Spring 2025 Classical Studies

with Mark Cwik

Spring 2025 Studies

It’s going to be an exciting, very Trojan autumn in our Classical studies: The stars have aligned, and all three of the weekly studies in progress—the Complete Greek Tragedies on Mondays, the Iliad Unhurried on Wednesdays, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses on Thursdays—will be discussing stories of the Trojan War!

I invite you to take a deep dive with me this autumn into the classic (and best) works of antiquity that tell the great cycle of stories of the ill-starred Trojan War. And don’t worry that it will be all battles and bloodshed: more often, the war provides the backdrop for the most deeply felt stories of human lives, loves, loss, griefs, loyalties, and betrayals.

All three weekly studies are starting new registration segments in September, and we have outstanding groups of readers in each. I am comfortable saying that we do some of the finest work of reading and thinking that you’ll find anywhere. Great texts + great people = great discussions.

It’s not too late to join us in one, two, or all three of these studies!

And, if you’d like to give Homer’s Iliad a review in whole, I’ll also be leading a shorter reading through Emily Wilson’s Iliad in November and December (via Classical Pursuits).

And if you’re eager to see the places where it all started, I’ll be leading a Classical Pursuits trip to Greece next March!

See below for more info, and details on how to register:

Herodotus’ History of the Persian Wars

Monday afternoons, 2:00pm – 4:15pm London time
12 weeks, 28 April –28 July (no meeting 02 June and 14 July)
£300

The Histories, by Herodotus
translated by Tom Holland, with introduction and notes by Paul Cartledge
Penguin Classics, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0140455397
The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories
edited by Robert Strassler, translated by Andrea L. Purvis
Anchor Books, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1400031146

Why do we want to know about what happened in the past? How sure can we be about what happened? And, how sure do we need to be?

In his Histories, Herodotus, the first great historian in the Western intellectual tradition, sets out, he tells us, to relate not only what has happened in the past, but to give us an explanation of why. He enquires into the long history of enmity between the Persian empire and the city-states of the Greek mainland, startingin the 560s BCE and culminating in a massive Persian invasion of mainlandGreece by the great King Xerxes in 480BCE. Herodotus has a capacious sense ofcausation, and his history blends politics, morality, personal anecdote,geography, ethnographic research and comparative religion—all in the voice of acharming, open-minded and most-entertaining raconteur.

The invasion by Xerxes, and a prior attempt by hispredecessor Darius ten years earlier, was a momentous event in Greek history.It threatened the freedom of the Greek city-states and helped to forge a unitedGreek identity. Herodotus is our primary source for stories of the famousbattle of Marathon, the heroic defense of Thermopylae by Leonidas and the 300Spartans, and the great naval battles at Artemisium and Salamis. TheGreco-Persian Wars described byHerodotus set in motion the forces that led to thelong Peloponnesian Wars waged between Athens and Sparta later in the 5thcentury. We read Herodotus for the events he relates for us, and even more forthe fundamental questions he raises about how we understand the forces thatshape our world.

This twelve-meeting study will be read-as-we-go: we’ll readyabout one book per week of The Histories.

Use the button below to register in GBP, USD, or CAD.

The Iliad Unhurried
(Books 13 – 14)

Wednesday afternoons, 2:00pm – 3:15pm London time (9:00am - 11:15am Eastern time US and Canada)
12 weeks, 02 April – 18 June
£165

Now finishing its third legendary year, our Iliad Unhurried slow read through Homer will finish Book 13 and move to Book 14. We’re now a bit past the halfway point of the poem, with plenty, plenty more to savour.

Anytime is a good time to join—we’ve added two new members in recent months, and I think everyone in the study will agree that our meetings are a highlight of their week. We’re reading more closely and thinking more creatively than most scholars—comparing translations, attending to details, learning a little Greek, living the poem! If you can’t imagine how an up-close reading could be so much fun—then you need to give it a try. I’m always happy to offer a free trial for a week or two so you can see if this is for you. Drop me a note if you’re interested, or take the dive and sign up!

Ovid’s Metamorphoses III (Books 10 – 15)

Thursday afternoons, 3:00pm – 5:15pm London time
15 weeks, 05 Sept – 19 Dec (no meeting 31 October)
£375

Our year-long study of Ovid’s epic-length poem of changes, the Metamorphoses, is moving into the last of its three segments, reading the final five books of the poem over 15 weeks. In this last third of his poem, Ovid tells us his version of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Aeneas, very pointedly putting a different slant to the stories so familiar from Homer and Vergil.

Ovid is most often talked of for the beauty of his poetry, but this study has taught me his profound understanding of the workings of myth and its power to shape our spirits—deeper than any other author I’ve encountered. Ovid knows how a slight change in phrase or a subtle detail in a story can work itself into our psyches, stirring associations and feelings from unknown places inside us. Join us for this brilliant work: the Metamorphoses is episodic and flowing and it invitesreaders to start at any point, even if you’re new to Ovid.