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It's All Greek (and Latin) To Me

It's All Greek (and Latin) To Me

By: It's All Greek (and Latin) To Me
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Want a quick way to know more about Classical Myths and Literature? Join Armand D'Angour (Professor of Classics at Oxford University) and Jimmy Mulville (Comedy Producer, Chairman of charity 'Classics For All' and lifelong classics devotee) as they explore stories and quotes that are familiar through their use in our everyday lives.


Ever said 'Carpe Diem!' or heard about the 'Oedipus Complex'? Ever really thought about where that quote comes from or what the Oedipus Complex really refers to?


Let Armand and Jimmy tell you where these originated, what they actually mean, and who wrote them.





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Hat Trick Productions Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Gods, Frogs and The Ancient Greek Elvis – The Music of Ancient Greece

    Gods, Frogs and The Ancient Greek Elvis – The Music of Ancient Greece
    Jun 17 2025
    He gyrated, he pouted, he played two pipes at once – and he may have been the Elvis of ancient Greece...

    This week, Jimmy and Armand plunge into the strange, stirring soundscape of the classical world, where music wasn’t background – it was everything.

    We meet professional pipers who whipped crowds into frenzies, women whose musical talent could buy them out of slavery, and frogs who sang in rhythmic unison to torment a god. From breath-defying performance techniques to the eerie beauty of melodies reconstructed from scraps of papyrus, this is a world where language and pitch were inseparable – and where the past can still sing.

    The music heard (in order) was:
    • ‘Improvisation on the Lourve Aulos’ performed by Callum Armstrong.
    • 'The Frog Chorus' from ‘The Frogs’ by Aristophanes performed by Callum Armstrong.
    • ‘Pindar's 12th Pythian Ode’ performed by Stef Conner and Barnaby Brown.
    • ‘Euripides Orestes’ performed by a mixed choir and Barnaby Brown on the Aulos.
    A big thank you to all the performers.

    Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mulville
    Produced by Diggory Waite
    A Hat Trick Production

    For more on the charity Classics For All, who support state schools to introduce or develop the teaching of classical subjects sustainably on the curriculum or as an after school activity, visit www.classicsforall.org.uk
    Show more Show less
    29 mins
  • “They Make a Desert and Call It Peace” – Tacitus' Agricola

    “They Make a Desert and Call It Peace” – Tacitus' Agricola
    Jun 10 2025
    “They make a desert and call it peace.” It’s one of the most brutal lines in ancient history – but was it ever actually spoken?

    Jimmy and Armand unpack the sharp, unsettling world of Roman historian Tacitus, who often slipped his most biting critiques of Ancient Rome into the mouths of her enemies. We explore the fine line between history and drama, how Roman speeches were crafted rather than recorded, and what that says about truth, narrative, and power.

    Also in this episode: collapsing assassination boats, Roman mothers who just won’t die, the surprising origin of the phrase “parting shot” (which isn’t actually ‘parting shot’ at all!) and why Chelmsford was once (sort of) the heart of the Roman Empire.

    The main texts explored were:
    Agricola, Tacitus
    Annals, Tacitus
    Histories, Tacitus

    Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mulville
    Produced by Diggory Waite
    A Hat Trick Production

    For more on the charity Classics For All, who support state schools to introduce or develop the teaching of classical subjects sustainably on the curriculum or as an after school activity, visit www.classicsforall.org.uk
    Show more Show less
    23 mins
  • Dogs, Birds and… Eels? – Pets in the Ancient World

    Dogs, Birds and… Eels? – Pets in the Ancient World
    May 27 2025
    Armand and Jimmy follow the pawprints of history to uncover the deeply emotional – and sometimes bizarre – relationships the ancients had with their animals. From the heartbreaking moment Odysseus returns home to find his loyal dog Argos dying, to a Roman epitaph that mourns a beloved pup named Patrikhi, they reveal a world where grief and love for pets were immortalized in verse. Along the way, they explore a Roman orator who dressed his pet eel in jewellery, Virgil’s possible tax-dodging fly funeral, and Julius Caesar’s short-lived affection for a giraffe…

    The main texts explored (in order) were: Homer’s Odyssey, Roman Epitaph for Patrikhi, Catullus Poems 2 & 3, Martial Epigrams 1.109, Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, Herodotus’ Histories and Euripides’ Orestes.

    Presented by Armand D’Angour and Jimmy Mulville
    Produced by Diggory Waite
    A Hat Trick Production

    For more on the charity Classics For All, who support state schools to introduce or develop the teaching of classical subjects sustainably on the curriculum or as an after school activity, visit www.classicsforall.org.uk
    Show more Show less
    28 mins
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