Books of Titans Podcast

#295 - A Conversation with Stephen Crotts

Last episode, I spoke to poet Malcolm Guite about his epic poem, Galahad and the Grail. In this episode, I interview Galahad’s illustrator, Stephen Crotts.This is my Arthurian Month where I’ve been getting to know the Legends of King Arthur through the works of Sir Thomas Malory, Roger Lancelyn Green, and Malcolm Guite.In this episode, recorded at Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, TN, I ask Stephen about his design process, how he got into the Arthur stories, and how we should approach his artwork. He also shares a few illustrations from the second book in the series that releases later this year.I’ve gotten to know Stephen over the past few years. He’s helped me to see how illustrators can reveal parts of the story that authors cannot. When done right, authors and illustrators can create more than the sum of their individual contributions. The two can inform each other and help the reader see and understand in unexpected ways.Two years ago, as Stephen was preparing for this Arthuriad project, we happened to be in London at the same time and toured the British Museum together. After perusing the Egyptian and Babylonian sections, we looked at the artifacts that bridged the gap between Pagan and Christian Britain, around the time of when the Arthur stories were said to have taken place (400’s AD). Stephen was there for inspiration for that timeframe.Show Notes:* Stephen Crotts* Purchase a copy of Galahad and the Grail from Landmark Booksellers* Free Reader’s Kit* Malcolm Guite* Rabbit Room Publishers* Landmark Booksellers | Recording Location* Merlin’s Isle Trailer - This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#294 - A Conversation with Malcolm Guite

3w ago00:55:39Tap to summarize

June is my Arthurian Month, a quick dive into the legends of King Arthur. In this episode, I interview author and epic poet Malcolm Guite, whose work here is something special. We trace the Arthurian threads back to Ancient Greece, talk about his collaboration with illustrator Stephen Crotts, and explore the theme of unveiling.Show Notes:* Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite* Purchase a copy from Landmark Booksellers (2nd printing stock arriving in July)* Free Reader’s Kit* Rabbit Room Publishers* Malcolm Guite* Stephen Crotts* Landmark Booksellers | Recording Location* Lifting the Veil Conference | Oct 23 - 24 | Boston, MA* Merlin’s Isle Trailer - This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#293 - The Birth of Love

May 2900:27:03Tap to summarize

In this episode, I cover The Birth of Love myth in Plato’s Symposium dialogue. I don’t usually think of Plato as a myth maker, but here he is offering a different spin on the birth of Eros to show how love’s parentage shows our need for Beauty. The ladder of love leads to Plato’s heavenly form of Beauty in a wonderful way. I talk about this myth, Plato’s use of myth, and myth in general in the art of persuasion.Books / Articles Referenced:* Plato: Selected Myths / Translation by Catalin Partenie / Oxford World’s Classics* Hesiod: Theogony / Translation by M.L. West / Oxford World’s Classics* Plotinus: The Enneads on Love / Translation by Stephen Mackenna / Penguin Classics* From Plato to Christ / Louis Markos* God in the Dock: Myth Became Fact / CS. Lewis* Better Than Sex! / Deacon Harrison Garlick This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#292 - Philebus by Plato

May 2200:31:37Tap to summarize

What is the good life? This is the question addressed in Philebus, one of Plato’s later dialogues, written in the late 350s BC. Philebus and his counterpart Protarchus (a pupil of Gorgias) argue for pleasure as the highest pursuit and good. Plato (through Socrates) argues for wisdom and knowledge. Can either of these be the sole pursuit of the life well-lived? The goal of the dialogue is to rank pleasure and wisdom.Plato quickly establishes the necessity for a third option in this quest - a mixture of pleasure and wisdom. It’s impossible to have pleasure without thought and memory and a life solely dedicated to wisdom would be a bit dry. However, pleasure by its nature is unlimited, and therefore cannot be ranked or measured.Plato then distinguishes between true and false pleasures. True pleasures are those that don’t involve pain (like witnessing a sunset or hearing a beautiful piece of music). False pleasures are those based upon false beliefs (like I’m going to win the lottery), bad measurement/distance (another beer now will hurt in the morning), and relief from pain (showing the absurdity of hedonism that more pain leads to more pleasure).Plato concludes with a ranking or Ladder of Goods:* Goodness in Moderation* In Beauty* In Intellect and Reason (Wisdom from the beginning)* Knowledge* Good/True Pleasures (Pleasure from the beginning, only false pleasures are not allowed)The key point in this dialogue is that the good life does not consist of getting more of either of the initial pursuits, pleasure or wisdom. Instead, it consists of getting the correct balance between the two. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#291 - The Flowering Hawthorn by Hugh Ross Williamson

May 1500:16:15Tap to summarize

In today’s podcast episode, I cover the legend of The Flowering Hawthorn and its connection to the King Arthur legend. It’s a tale that begins with Joseph of Arimathea. He’s the rich man who buried Jesus in his tomb. Tradition holds that Joseph traveled to England many years after the resurrection carrying with him the blood of Jesus, a staff, and possibly, the holy grail. Joseph’s staff began to bud each Christmas Day in Glastonbury, England.The story is told across the ages by bards, poets, and kings. Glastonbury attracted pilgrims from around the world to come and see this flowering hawthorn.Is the story true? Or is it just speculation, legend, or tradition? We may never know, but there are enough connection points in this story that make it delightfully intriguing.I recorded this video episode at the Christ Church meadow in Oxford, England.PhotosHere are a set of photos sent to me by Stephen Crotts who visited these sites last year. Crotts is the illustrator of the new Arthuriad, an Epic Poem by Malcolm Guite, recounting the King Arthur legend. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#290 - Anaximander & Anaximenes

May 800:25:25Tap to summarize

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of two of the earliest Greek Philosophers, Anaximander & Anaximenes of Miletus. Anaximander is credited with introducing the idea of the First Principle, of which his was the infinite, and Anaximenes, Air.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#289 - Parmenides

May 100:19:52Tap to summarize

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Parmenides of Elea. Robin Waterfield calls him “the single most important Pre-socratic thinker.” He introduced a puzzle about Being that required a response by philosophers who followed him. From that puzzle, we have the Atom / Void idea from Democritus and the Forms / Shadows idea from Plato. Plato even has a dialogue named after this influential philosopher who lived from 515 - 450BC.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#288 - Gorgias

Apr 2400:30:45Tap to summarize

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Gorgias, the father of the Sophistic Movement. We can pinpoint a shift from philosophy to sophism in the life of Gorgias. Each of the early Greek philosophers had a First Principle, an arche they considered to be the foundation of everything else. That stops with the Sophists. Instead of a love of wisdom using speech to seek after truth, the Sophists value persuasion and the ability to get results irrespective of truth.The work of most early Greek philosophers only survives in minor fragments. With Gorgias, we have some surviving full works that are simply delightful. I talk about the life of Gorgias, these surviving works, and the one thing the stuck out to me the most about this early Sophist.Books Referenced:* The Greek Sophists - Translation by John Dillon and Tania Gergel - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Sophists - Philostratus - Loeb Classical Library 134Show Notes:* Encomium of Helen This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#287 - Democritus

Apr 1700:26:55Tap to summarize

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Democritus of Abdera. He is one of my favorite early Greek philosophers, mainly because of his wisdom/ethical sayings. He barely made the Presocratic cut, being just 1 - 10 years before Socrates. However, his ideas, way ahead of their time, were picked up by Aristotle and Epicurus and have influenced humankind to our time. A true Renaissance Man before it was popular 😉, Democritus is worthy of study. His First Principle(s) of Atoms and the Void are revolutionary and are great responses to the ideas of earlier philosophers.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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#286 - Anaxagoras

Apr 1000:21:05Tap to summarize

In this podcast episode, I cover the life and ideas of Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. His first principle, the thing that organized everything else, was the nous or the mind. He thought that in the beginning, there was an original mixture of unchanging seeds that a mind set in motion and began to organize. Anaxagoras was born in Asia Minor and moved to Athens, becoming one of the first philosophers to establish Athens as a hub of philosophy. In fact, Anaxagoras is a philosophical grandfather to Socrates through his student Archelaus. Socrates learned from Archelaus who learned from Anaxagoras.Books Referenced:* Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics* The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics* Lives of the Eminent Philosophers - Diogenes Laertius - Loeb Classical Library This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

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All episodes

#295 - A Conversation with Stephen Crotts

#294 - A Conversation with Malcolm Guite

#293 - The Birth of Love

#292 - Philebus by Plato

#291 - The Flowering Hawthorn by Hugh Ross Williamson

#290 - Anaximander & Anaximenes

#289 - Parmenides

#288 - Gorgias

#287 - Democritus

#286 - Anaxagoras