Meta Description: Join Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe in Ad Navseam Episode 188 as they explore modern-day Hercules stories, ancient Greek city planning, and resources to master the Latin language.
Introduction: Syllabuses, Latin Retreats, and Calvin’s Bible
Welcome back, classical gourmands, to Episode 188 of the Ad Navseam Podcast! Broadcasting directly from Vomitorium Central—deep in the bunker—your hosts, Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle, return to the microphones.
The episode opens with Jeff returning from an annual family pilgrimage to the northern wilds of Michigan near Manistee, looking suitably tanned and “uncanned”. As the fall semester approaches at Grand Rapids Community College, Jeff admits he is getting the familiar itch to return to the classroom and draft a new syllabus. Taking a brief, nerdy detour into grammar, Dave confirms that “syllabus” is somewhat unique; it can be treated as either a second-declension noun (making the plural syllabi) or a fourth-declension noun (making the plural syllabuses), granting English speakers a rare pass on grammatical pedantry.
While Jeff was vacationing, Dave was busy lucubrating. He recently attended a prestigious Latin colloquium alongside eleven brilliant scholars hailing from locations as far-flung as Amsterdam, Switzerland, and California. Hosted at a quilting retreat center in Woodland, Michigan called “Quilted Crossings” (though absolutely no quilting actually occurred), the scholars spent the week translating heavy hitters like Vergil’s descent into the underworld in Aeneid Book Six, Augustine’s De Magistro, Anselm’s Proslogion, and the somewhat uncomfortable, over-sharing letters of Isaac Casaubon.
Furthermore, Dave has been working late into the night recording his ambitious Calvin’s Latin Bible audio project. Listeners seeking to hear the Scriptures read aloud in the Latin language can download the app on iOS or Android. The Psalms are completely free, and Dave and his team have recently finished recording massive chunks of the text, ranging from the complex Hebrew names of Genesis and Exodus to New Testament epistles like Galatians and Philippians.
The Modern Labors of Hercules
Before diving into the main academic text, Dave shares two astonishing, recently published news articles that perfectly mirror the ancient, mythic labors of Hercules.
The first story involves Chase Delwo, a 26-year-old hunter who was bow hunting for elk with his brother in the Montana wilderness. Battling extreme winds, snow, and rain, Chase accidentally stumbled within three feet of a sleeping grizzly bear. Knocked to the ground and brutally mauled by the 400-pound animal, Chase suddenly remembered a random magazine article his grandmother had given him explaining that large animals possess terrible gag reflexes. In a split second of absolute clarity while being bitten, Chase shoved his entire right arm down the grizzly bear’s throat, causing the beast to flee and successfully saving his own life. Dave immediately points out the mythological parallel: when Hercules faced the Nemean Lion with its impenetrable hide, his club was useless, forcing the hero to defeat the monster by shoving his fist down its gullet to asphyxiate it.
The second story comes from the Indian state of Bihar. A one-year-old infant named Govind Kumar was playing near his home when a deadly cobra suddenly coiled around his arm. Rather than panicking, the infant simply bit the snake to death on the spot. Though the mild effects of the venom knocked the boy unconscious, he survived the encounter. The hosts marvel at this real-life reenactment of the infant Hercules casually strangling the two deadly serpents the goddess Hera sent to his crib. Proving that absolutely everything ultimately traces back to ancient Greece, the hosts transition to their primary topic.
The Glory of the Temple and the Squalor of the Hovel
The core focus of Episode 188 introduces a 1962 book by the British classical archaeologist R.E. Wycherley, titled How the Greeks Built Cities. A renowned expert in Athenian archaeology who penned authoritative works like The Stones of Athens and The Agora of Athens, Wycherley provides a masterful, highly readable overview of ancient urban planning focused primarily on the 5th century BC.
Wycherley begins his text by asserting that the absolute pinnacle of Greek architecture was the temple. In the archaic period, the temple was essentially the only building in the city that possessed any pretensions to architectural magnificence. The Greeks poured their limited municipal funds and profound artistic genius into constructing divine spaces out of increasingly costly materials, eventually transitioning from unbaked brick and wood to gleaming, carefully worked marble.
Meanwhile, ordinary residential houses were thrown together cheaply using sun-dried bricks on rubble foundations. The population of Athens—which peaked during Pericles’s time around 270,000 people including citizens, resident aliens, and slaves—lived huddled together in irregular, labyrinthine groups separated by narrow, winding streets. The hosts compare this stark urban division to the structure of a medieval European town, where incredible craftsmanship and extreme wealth were poured entirely into the central cathedral—its towering spire serving as a visible focal point of worship—while the average citizens lived in squalid hovels surrounding it.
Centripetal Cities vs. Centrifugal Suburbs
Tracing the history back to the second millennium BC, Wycherley argues that Greek cities possessed a fundamentally centripetal character—they were designed to draw the population inward toward a central, unifying hub. Drawing upon the legacy of the Minoan palaces on Crete, such as Knossos, these cities naturally formed around an open, multi-purpose square. This stands in sharp contrast to the centrifugal nature of Near Eastern cities (like Babylon or Assyria), which expanded outward, placing their architectural emphasis heavily on massive fortified walls.
This historical insight prompts a fascinating modern comparison regarding American infrastructure. The hosts debate whether contemporary life is centripetal or centrifugal. Jeff, who lives close to downtown Grand Rapids, admits he feels drawn to the center of the city and prefers the walkable, European-style density where resources are centralized. Dave, however, firmly identifies as centrifugal. Having grown up in the country, he prefers the sheer isolation of Montana or Wyoming and enjoys the centrifugal nature of the American suburb, where the invention of the automobile allows citizens to continuously fling themselves further away from the crowded city center.
For the ancient Greeks, the gravitational, centripetal center of the city was the agora. Wycherley warns against using frigid, modern terms like “Civic Center” or inadequate translations like “Marketplace” to describe the agora. At its core, the agora was a dynamic, intimate gathering place where the Greeks handled a chaotic mix of political, commercial, religious, and social business.
Hippodamus: The Flowing Locks of the Grid
While early Athens grew organically and erratically over centuries, the later Hellenic period witnessed the invention of strict, scientific urban planning. The ultimate visionary behind this movement was a Milesian architect named Hippodamus.
Following the total destruction of Miletus by the Persians during the Ionian Revolt in 494 BC, Hippodamus was granted a clean slate to rebuild his home city utilizing a strict, highly efficient grid pattern. According to Aristotle’s Politics, Hippodamus was a somewhat eccentric, elusive figure known for his flowing locks of hair and his interesting political theories. Taking his architectural show on the road, Hippodamus eventually planned the port of Piraeus in Athens, the colony of Thurii in southern Italy, and the island city of Rhodes.
While the “Hippodamian grid” is highly practical—mirroring the endless, convenient grids of modern cities like Houston, Texas, or Jenison, Michigan—the hosts note it completely lacks the romantic, wandering charm of ancient, labyrinthine streets. The American grid prioritizes getting from point A to point B without delay, resulting in a convenient but slightly depressing sameness. However, the ancient Greeks managed to combine this rigid geometry with high aesthetics. When Hippodamus designed Rhodes, he treated the rectangular grid plan like the gangways of a grand theater, gracefully incorporating the natural, dramatic contours of the seaside landscape into the mathematics of the city.
The Politics of Fortification and Gravity
The final chapter covered in this episode deals with the surprisingly late development of city fortifications. Wycherley notes that massive walls were not actually a primary or essential element of the Greek city; a city could be entirely complete without a wall, provided it possessed an agora, a gymnasium, and a theater. Cities like Sparta explicitly refused to build walls, and Plato argued in the Laws that walls merely tempted men to act like cowards, declaring that the brave swords of the citizens should be a city’s only true bulwark.
Aristotle provided a brilliant, pragmatic political analysis of fortifications. He noted that fortifying a high acropolis is highly suitable for an oligarchy or a monarchy. By holding the high ground, an elite ruling class or a tyrant can utilize the lethal physics of gravity—pouring hot oil or rolling boulders—to suppress disaffection from their own citizens below as well as external enemies.
However, a true democracy requires walls built on level ground. Under a democracy, strong protection must be sought equally for the whole community, making a separately fortified, armed acropolis the ultimate symbol of tyranny and anti-democratic oppression. When these outer democratic walls were constructed, they were built by men who viewed their labor not merely as workmanship, but as techne—an art form. The same unerring sense of fitness, proportion, and aesthetic beauty that shaped the Parthenon came into play in the careful shaping of a simple limestone block in a fortress wall.
Sponsors: Fueling the Classical Renaissance
Hearing the banging of the American Planning Association on the bunker doors, the hosts hastily wrap up the episode by extending their immense gratitude to the sponsors keeping the podcast operational.
- Ratio Coffee: Following his vacation utilizing an inferior hotel “Cuisin-Nerd” coffee pot, Jeff was thrilled to return home to the one-touch simplicity of his Ratio 8. Dave is similarly enjoying his new Ratio 4, praising the machine’s automated bloom stage that flawlessly off-gases CO2 to produce the perfect cup without any brackish tang. Visit ratiocoffee.com/adnavseam and enter the promo code ANRATIO2025 to receive $20 off your entire order.
- Hackett Publishing: For over 54 years, Hackett Publishing has supplied students and scholars with erudite, affordable texts spanning from ancient philosophy to Japanese history. They are currently preparing to release a gorgeous, brand-new edition of Aristotle’s collected works this fall. Build a personal library at hackettpublishing.com and use the code AN2025 to receive a 20% discount and free shipping on your entire order.
- Della Chelpka Art: For custom, breathtaking oil paintings that capture your unique story, visit dellachelpka.art. Enter the coupon code APELLES to receive 10% off your order.
- Latin Per Diem: For listeners inspired to master the Latin language and ancient Greek, Dave is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of his educational platform. With over 2,300 free YouTube lessons available, students can visit latinperdiem.com and use the code 10PLUS for an immediate 10% discount, with even bigger anniversary sales arriving in the fall.
The Gustatory Parting Shot
To officially close out Episode 188, the hosts extend their gratitude to Mishka the sound engineer and to Jeff Scheetz for providing the screaming “Thrillseeker” intro and the bumper music.
Dave then delivers the Gustatory Parting Shot, courtesy of Dr. Steven R. Gundry’s book, The Plant Paradox.
After defining the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s concept of an “infinite regress”—a series where each entity depends upon its predecessor indefinitely—Dave shares this slightly terrifying dietary observation regarding healthy eating:
“You are what the thing you are eating ate.”
Jeff admits his mind completely boggles at the implication. If a person is what the thing they are eating ate, then they are also what that thing ate, plunging the modern eater into a troubling, infinite digestive regress.Check out the “Lurch with Merch” section on the website to grab a QVAE NOCENT DOCENT t-shirt, remember to utilize your bad gag reflexes if attacked by a grizzly bear, and keep taking in the classics. Valete!
