Tragedies

Macbeth, Act 3

Tue, 3 Nov 2026 11:36:21 +0000

Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo. Banquo’s ghost appears at the feast and drives Macbeth mad. Macbeth plans to go see the witches to learn more of his fate.

Macbeth, Act 2

Sun, 1 Nov 2026 16:16:38 +0000

Macbeth kills Duncan. Duncan’s sons flee to England and Macbeth is crowned King.

Macbeth, Act 1

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 08:20:52 +0000

Macbeth and Scottish forces defeat the Norwegian invasion. The witches prophesy Macbeth shall be King. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot to murder Duncan.

King Lear, Act 5

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 11:27:33 +0000

The British forces overcome the French. Goneril and Regan die. Edgar kills Edmund, and Edmund repents his orders to kill Cordelia but too late. “The wonder is he has endured so long.”

King Lear, Act 4

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 12:10:38 +0000

Lear recovers his senses and reconciles with Cordelia. Edgar puts Gloucester through a mock suicide to revive him.

King Lear, Act 3

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:53:02 +0000

Lear descends into madness in a hovel and conducts a mock trial for his daughters in a hovel. Gloucester is condemned for treason by Cornwall and has his eyes plucked out.

King Lear, Act 2

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 22:38:54 +0000

Edmund perfects his betrayal of Edgar, and Lear is driven mad and onto the heath by his daughters.

King Lear, Act 1

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 11:45:04 +0000

Lear demands his daughters flatter him to earn their share of the kingdom. Cordelia refuses and is banished. Lear resigns the crown, Goneril begins a campaign of passive aggression and gaslighting to drive him mad.

Pelops

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 09:38:06 +0000

The second play in the tragedy of the House of Atreus. Pelops, resurrected by Hermes, journeys to Elis to find a new home and brings the curse upon his family.

Richard II, Act 5

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 10:30:23 +0000

Richard is imprisoned at Pomfret, Bolingbroke forgives Rutland but executes the other traitors. He vows a crusade to repent of his guilt.

Richard II, Act 4

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 19:32:18 +0000

Richard surrenders the crown to Bolingbrook in Parliament. Carlisle prohesies civil war.

Richard II, Act 3

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 10:19:45 +0000

In Act III of Shakespeare’s Richard II, the struggle for England’s throne reaches its turning point. As Bolingbroke’s power grows, Richard returns to find his kingdom slipping away. At Flint Castle, the once-divine king confronts the terrifying possibility that a monarch is, after all, only a man. In an act filled with betrayal, despair, and some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful poetry, Richard begins his descent from majesty to mortality.

Richard II, Act 2

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 14:15:24 +0000

John of Gaunt delivers his prophecy to Richard, Richard departs for Ireland and Bolingbroke raises to English nobles in rebellion

Richard II, Act 1

Sat, 3 Oct 2026 18:26:22 +0000

In the first act of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV, accuses the Duke of Norfolk of treason. King Richard fails to persuade them to reconcile and declares they shall fight a duel to settle the matter.

Iphigenia Among The Taurians

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:06:50 +0000

Years after she was led to Aulis to be sacrificed, Iphigenia lives in exile as a priestess of Artemis, charged with sacrificing strangers who come to her shores. When two Greek prisoners arrive, she discovers that one is her long-lost brother Orestes. Euripides’ Iphigenia Among the Taurians is a story of recognition, escape, and a family broken by violence given one unexpected chance at reunion.

Oedipus at Colonus

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:56:36 +0000

An old, blind Oedipus comes at last to Colonus, seeking a place to die. Hunted by his past and fought over for the strange power promised by his death, the ruined king must confront his sons, his city, and the gods before finding a final resting place. Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus is a haunting story of exile, reconciliation, and redemption at the end of a long and terrible life.

Tantalus

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:19:52 +0000

Tantalus, mighty king and son of Zeus, prepares a feast for the gods—and becomes convinced it is a test of his own divinity. As reason gives way to pride, he crosses the final boundary between man and god, father and monster, and discovers too late the meaning of the laws he has broken.

The Persians

Sun, 9 Aug 2026 13:34:31 +0000

In the only surviving tragedy telling of contemporary events, Aeschylus tells of the defeat of the Persian armies at Salamis.

Odysseus in Hades

Sat, 1 Aug 2026 15:06:11 +0000

Odysseus awakens in darkness, waiting for a dawn that never comes. Guided by Sisyphus through the shadows of Hades, the great king retraces the path of his life until memory gives way to truth.

Antigone

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:35:05 +0000

A sister defies a king. A ruler defies the gods. Sophocles’ Antigone is one of the defining tragedies of the ancient world, exploring duty, law, pride, and the devastating cost of moral certainty. In this episode, we examine the clash between Antigone and Creon and ask why this timeless drama continues to provoke debate more than 2,400 years after it was first performed.

The Cyclops

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:06:37 +0000

In honor of the release of The Odyssey, this week we read the only extant satyr play, The Cyclops by Euripides. In Greek Theater, authors wrote four plays for a performance, three tragedies and one comedy called a satyr play. This satyr tells the story of Odysseus outwitting the Cyclops.

Medea

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:50:59 +0000

Betrayed by Jason's marriage to Creon's daughter and threatened with exile, Medea resolves a terrible revenge. She sends poisoned gifts that kill the bride and Creon, then—unable to allow her children to be used against her—kills her own sons.

After committing these acts she escapes Corinth in a chariot granted by her divine lineage, leaving Jason ruined and the city shattered. The episode examines betrayal, wrath, and the tragic consequences of vengeance.

Hippolytus

Sun, 5 Jul 2026 17:08:47 +0000

A proud young prince devoted to Artemis rejects love and scorns the power of Aphrodite. In revenge, the goddess kindles a forbidden passion in his stepmother, Phaedra, setting in motion one of Greek tragedy’s cruelest chains of misunderstanding. In this episode, we explore Euripides’ Hippolytus—a haunting drama of chastity, desire, divine vengeance, and the heartbreaking reconciliation between a father and his dying son.

Hymn to Apollo

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 14:42:14 +0000

In this episode, we turn from tragedy to one of the oldest surviving works of Greek literature: the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. We follow the god’s remarkable rise from his miraculous birth on the island of Delos to his conquest of the monstrous Python at Delphi. Along the way, Apollo establishes his great oracle, claims his sacred sanctuary, and gathers the first priests who will serve him. More than a simple hymn of praise, the poem reveals how the Greeks understood divine power, prophecy, music, and the founding of sacred places. It is the story of a young god announcing himself to the world—and ensuring that mortals will hear his voice for generations to come.

The Kindly Ones

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 16:04:31 +0000

Orestes, pursued by the Furies for murdering his mother, flees to Athens where he is tried at the Areopagus.

Oedipus the King

Mon, 1 Jun 2026 10:12:36 +0000

Oedipus ran away from his home in Corinth to avoid the prophecy which foretold he would kill his father and marry his mother. After answering the riddle of the Sphynx, he was made King of Thebes, and charged with hunting down the killer of the former King. As Oedipus begins to examine the facts from the past, he slowly learns the horrifying truth that we often fulfill our destiny on the road we took to avoid it…

Libation Bearers

Sat, 30 May 2026 21:25:03 +0000

Orestes returns from exile to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of his mother and her lover Aegisthus.

The Bacchae

Sun, 17 May 2026 19:36:12 +0000

The King of Thebes denies the divinity of Dionysus and persecutes the women of the city who have begun practicing the mystic rites of the god. In Euripides’ telling, Dionysus visits the city and its King to exact his revenge in horrifying detail.

Agamemnon

Sat, 16 May 2026 14:31:03 +0000

Agamemnon returns home from Troy. His wife Clytemnestra welcomes him home as a conquering hero, but secretly plans to kill him for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia before he left for the war.

The Ajax

Thu, 14 May 2026 16:29:38 +0000

After the death of Achilles at Troy, Odysseus and Ajax competed for the arms of Achilles. The army awarded the arms to Odysseus as the second best warrior. Ajax, in his humiliation, planned to kill Odysseus and the Greek captains for dishonoring him.

Iphigenia at Aulis

Thu, 14 May 2026 16:15:11 +0000

At Aulis the Greek fleet is stalled by a divine prophecy: Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis so the armada can sail to Troy. The play follows Agamemnon’s guilt and the tensions between commanders, the army, and family. Iphigenia learns her fate and chooses to accept death for the sake of Greece. Achilles vows to defend her, but at the altar the goddess intervenes, substituting a deer and sparing the girl, allowing the fleet to depart.

Prometheus Bound

Thu, 14 May 2026 13:58:17 +0000

After stealing fire from heaven, Prometheus is chained to the side of a mountain but refuses to relent.