I have returned to this many times as a balanced and nuanced introduction to an incredibly important topic & era. Particularly enjoyed the overview of “why study the Greeks.” The fact that the population at large has access to this level of academic introductory material is just wonderful. Thank you!!

I have listened to this course three or four times now over the past ten years! Glad to keep stumbling on it again and again and getting the chance to dive back into Ancient Greece. Very dense, I get something more each time.

Fantastic thank you can’t believe this was nearly 20 years ago.

This is a very engaging and interesting course. The professor has clearly thought deeply about ancient Greece and what it means to be a human for himself and for them. I will say his philosophical viewpoint is definitely old school and in his enthusiasm for ancient Greece, he’s blind to it’s shortcomings and myopic about it’s innovations, but my major criticism is that the sound quality is absolutely terrible!!! The buzzing in the background kept getting worse until I had to turn it off. I’d love to listen to the whole course, please fix this issue!

So lucky this is offered for free, water is free too Professor. Aside from that I learned so much in the first 8 episodes alone this was truly awesome!

Fantastic podcast but someone please get this man a glass of water

This podcast is very engaging, informative, and funny.

Really really good. Don’t be fooled by the trolls or leftest comments that got offended at any mention of the Bible or Christianity. The only times it is mentioned are relevant, helpful for context and not forced. The lecturers are clear, concise and easy to follow. Very informative and enjoyable for any student of history.

Absolutely horrendous and bigoted

Thank you Dr Kalgan for making Ancient Greek fascinating. Thank you Yale for making it possible. I bought his book on The war. Perhaps if Cimon was the leader, instead of Pericles there Thucydides would have written a different history.

This guy is incredibly biased. He references the bible continuously, but writes Nietzsche off as a nihilistic hack, illustrating how little Nietzsche he had read: eg no mention of slave morality etc. He’s obviously a christian, conservative anti-leftist. Typical of an institution that panders to the spoiled children of the wealthy mediocrity. Also, he clears his throat every 5 seconds.

Lozenges fix that

A septuagenarian Yale professor casually poo-poos, with no supporting evidence, the hypotheses that the Sea People’s invasion were actually an internal uprising against despotism. "I think this reflects hopeful Marxist wish-fulfillment rather than any reality. That’s not what poor people have done. In history, if you look at revolutions, revolutions come typically when things are getting better and the (poor) people don’t like the fact that they don't have more than they already have." He then goes on to dismiss actual scientific evidence that climate shifts may have led to a temporary collapse of local agriculture, saying he keeps waiting for somebody to blame it on global warming. This is more like AM conservative talk radio than Ivy League education.

The audio should have been recorded louder. This podcast suffers the all too common lack of attention to technical details of what separates a well-produced radio show from an impromptu lecture recording. If Yale got professional recording engineers, I’d be happy to pay for their podcasts. Professor Kagan’s lectures are outstanding. His historical narrative is not only a wonderful illustration of the Greek classical period, but also provides perspectives that are applicable to a current understanding of how societies function.

Thought maybe he was sick at the start or something but I’m half way through and it hasn’t stopped. Really hard to listen to although I enjoy the content.

Excellent podcast, but I wish the volume was louder

Great lectures. He captures so much of Greek culture and life in what appears, at first glance of the episode titles, a retelling of political and military history. He seeks not to give one names and dates; rather, he seeks to establish a cultural understand of the ancient Greeks for modern pupils such as myself who have lacked such an education in the classics. However, he is quite neoliberal, for better or worse, and often idealizes Athenian democracy and sees America as its rightful heir. While I think there is some merit to this view, I think he overstates the case in an effort to combat “radical” thinkers like Marx, toward whom he is not afraid to make an occasional jab. Regardless of his politics, his confidence and knowledge outshines any disagreements we have and makes for a wonderful lecture series.

The professor is great. His material, knowledge and lecture organization is excellent. I really enjoyed the lectures and I learned a lot. Anybody can nitpick about a lecture. The throat clearing didn’t bother me. Likewise he has opinions just like anybody.

It’s good but he clears his throat after every word.

What I like best about the podcast is learning how reason works. Say I take a class called Cake Baking. It’s unreasonable to criticize the professor for teaching about sugar, which is bad for you. Also for not teaching about broccoli, which is good for you. If one does not wish to study sugar and would instead prefer to study broccoli this class may not be the right fit. V

I listened to these with a group of my students. We really enjoyed them! The information is clear, his speaking style is engaging, and the information is accessible to even a novice in Greek history. He also discusses ties between events/culture in this time and creates opportunities to more critically consider our own society. Excellent lectures!

Clearly his lectures are so biased and lacks knowledge of other civilization. His arguments of why one learns about Greek civilization does not hold good. He talks about freedom and then talks about slavery. Clearly we can see it was male dominant society. He also talks about other civilization having Kings and religions but he talks about Greek religion, Kings and tyranny. Again he talks about cities are first established in Greek but he lacks knowledge about cities and settlements of other civilization. Greek civilization is surely interesting and artistically rich but it is similar to other cradles of civilization. One should read about Egyptian, Indian and Mesopotamian civilization along with this.

This is great information by someone who is obviously an outstanding scholar in his field. I think it is appropriate that he points out how modern thought is shaped by Greek history. That’s kind of the whole point of history! Also those that fault him for having a conservative bent would not have a problem listening to someone with a progressive or liberal bent. You have to learn to think for yourself with the information you are receiving. That’s the whole point of education! Haters gonna hate, but this is absolutely great information by an excellent teacher. I do want to give him a lozenge though...

I’ve been interested in the ancient Greeks for decades, read a lot of books. But I never truly understood what being in a polis meant to a Greek, and what a unique construct a polis is. Dr Kagen’s Ancient Greek arete is on display as you will truly learn what it is to be a citizen in the most exciting time to be alive ever.

Compelling!!!

Unbelievable that people are giving one of the foremost scholars on greek history a bad review. He obviously knows the material and can present it well.

This is a really interesting set of lectures presented in a clear and engaging way. Good scholarship without being pedantic. Very enjoyable.

This is a podcast which will remain relevant forever, due to its subject matter and the authority of its presenter, Donald Kagan, who is probably one of the most authoritative authors on the Peloponnesian War since Thucydides. I take minor issue to his lack of willingness to discuss more probable explanations of the early Greeks; for instance, he doesn’t discuss the idea that the Spartans were not Dorians and invaded Achaean Greece from Asia Minor, Asia he is only going to discuss facts. He admits that there are other prevailing theories but makes no mention of this, instead saying very assertively that they *eventually* were Dorians. Not helpful if someone is learning this for the first time. Most of the information on the Dark Ages of Greece isn’t a sure thing, so it is necessary to explain the hypotheses more broadly. Also hardly any mention of Tiryns or Heracles. This is important information that allows a better understanding of Bronze Age Greece and the Mycenaean period more broadly. Who were these people and where did they go? Who were the later Greeks? All of these deliberations are important to understanding how Greece progressed from its initial settlement to the classical period and the eventual Hellenistic world. He also doesn’t do an incredibly good job of explaining the rise of Macedonia. Due to his own scholarly pursuits, he clearly places an emphasis on the classical period and the Peloponnesian War and relates less specific historical information regarding Alexander and Philip. Instead he moralizes about their actions in a 20th century context when covering these topics, which is unhelpful for someone attempting to simply learn the history. Despite these specific shortcomings, the overall information he does present in this series is excellent, and he truly has a vast and enviable understanding of the ancient Greek world. We are lucky to have these lectures, as the institution of classical education is dying off. Independently inquisitive people will continue to return to the classics for inspiration and understanding about ourselves, which makes Kagan’s lectures that much more valuable and treasured.

Donald Kagan has spent a lifetime researching and writing on Ancient Greece. There’s simply no better source for Greek history and analysis of the (sparse and nuanced) available evidence. I’m surprised to see so many reviewers claiming that Kagan’s neoconservative political views seep into these lectures and make him unreliable. I identify as a Democratic Socialist and oppose almost everything neoconservatives stand for, but until I read these reviews, at no point did it occur to me that I was listening to any political propaganda. Like every scholar and every human, of course he has his own worldview with which he’ll approach history, but at no point did I get the impression that his neoconservatism was biasing what I was hearing. With respect to the throat clearing, yes, it’s distracting. But you get used to it after a while, and it gets better as the lectures go on anyway (maybe he got over his cold?). These are stereotypical class lectures—sometimes very detailed, dry facts, sometimes tedious. But all interesting. I’d recommend reading the materials as well, particularly Thucydides’ treatise prior to starting the lectures on the Peloponnesian War.

My husband and I have really enjoyed the first two lectures, but now the Apple podcast app says all remaining episodes are unavailable. We are so disappointed!

Kagan is without peer in Greek studies, but his constant need to bring up Western Christian exceptionalism is distracting and unnecessary. I want to hear about ancient Greece, but Kagan constantly needs to assert modern political thought which really brings down the course.

Former student of Dr. Robert Kebric here who long missed hearing the old tales. I listened to the introduction of this course and was immediately drawn back into my favorite time period in history. I'm currently on lecture 10 with zero regrets. I personally emailed Dr. Kagan and thanked him for these lectures. He actually replied with a very sincere show of appreciation. Bravo, Yale. Bravo, Dr. Kagan. As for my former professor, all of you who enjoy this course should pick up Dr. Kebric's books on Greek and Roman history. They fit well with this course.

Excellent lectures, but in most episodes the podcast restarts from the beginning after a few minutes.

While the lecturer is articulate and knowledgable his constant biblical references and tangents are annoying, at best. Other than that, decent military and political history.

Donald Kagan is not only a leading authority on Ancient Greece but also is fun to listen to. The lectures feel more like stories, and the comparisons to NATO and more modern geo-politics makes for interesting food for thought.

1. He has a bad audio manner -- lots of coughing and throat-clearing, which might not be distracting in a live lecture but get in the way in audio-only. 2. I really wanted a course in ancient Greek history, not a primer in modern American Conservative thought. Really, do I need to hear about the Founding Father during a discussion of Bronze Age Greece? Yeah, no. There are plenty of appropriate places for those topics. 3. Most damning, he makes a lot of assured statements on topics outside his field where he is simply wrong. Europe did not defend into chaos and abject ignorance for centuries when the Western Roman Empire ended; there was lots of stuff going on. A lot of his assertions about the structure and beliefs of non-Western cultures are also wrong or so simplified as to be meaningless. This makes me seriously question his presentation of what I came to learn. If I "catch him out" 2-3 times an episode for the first three episodes on things I know, how can I believe what he is telling me about what I don't know? An enormous disappointment,

Donald Kagan literally "wrote the book" on the Peloponnesian War. You are listening to a man who will be continuously cited for generations. I’m a rather newbie on ancient Greece, I haven’t anything to compare this against, and therefore, can’t critique whether he should have emphasized this piece of material over that piece of material and so forth. I will say that he is an above average lecturer and that this is meant as a survey course. He seems to do fine. His presentation is fine. I know of no better intro course so knock yourself out on this.

I'll echo previous comments. This guy has so much mucus buildup that he can't get two words out without clearing his throat or coughing up a glob. It's gross.

Dr. Kagan is an engaging, intelligent, and well-spoken professor, and his ideas and lectures are brilliant. There are some mannerisms that you have to get used to, but I wish could sit in the classroom with him.

Having gone to an engineering school, my liberal arts courses were limited to some literature and philosophy courses. This course is absolutely fascinating and puts many of the bits and pieces I've heard about over the years in perspective and fills in many gaping holes in my knowledge. Kagan never fails to explain by seeking the motivations, either theorized or documented, of the players, which completely dispels the stereotype of history as dusty facts and dates. Yes, he does connect with modern events, and I have read of his political leaning, but I never felt I was being preached to as he frequently made disclaimers about the views. As an online listener, I found it helpful to have maps or Wikipedia handy. The one annoying thing as mentioned by others is the frequent throat clearing. Overall, an excellent course that I would listen to again.

Why is the bloodthirsty neoconservative Kagan the main source Greek history here? Because your owners don't want you plebs fully educated. The United States is a global empire ruled by Rich oligarchs like Kagan and fueled by you mortgage-indentured wageslaves who get to listen to this rewriting of history while driving to work. I know it's convenient to listen to podcasts, but I'm sorry you are going to have to read books because the offerings here are made for mass public consumption only. Education is power, and your owners do not want you educated.

Excellent lectures packed full of information. Prof. Kagan is fantastic. Only wish the volume on the audio was a bit higher. It's hard to hear the lectures when listening anywhere outside a library!

In general this is a quality class with lots of cool info. WARNING: unfortunately, Kagan is credited as one of the architects of the neoconservative movement, and he uses his class as a soap box to advocate for military violence. It doesnt look like he served in the military, so I wonder about the sincerity of his heroic warfare schtick.

I teach history and use Kagan's book "On the Origins of War". What a thrill to hear and watch his lectures!

Thank you Professor Kagan, and iTunes .

This is a great class and Prof Kagan does a wonderful job presenting the standard interpretations of Greek History, those views which are on the fringe and his own views in a way that allows the student to make up his or her own mind. Listen to a couple of lectures and make up your own mind about the Course. It is a testament to some of the strengths of our own society that this is a free course.

This was one of the best lecture series I've come across.

This guy desperately needs a cough drop. The above review is correct. His constant throat clearing is hard to ignore. Maybe the video version is better.

Why are we the way we are ? This series explains everything.

If you have a basic knowledge of Ancient Greek history,this course provides an excellent overview. Prof. Kagan is the author of several ( very readable ) books intended for a general audience. I've paid good money for audiobooks not half as good as this Free lecture series.