Ascend - The Great Books Podcast

• Know Thyself: A Discussion on Oedipus the King by Sophocles

  Aristotle said Oedipus the King was the best tragedy. Today, Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Mr. Eli Stone and our friend Josiah to discuss Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) by Sophocles - the second play in the Oedipus cycle or Theban plays.Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for our reading schedule and more!Check out our Patreon for our written guides!Here is a letter Dcn. Garlick wrote to our supporters about Oedipus the King:Oedipus the King is, according to Aristotle, the best of the Greek tragedies. Through Oedipus’ own investigation, he comes to understand the horrific truth of his identity—and this leads the reader into marvelous reflection on fate, freedom, self-knowledge, and the cosmic order.Oedipus the King is a play I had to come to appreciate. Unlike Antigone, it is not one I loved at first. In fact, my lackluster appreciation for the play is why I scheduled only one episode discussing it. Over time, however, I matured in my own understanding and see it as an antecedent to the philosophical principle of know thyself. I would suggest one could glean much from comparing Oedipus the King and First Alcibiades by Plato.The drama does have layers for the attentive reader. It presents clearly a question on the interplay of freedom and fate, which is reminiscent of our discussions on the Iliad. Moreover, there is much to consider on the theme of suffering, and how that theme is presented in the Odyssey, the Oresteia, and Oedipus the King. Note that these two concepts are tethered—as the journey to self-knowledge is often an arduous one of suffering and great difficulty. Lastly, the work shines further light onto the mystery that is Antigone.Oedipus the King is without question a tragedy—and one without much hope. The reader must hold for the marvelous redemptive arc of Oedipus at Colonus, which runs parallel to the story of Job yet with its own unique and fascinating character.May Oedipus serve as an icon for what it means to suffer into self-knowledge and the role of such suffering in the pursuit of wisdom and virtue.Check our thegreatbookspodcast.com for more!

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• The Dark Sign of the Gods: Antigone by Sophocles Part II

  Does Antigone hold strong until the end? Is Antigone the hero? Today, Dcn. Garlick is joined again by David Niles and Dr. Frank Grabowski to discuss the second part of Sophocles' Antigone. Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for our reading schedule!Check out our Patreon page! We appreciate all our supporters.From our guide:15. How does Haemon’s interaction with Creon highlight his character and challenge Creon’s perspective?Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s betrothed, enters around line 700 and is described by David as “one of my favorite characters” for his wisdom and patience, contrasting with Creon’s “chaotic” and “irrational” behavior. Haemon employs “masterful rhetoric,” as Dcn. Garlick contends, that balances filial piety with a Socratic challenge to Creon’s stubbornness, urging him to reconsider his decree to execute Antigone. He suggests the polis mourns for Antigone, saying, “It’s for me to catch the murmurs in the dark, the way the city mourns for this young girl” (ln. 775), undermining Creon’s belief that the polis supports him. Dr. Grabowski notes Haemon’s “epistemological challenge,” raising “human fallibility” and the “voice of the people” to suggest Creon may have erred. However, Creon’s ironic responses, like “Are you coming now raving against your father or do you love me no matter what I do?” (ln. 707), reveal his fixation on his own political authority and the familial piety Haemon owes him. Sophocles makes Creon an incredibly ironic character, who will often advise to others exactly what he himself should be doing.16. How does Creon’s character evolve in the latter half of the drama?Creon (arguably) begins the play prioritizing the polis’ common good, but in the second half, there is a “shift” toward tyranny as his view becomes myopically focused on his own authority. Initially, he justifies leaving Polyneices unburied as justice for being a traitor, but by line 748, he declares, “The man the city places in authority, his orders must be obeyed, large and small, right and wrong,” signaling a move from considerations of justice to his own authority. The standard by which he makes his decision seems to shift. His question, “Am I to rule this land for others or myself?” (ln. 823), elicits Haemon’s rebuke, “It’s no city at all owned by one man alone” (ln. 824). Creon’s claim, “Show me the man who rules his household well. I’ll show you someone fit to rule the state” (ln. 739), is deeply ironic, as he fails to rule his household, foreshadowing his spiral into tragedy. His fixation on anarchy as “a greater crime in all the earth” (ln. 752) over blasphemy further reveals his “blindness” to the divine, cementing his “de-evolution” into tyranny, as Dcn. Garlick notes. Under Creon, the cosmos whole that was first interpreted through the political now seems to simply be reducible to Creon’s will. He becomes the tyrant.Check out our guide for more!

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• The Dark Sign of the Gods: Antigone by Sophocles Part I

  Antigone is the "dark sign from the gods." Today, Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Mr. David Niles of the Catholic Man Show and Dr. Frank Grabowski to discuss the Greek tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles.Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for our reading schedule!Check out our Patreon for our guide on Antigone!From the guide:This guide, like the podcast conversation, explores Antigone as a profound meditation on piety, justice, and the cosmic order. This guide addresses critical aspects of arguably Sophocles’ greatest work, such as: the moral conflict over burying the dead, the contrasting perspectives of Antigone, Ismene, and Creon, and the play’s potential as an early articulation of natural law—all while highlighting Sophocles’ role as a teacher shaping Greek thought.The guide also moves from Greek notion of piety and justice to comparative Christian ethics. The goal is to help the reader love Antigone and see the cosmic order it reveals through one of the greatest female characters in Western literature.What has occurred just prior to the start of Antigone?Just before the events of Sophocles’ Antigone, the city of Thebes has been ravaged by a civil war between Antigone’s two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, who are sons of the late Oedipus, the former king. After Oedipus’ tragic downfall and death, the brothers were meant to share the throne, but a dispute led to conflict. Eteocles held power in Thebes, while Polyneices, exiled, rallied an army to attack the city and reclaim his right to rule. The brothers met on the battlefield and killed each other in combat, leaving Thebes without a clear ruler. Their uncle, Creon, assumes the throne and declares Eteocles a patriot, granting him a proper burial, while branding Polyneices a traitor, forbidding his burial under penalty of death. This decree sets the stage for the moral and familial conflict at the heart of Antigone, as Antigone and her sister Ismene grapple with the consequences of their brothers’ deaths and Creon’s edict.What is the central moral conflict introduced at the beginning of Antigone?The central moral conflict revolves around the duty to bury the dead, specifically Antigone’s desire to bury her brother, Polyneices, who has been declared a traitor by their uncle, King Creon. Creon decrees that Polyneices’ body must remain unburied, to be “torn apart by the dogs, by the birds,” as punishment for his betrayal of Thebes. Antigone, however, sees the burial as a moral obligation, rooted in familial piety and divine law. The burial of the brother, however, is a catalyst to deeper moral concerns, as how to resolve this moral conflict invites the reader to contemplate how the family, polis, and divine all align with one another within the cosmos. It is a question of law, piety, and justice.Check out more on our Patreon!

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• Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus with Dr. Jared Zimmerer

  How would you respond to the will of a tyrant? Today, Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Dr. Jared Zimmerer of Benedictine College to discuss Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound - the first play in an otherwise lost triad. Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for our reading schedule!WHY SHOULD YOU READ PROMETHEUS BOUND?From the guide:Prometheus Bound is the story of man and civilization. Within the contrast of Prometheus’ rebellion and Zeus’ tyranny, Aeschylus provides a narrative that explores the concepts of liberty and purpose. It is a story of human nature—of the identity of man and the role of technology in shaping that identity.As the conversation with Dr. Zimmerer and Dcn. Garlick highlights, the play “tells us about human nature” by exploring Prometheus as “an anti-hero” who defies Zeus’ tyranny and embodies our natural desire to rebel against oppressive authority. The lines of the good and evil, however, are not straightforward in Prometheus Bound—and many characters must make difficult decisions and compromises.Though not in the play itself, the chief act of rebellion is Prometheus stealing fire from Mount Olympus. It is, in many ways, an analogue of technological progress. Technology is the creation of man but often makes claims upon the nature of its creator. Prometheus Bound invites the reader to reflect upon how technology can bring civilizational ascension or collapse (think atomic power and Oppenheimer).As Dr. Zimmerer observes, in an age where culture is often flattened into “pop cultural” shallowness, the play challenges us to engage with the beauty and depth of human civilization—urging us to resist the trivialization of our divine gifts. By wrestling with these themes, Prometheus Bound not only illuminates the struggles of its characters but also compels us to examine our own drives, freedoms, and responsibilities in shaping the cultural legacy of mankind.Check out our Patreon page!Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com!

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• How to Read the Bible like St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante

  "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." Today, Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Mr. Thomas Lackey and Mr. Adam Minihan to discuss how to read the Bible like Jesus, St. Paul, the Early Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Dante!There are four senses: literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical. The guys explain Divine Authorship, Dante's thesis that you read his Comedy like you Scripture, and then explain each sense and give examples.Check our thegreatbookspodcast.com for resources on the Iliad, Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, and more!Summary: St. Jerome states, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (CCC 112). In other words, we come to know the reality of Jesus Christ by reading Holy Scripture. Yet, what if we read the Bible incorrectly? If the Scriptures are a source of knowledge about our Lord, would not a wrong reading of the text twist our understanding of Christ? We, especially as moderns, are always in danger of distorting the Gospel to meet our own ideological standards. As Bishop Konderla teaches, “We are called to measure ourselves against the teaching of Christ and His Church, not our own imaginations or standards.” He continues, “We must receive the Jesus Christ who came two-thousand years ago, not create a ‘Jesus’ who meets the fashions and fads of this age” (God Builds a House, 6). If we are to discipline ourselves to receive Jesus—and not manufacture a “Jesus”—then a vital part of that reception is a proper understanding of how to know Christ in Holy Scripture. How then does the Church teach us to read Holy Scripture?In the 1300s, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote a letter to his patron, Lord Cangrande della Scala, regarding how one should read the Divine Comedy. His answer was simple: you read the Comedy the same way you read the Bible. In summary of Sacred Tradition, Dante explains that there are four senses or ways to read Holy Scripture: literal and three spiritual ways, i.e., allegorical, moral, and anagogical. These four senses were also taught by St. Thomas Aquinas (STI.1.10) and are contained in the modern Catechism of the Catholic Church (“CCC” 115-19). They represent the time-tested wisdom of the Church on how to come to know and love Jesus Christ through the Holy Scriptures.Let us examine each “sense” of biblical interpretation, how it relates to the others, and how they all draw us into a deeper relationship with our Lord.The literal sense of Scripture is also known as the “historical sense.” St. Thomas notes the literal sense is the meaning the author intended. For example, Dante gives the simple illustration of the passage: “When Israel went out of Egypt.” He observes, “If we look at it from the letter alone it means to us the exit of the Children of Israel from Egypt at the time of Moses.” The literal is simply the intended, historical meaning of a text. It is important, however, to interpret the literal correctly, because “all other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal” (CCC 116). Similarly, Aquinas states that the spiritual sense of Scripture—allegorical, moral, and anagogical—is “based on the literal and presupposes it.” The importance of the literal sense of Scripture as foundational to all other senses emphasizes how vital it is that Catholics read commentaries that are faithful to the magisterium. Like a broken foundation of a home, a slanted literal sense can distort the greater spiritual senses built upon it.The allegorical sense is the first of the three types of the “spiritual sense.” In the...

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