An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

79. Ancient Olympics

July 26, 2021

Description

With the Games underway in Tokyo, Tom and Dominic look back to the Ancient Olympics. They discuss the heroic but incredibly violent stories of the Greek superstars of 2500 years ago, and why the...
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Books Referenced

The Histories

Author: Herodotus

Context:

Referenced at the beginning of the episode when discussing the story of the Battle of Thermopylae and the Greek response about the Olympic Games

Description of Greece

Author: Pausanias

Context:

Described as a 'travel guide to Greece' from the second century AD, referenced multiple times as a key source for information about the Olympic Games and their significance

Victory Odes

Author: Pindar

Context:

Referenced when discussing how Olympic winners could commission victory hymns, with Pindar from Thebes identified as the famous poet who wrote these celebratory odes