LC CLASSICAL STUDIES / ONLINE MEDIA RESOURCES

The following is a list of online media resources available to watch or download. I have only looked for the topics I teach. Please feel free to add links to the list but please also provide some introduction to the content.

TOPIC 1.

TOPIC 2. ALEXANDER THE GREAT

TOPIC 3.

TOPIC 4.

TOPIC 5. GREEK DRAMA

TOPIC 6. ANCIENT EPIC

TOPIC 7.

TOPIC 8.

TOPIC 9.

TOPIC 10. ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE

TOPIC 2. ALEXANDER THE GREAT

  • MACEDONIA: A civilization uncovered (BBC Chronicle, 1990)

Documentary about the excavation of a royal tomb at Vergina (Ancient Aegae), Macedonia in which a one eyed male kingly mummy was discovered dating to the 4th century BC – possibly Philip II. Provides useful introduction to ancient Macedonian culture.

Link:

also available on youtube here

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • PERSIA: Engineering an Empire (History Channel, 2006)

General introduction to Persia from Cyrus the Great to the burning of Persepolis.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • PERSEPOLIS RECREATED (Iran Heritage Foundation)

Educational documentary featuring a computer generated reconstruction of Persepolis based on the archaeological evidence.

Link:

Also available on Youtube

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ALEXANDER with Michael Woods (BBC, 1998)

Michael Woods follows in the footsteps of Alexander from Macedonia to the banks of the Indus River reading Arrian and Plutarch as he goes.

Links:

Part 1 Intro

Part 2 Aegae

Part 3 Troy

Part 4 Gordion

Part 5 Issus & Tyre

Part 6 Gaza

Part 7 Alexandria

Part 8 Siwah

Part 9 Lord of Asia

Part 10 Susa

Part 11 The Trap

Part 12 The Persian Gates

Part 13 Darius Dies

Part 14 No Going Back

Part 15 Land of Wolves

Part 16 Kabul

Part 17 Afghanistan

Part 18 Samarkand

Part 19 Bactria

Part 20 The Mountain

Part 21 Into India

Part 22 Ends of the Earth

Part 23 The Kalesh

Part 24 Climbing Pir Sar

Part 25 Porus

Part 26 Army Revolts

Part 27 The Fleet

Part 28 Multan City

Part 29 Indus Delta

Part 30 The Camel Trek

Part 31 End

  • ALEXANDER: THE GOD KING (BBC)

Excavations at Siwah may reveal the lost tomb of Alexander the Great. The documentary also looks at Alexander’s god complex and examines controversial theories surrounding the early Christian, Muslim and Buddhist religion.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • ALEXANDER: THE MAN BEHIND THE LEGEND (National Geographic Channel)

Documentary summarizing Alexander’s life, campaigns and legacy.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

  • ANCIENT WARRIORS: THE MACEDONIANS (Discovery Channel, 1994)

Documentary series that analyses the military prowess of different peoples (in this case Philip II & Alexander’s Macedonians) and highlights the reasons for their success on the battlefield.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

  • GREAT COMMANDERS: ALEXANDER THE GREAT - THE BATTLE OF ISSUS (1993)

Details the battle of Issus and demonstrates Alexander the Great's might in military thinking, planning, ordering, commanding and fighting against an ardent and intelligent foe. Pays especial attention to Macedonian weaponry.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • ULTIMATE BATTLES: ALEXANDER THE GREAT – BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA (Discovery Channel)

Informative documentary analyzing Alexander’s victory over Darius at Gaugamela, which includes a computer animated reconstruction of the battle based on the historical accounts.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • ARMOURED ELEPHANTS (Unknown documentary)

Educational documantary on the Indian War Elephant through the ages. Part 2 focuses on The Battle on the Hydaspes and Porus’ war elephants.

Part 1

Part 2 (Battle of Hydaspes 325BC: Alexander v Porus)

Part 3

  • THE TRUE STORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (History Channel, 2005)

Quite a comprehensive overview of his life – a good watch

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

TOPIC 5. ANCIENT DRAMA

  • HISTORY OF THEATRE (Greek Educational Documentary)

A bit boring but informative

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

  • OPENING SCENE OF WOODY ALLEN’S “MIGHTY APHRODITE”

Shows a chorus wearing masks chanting in unison about Oedipus and Medea at the beginning of the clip

Link:

  • OEDIPUS WRECKS by Woody Allen

Funny take on Freud’s Oedipus Complex

Link:

  • OEDIPUS VEGETABLE CARTOON

Hilarious animation

Link:

  • THE THEBAN PLAYS PART ONE: OEDIPUS THE KING(BBC, 1982)

Don Taylor’s mini-series presents the three Sophoclean masterpieces back to back in a loosely connected tragic trilogy. Though the analogue hiss is bearable in Oedipus the King, it is almost deafening in Oedipus At Colonus and Antigone is plagued by drop out.

Links:

  1. OEDIPUS THE KING

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Parts 2 & 3 are not relevant to Leaving Cert. but here they are for general interest’s sake

  1. OEDIPUS AT COLONUS

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

  1. ANTIGONE

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

  • MEDEA Scene comparison

Judith Anderson (Medea, 1959) reacts to Creon’s edict

Link:

Compare with

Zoe Caldwell (Medea, 1983) in the same scene

Link:

  • BASH: 3 LATTER DAY PLAYS by Neil LaButte – MEDEA REDUX

A modern take on Medea’s story – Thought provoking but be advised it has sexual language. There used to be a clip up of Calista Flockhart’s performanceon Youtube but it has since been taken down. If anyone finds it please let me know.

This is as close to it as I could find …

Link:

TOPIC 6. ANCIENT EPIC

  • THE ODYSSEY (1997)

Andre Konchalovskiy’s made-for-TV film starring a Greek sounding Armande Assante as Odysseus.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

ULYSSES 31: Season 1, episode 24: Strange Meeting (1982)

An odd but reasonably faithful representation of Odysseus’ nostos if you can accept the mad premise of this cartoon series. Useful for teaching Homer’s suspense.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

  • CLASH OF THE GODS: ODYSSEUS I & II (History Channel, 2009)

Documentary examining Homer’s hero, suggesting theories for some of his encounters and possible geographic locations for his wanderings. Quite good.

Links:

Episode 6: Odysseus Part One

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Episode 7: Odysseus Part Two

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

  • “ITHACA” by Constantinus Kavafy narrated by Sean Connery

I love this poem.

Link:

  • “ITHACA” by Constantinus Kavafy narrated in Greek

An excerpt from the Greek film “Cavafy”. If you give a class the poem in translation of the poem (available here: )it gives students a sense of the mystical sound of the Greek language

Link:

  • SEARCHING FOR ODYSSEUS’ITHACA (Channel 4 News 07/09/2008)

News report about Robert Bittlestone’s controversial theory that the peninsula of Palaki on Kephalonia is in fact Homer’s Ithaca – based on the discrepancy in the Odyssey concerning the geographic location of Odysseus’ island, a suggestion of Strabo’s and petrographic analysis from core drilling Bittlestone claims he has evidence to prove a literal prehistoric seismic cover-up.

Link:

  • THE ODYSSEY IN 8 SECONDS

Youtube animation – pretty funny

Link:

TOPIC 10. ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE

OPEN YALE LECTURES by Prof. Diana Kleiner’s

This is not much use as a class resource but as for teachers’ own preparatory work and re-familiarisation it is invaluable.

Official Website:

Also available of Youtube see below

Lecture 1. Introduction to Roman Architecture

Lecture 2. It Takes a City: The Founding of Rome and the Beginnings of Urbanism in Italy

Lecture 3. Technology and Revolution in Roman Architecture

Lecture 4. Civic Life Interrupted: Nightmare and Destiny on August 24, A.D. 79

Lecture 5. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Houses and Villas at Pompeii

Lecture 6. Habitats at Herculaneum and Early Roman Interior Decoration

Lecture 7. Gilding the Lily: Painting Palaces and Villas in the First Century A.D.

Lecture 8. Exploring Special Subjects on Pompeian Walls

Lecture 9. From Brick to Marble: Augustus Assembles Rome

Lecture 10. Accessing Afterlife: Tombs of Roman Aristocrats, Freedmen, and Slaves

Lecture 11. Notorious Nero and His Amazing Architectural Legacy

Lecture 12. The Creation of an Icon: The Colosseum and Contemporary Architecture in Rome

Lecture 13. The Creation of an Icon: The Colosseum and Contemporary Architecture in Rome

Lecture 14: The Mother of All Forums: Civic Architecture in Rome under Trajan

Lecture 15: Rome and a Villa: Hadrian's Pantheon and Tivoli Retreat

Lecture 16: The Roman Way of Life and Death at Ostia, the Port of Rome

Lecture 17: Bigger Is Better: The Baths of Caracalla and Other Second- and Third-Century Buildings

Lecture 18: Hometown Boy: Honoring an Emperor's Roots in Roman North Africa

Lecture 19: Baroque Extravaganzas: Rock Tombs, Fountains, and Sanctuaries in Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya

Lecture 20: Roman Wine in Greek Bottles: The Rebirth of Athens

Lecture 21: Making Mini Romes on the Western Frontier

Lecture 22: Rome Redux: The Tetrarchic RenaissanceRome

Lecture 23: of Constantine and a New Rome

  • The Roman Way of War (BBC 2, 1998)

Brilliant documentary examining Trajan’s Column.

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

  • ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE 2: ROME (History Channel, 2006)

Quite a comprehensive look at Public Building in the Roman Empire

Links:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8