In the fifth century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins “Oedipus Tyrannos” with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his ...

An academic study reveals that stories of cruel punishments, epic drunken sprees, werewolves, and secret rituals circulated more than 2,000 years ago with the same intention as today: to be believed ...

What were books like in ancient Greece and Rome? the oldest known writing dates to around 5000 BCE. It origins are mysterious ...

Eminent classical historian Robin Lane Fox embarks on a journey in search of the origins of the Greek myths. He firmly believes that these fantastical stories lie at the root of western culture, and ...

Joel Christensen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

Joel Christensen is an associate professor of classical studies at Brandeis. This article is republished from The Conversation. Read the original article. In the fifth century B.C., the playwright ...