism preserved learning and culture after the fall of the Roman Empire, contrary to Enlightenment assumptions. Learn about the central role that Irish Christianity played in the spread of the gospel through the lives of St. Patrick, Bede, and others.

1. Historical Overview of the High Middle Ages 38 min
2. Anselm’s Ontological Argument 37 min
3. Anselm’s Monologium 1 38 min
4. Anselm’s Monologium 2 34 min
5. Anselm’s Why God Became Man 1 28 min
6. Anselm’s Why God Became Man 2 24 min
7. History of the Kings of Britain 1 35 min
8. History of the Kings of Britain 2 33 min
9. The Golden Legend 30 min
10. Historical Overview of the Crusades 29 min
11. The Conquest of Constantinople 35 min
12. The Life of St. Louis 30 min

Christendom: Defense of the Faith, Scholasticism in the High Middle Ages, immerses students into one of the most misunderstood periods of history. Start by learning about Anselm’s theological defense of the faith as he explains his ontological argument for the existence of God. Through Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, learn about the background to the Crusades. Finally, learn about the Crusades themselves, both the good, and the bad. Don’t miss the harrowing tales of Vikings escaping Constantinople and knights fighting for the faith!

1. Introduction to The Medieval Mind 29 min
2. Aquinas’ Compendium I 36 min
3. Aquinas’ Compendium II 28 min
4. Aquinas’ Compendium III 27 min
5. Introduction to Dante 31 min
6. The Inferno I 31 min
7. The Inferno II 40 min
8. Purgatorio I 29 min
9. Purgatorio II 45 min
10. Paradiso I 35 min
11. Paradiso II 40 min
12. Conclusion 14 min

Christendom: The Medieval Mind begins by guiding students through the basics of Thomas Aquinas’ Compendium, introducing students to the medieval mindset which greatly influenced later theologians and philosophers. With this foundation, students embark on a journey through Dante’s conception of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise in The Divine Comedy, exploring medieval concepts of guilt, atonement, beauty, and the cosmos. Meet many classic characters from the Greeks to Dante’s present day as Dante uses his allegory to explore human nature, as well as the politics of his day.

1. Introduction to Renaissance and Reformation 39 min
2. Canterbury Tales 1 34 min
3. Canterbury Tales 2 35 min
4. Canterbury Tales 3 41 min
5. From Premodern to Modern Times 44 min
6. Predecessors to the Reformation 46 min
7. Luther and 16th Century Reform 51 min
8. International Calvinism 39 min
9. The Reformation in England 37 min
10. Spenser 1 37 min
11. Spenser 2 27 min
12. Spenser 3 47 min

Christendom: The Reformation: Post Tenebras Lux, introduces students to the great minds of the Reformation: John Calvin, Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, and Erasmus. But a study of this tumultuous period of history would be sorely lacking without a thorough understanding of the historical setting of the Reformation. Wesley Callihan and Dr. Chris Schlect team up to lay a solid foundation for understanding the origins and struggles of the Reformation, as well as its theology and influence. Students will read part of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, as well as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Spenser’s Faerie Queene.