What is love and what does it have to do with the immortal soul? These are some of the questions addressed in the wide-ranging Phaedrus dialogue by Plato. Similar to other Plato dialogues, this one contains a myth. Perhaps you have heard of the Tripartite Soul. This is one of the dialogues that introduces that idea and it is found within the Myth of the Winged Soul.

In this episode, I talk about how Plato used this myth to talk about ideas like love, desire, immortality, education, and the soul. I then tie that together with a major theme of this reading project, direction. I close out with a, how should I say this, interesting 😬 definition of love from Plato.

Show Notes:

A certain film has been making recent headlines and has sparked a fresh interest in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. In 1929, Alfred North Whitehead said “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists in a series of footnotes to Plato.” While that is likely the case in the philosophical tradition, the western literary tradition is a direct descendant of Homer.

If you’ve never read Homer, where should you start?

In September 2023, I began reading The Iliad for the very first time in my life. It was chronologically the next book on my Great Books reading list and it coincided with a Catherine Project reading group where we read The Iliad and The Odyssey over Zoom.

Reading Homer was one of those experiences where I left sensing I had been changed. There was an Erik before Homer and there was a different Erik after Homer. The Iliad immediately became my favorite book and the best way I know how to describe it is to say that it contains everything. I see traces of Homer in nearly everything I’ve read since then.

I had done some preparation before arriving at Homer. I had read Hesiod and Edith Hamilton to gain some exposure to the world of Greek Mythology. I was coming in fresh and I wanted to have some familiarity with the Greek world.

If I could go back in time to September 2023, would I have approached Homer differently? Perhaps.

My Recommendation

Start with Homer. Yes, you will likely miss many of the mythological references and the layers they add to the understanding of the epic, but it will be an introduction that leaves you wanting more. As you encounter the myths in Homer and then in the Greek Tragedies, you’ll be collecting your own experiences of them across literature.

I liken it to studying business at college, something I did at the undergraduate and graduate levels. You can study business all day long, but there is no comparison to diving in and learning on the job. You may know the correct terms for business-speech by studying it in college, but you’ll better understand business itself by immersing yourself in it.

And with Homer, start with The Iliad. Although The Odyssey is popular at the moment, it’s important to know the context of Odysseus’ return, and you’ll find that in The Iliad.

Sources for Mythology

If you’d rather approach Homer with some mythology knowledge under your belt, here are some places where you can start:

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

I keep this book in close proximity as it is one of the most helpful guidebooks to Greek Mythology. Many of the sources I’ll be mentioning below contain portions of the myths. What Edith Hamilton has done is to combine the stories from all of the sources to present a more cohesive storyline. Sometimes these myths come to us from just one obscure ancient work. This collection helps consolidate all of those stories in one place and is an invaluable reference guide as you read works for Ancient Greece.

Theogony by Hesiod

Hesiod was a contemporary or near contemporary of Homer and his Theogony is about the genealogy of the gods. Parentage is of extreme importance in Greek mythology as children take on the attributes of their parents.

The Homeric Hymns

Attributed to Homer but more likely composed by the Homeridae (children / students of Homer), this work contains a series of hymns about the major Greek gods. The stories are wonderful and I really enjoyed reading this collection.

Greek Epic Fragments

This is one of the most important books to read alongside Homer. The Iliad and The Odyssey are just 2 of 8 total works making up the Trojan Epic Cycle. The other 6 works have been lost to us (it’s also unlikely Homer wrote down the other 6). However, they provide the whole story and fill in gaps we’re used to seeing in these epics. For example, the Trojan Horse, the abduction of Helen, and the death of Achilles do not show up except by reference in either The Iliad or The Odyssey. Instead, they were in other works that fit outside those two works. The book gives summaries of the 6 works that were lost, filling out the entire storyline.

Other Works:

• Ovid’s Metamorphoses

• Apollodorus’ The Library of Greek Mythology

Some thoughts on the reading life:

• It’s not as much from discipline as from purpose. Why are you reading? Does it bring you delight, are you longing for something, or are you seeking after truth? Purpose entices you to read. Discipline pushes.

• I rarely meet a great reader who has hours of uninterrupted reading time. Instead, I meet those busy with the ordinary duties of life. Their reading time accrues through minutes here and there, not from long spells of reading. They are usually always carrying a book.

• Reading requires sacrifice, though usually what is given up is not missed. Those who question how someone can read so much are usually the same people who have several tv show seasons under their belts. You can either watch or read. Choose wisely.

• A reading goal can work wonders. Pick a timeframe and a desired reading list. Write those books down in order and include the number of pages. Add the pages together and divide by the number of days in your timeframe. That’s how many pages to read per day. That’s the best way to make a big book (or a big reading project) less intimidating.

• Wake up while the house is quiet. Reading at night induces sleep. Reading in the morning (with coffee, of course) is a great time to read.

• Identity and purpose work together. If you are a seeker of truth, you will seek after truth in the books you read. “I’m not well-read” or “I’m not really a reader” are ideas to remove from your thoughts. You are a reader. You are a seeker. Go and practice your craft.

• Reading is a habit. It’s a delightful, wonderful habit, but a daily practice nonetheless.

I obsessively track my reading, counting books, pages, and time. When looking back, I’m continually amazed at how those words, paragraphs, and pages accumulate over the years. Someone well-read, read well over time. However, they are unlikely to consider themselves well-read because the more they read, the more they realize how much remains to be read. It’s the quest that lasts a lifetime, and likely beyond.

2026 has been a fun year of reading so far. I’ve read the Bible, a few Plato dialogues, legends of King Arthur, and others. Here’s my mid-year reading review. It’s a great way to learn about books you may want to add to your own reading list. I go through the 20+ books I’re read so far for this year and a little about each one of them. Enjoy!

Reading List (Jan - June 2026)

• The Intertextual Tanakh

• Bibliotheca Vol II: The Latter Prophets

• Bibliotheca Vol III: The Writings

• Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell

• Bibliotheca Vol V: The New Testament

• Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman

• Heraclitus Fragments

• The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists

• Early Greek Philosophy

• The Logos of Heraclitus by Eva Brann

• Nero & Paul by Kathie Lee Gifford w/ Brian M. Litfin

• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

• The Greek Sophists

• The Flowering Hawthorn by Hugh Ross Williamson

• Plato: Complete Works by Plato

• Philebus Plato

• Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory

• Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite

• King Arthur and His Knights of The Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

• The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

• The Mirror, the Mask, and the Masterpiece: A Guide to C. S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” by Peter Kreeft

While The Odyssey is about to hit movie theaters around the world, in Ancient Greece, rhapsodes would travel and perform recitations of Homer’s epic poems to large audiences. Rhapsodes were a mix of actor and lecturer. They wouldn’t just perform the epics but would also explain what the poets meant in their stories. Whether they did the explaining through their acting or through side speeches is unclear.

In Plato’s dialogue titled Ion, we meet the rhapsode named Ion. Socrates approaches Ion to ask him about his profession and to tease out his specific skill set. A rhapsode is competition for the philosopher. Ion, in passing down the epics of the past, is also passing down traditional views of the gods and morality. Socrates wants to influence the morality of the populace through reasoned argument, not through the emotions. In The Republic, Plato actually wishes to banish such imitative poets from his ideal city for their negative, diversionary influence.

This dialogue beings with Ion having just won first prize in a poetry contest. He has brought tears and laughter to 20,000 audience members and has won the accolades of the masses. We learn quickly that Ion has a singular focus on Homer and cares nothing for other poets. Socrates uses this as a way to examine the skills that Ion possesses.

Socrates (Plato’s mouthpiece) uses a particular manner of examination in this dialogue. We see him use it elsewhere and it’s a process derived from the early Greek philosophers, who were attempting to find the First Principle, the archē of things (for example, Democritus’ first principle(s) were atoms and void). In the Plato dialogues Statesman and Sophist, Socrates uses a method of definition through division. Socrates is seeking the core elements, the first principles of those professions. He’s atomizing the concepts to reach the root.

We see him employing a similar tactic in Ion. He’s conducting a proxy war of sorts against Homer through his “acting” agent Ion. So, while Socrates is questioning Ion specifically and the profession of the rhapsode more generally, his ultimate target is Homer. If he can show that the rhapsode is not skilled, he can draw a line back to Homer and show how philosophy is the better way.

Socrates references a series of episodes from the Iliad and the Odyssey and asks Ion who would be more skilled to talk about things like charioteering and divination, him or an expert. Ion admits that an expert would be more skilled.

This is where the dialogue becomes tricky. If a rhapsode is explaining the epic through dramatization, Socrates’ series of questions are absurd. Can you imagine Ion stopping in the middle of a scene to call in the expert charioteer to lecture on the intricacies of horses? It would destroy the show. The majority of the 20,000 attendees would get up from their seats and leave.

Ion gets tricked in this dialogue. Socrates actually makes him look absurd and unskilled through definition by division. There are two instances where Socrates asks Ion point blank what skills he has over and above the experts in the field. In both cases, Ion responds by saying “in everything.” This was not the answer Socrates was expecting.

I think Ion was right. He was more skilled in Homer as a whole. He should have responded to Socrates by reciting the episode of Priam kissing the hand of the man who killed his son from the Iliad. He should have then asked Socrates the question, who judges this better, the rhapsode or the expert in kissing hands? The rhapsode or the anger management counselor? The rhapsode or the parent who has lost a child?

Ion was right because you can’t atomize the arts. You can’t break Homer down into small pieces and determine if he was as correct as an expert about a given topic. “The play’s the thing…” as Shakespeare stated through Hamlet. You don’t combat Homer by breaking him down. You combat Homer by telling better stories. Ion was correct - he was better at understanding and portraying the epic that has lasted 2,500+ years.

Plato knew this. He was a tragedy playwright himself (the story goes that he burned them all upon meeting Socrates). He utilized dialogues and myths to tell what he considered to be better stories. While it seems as though Ion is the absurd man in this dialogue (and he does say some absurd things), I actually think Plato presents Socrates as the absurd one for his line of questioning. Ion’s double response of “everything” exposes a deep insight about the arts.

Plato also uses this dialogue to explore the origin of these arts. Do they arrive through the skill of the artist, through the possession of the poet by a god, or through some middle ground of divine inspiration?

When I talk to artists, I rarely hear them say that the song, painting, or poem came through their own skill. They are skilled at what they do, but that’s not the origin. And I’ve never heard someone say they were completely out of control and possessed during the creation process. Nearly every time, I hear the artist admit that the work of art flowed through them in a way that they can’t fully explain. They were in control but something outside of their control happened in the process.

How do you atomize a work of art like that? How do you atomize Homer? You can’t. Ion was right.

June 2026 Reading

King Arthur • Lewis • Plato

I usually take a break from The Great Books during July, but I bumped my break up a month to read about the Legends of King Arthur. I did this because I was asked if I would be interested in interviewing Malcolm Guite about the first of four volumes of his epic Arthuriad, Galahad and the Grail. As a general rule, I try not to turn down opportunities to speak with epic poets, so I spent the beginning of June prepping for that episode, which you can watch here.

I am an Arthurian newbie. Until a few weeks ago, I lacked the most basic parts of the storyline. Here’s what I read this past month:

• I started with Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur to get my feet wet. I read the first 50+ pages about Arthur and then skipped to the parts dealing with Galahad. I did not read this entire book but just portions of it.

• Next, I read Galahad and the Grail in preparation for my conversation with Malcolm. I was amazed. It truly feels like we’re witnessing the release of an epic poem that will be around for generations. I loved this and the poetry would ring in my head after reading.

• Then, I read Roger Lancelyn Green’s King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. This is written for young adults and was very helpful in getting a relatively quick overview of the main stories of the legend of King Arthur. The Malory edition can be a bit long-winded and contradictory, but Green does a wonderful job of consolidation. He was also a friend of C.S. Lewis.

• I closed out my Arthurian Month with The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is an unfinished poem and was neat to see Tolkien’s interaction with the legend. His son wrote a very helpful and informative afterward. I recommend this to Arthur fans.

After Arthur, I read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. This is the July book for the Short Great Books reading group I lead in Franklin, TN. I’m going to be reading it one more time before the July 6th meeting. I’m still processing the first read-through.

After Lewis, I dove back into Plato as I prepare for a podcast conversation I will be having later this week about the Ion dialogue. This is a short dialogue dealing with artistic inspiration. Here are the books I’ve been consulting for this deep dive:

• Plato: Complete Works - I usually start here with Plato’s dialogues to do a read-through for the overall picture. This version of Ion was translated by Paul Woodruff.

• Plato: Early Socratic Dialogues - Intro to & Translation of Ion by Trevor Saunders

• Plato: On Poetry - Intro to Ion by Penelope Murray (not pictured)

• Ion - translation by Allan Bloom

• An Interpretation of Plato’s Ion - by Allan Bloom - an article that has been very helpful in thinking about Ion.

• Classical Literary Criticism - Intro and Translation by Penelope Murray - I enjoyed this introduction.

By the time the podcast conversation occurs this Thursday, I’ll have read Ion at least 5 times. Some of these Great Books take me a long time to understand, but it’s been fun to see my understanding increase with each subsequent reading.

One quick note to close out June - I read the full books of about half of those listed above. For the others, I read small portions for intros or different translations, or I’m working my way through the entire work (as in the case of Plato’s Complete Works).

July 2026 Reading Plan

Back to the Great Books

From July - November, I’ll be reading the dialogues of Plato. I’ve read about a third of them so far and am going to attempt to finish all of them by the end of the year. That will include a deep dive at some point into The Republic. I’ll want to read that one at least two times, maybe more.

Podcast Episodes

I filmed two delightful podcast episodes during June around the Galahad and the Grail epic poem:

I first interviewed the author and poet, Malcolm Guite. We talked about the Arthurian threads back to Ancient Greece, his collaboration with illustrator Stephen Crotts, and the theme of unveiling.

After that, I interviewed the illustrator of Galahad and the Grail, Stephen Crotts. I asked Stephen about his design process, how he got into the Arthur stories, and how we should approach his artwork.

Recently Acquired

June Book Purchases

My book buying is out of hand. These books fall into a few main buckets:

• King Arthur - I really got into the Legends of King Arthur this past month and books would keep pointing to other books that I wanted to explore. The Apocryphal Gospels (particularly, the Gospel of Nicodemus) relates to Arthur as well.

• Till We Have Faces - I’m leading a discussion on this book next week and want to be well-prepared, so I purchased some books for that purpose. The story is based upon the Cupid & Psyche myth found in Apuleius’ Golden Ass, the reason for that purchase.

• Plato - I want to understand the Ion dialogue well before I discuss it this week on a podcast.

• Others:

  • I rearranged my shelves this past month and bought some books to fill in some Great Books gaps that I have coming up (Tao Te Ching, Sun Tzu, and Zhuāngzǐ.

  • The Yearling - I saw Andrew Peterson in concert and he talked about this book for quite a while. It really impacted him, so I bought it for the future.

  • The Hidden Life of Trees - I’m going to spend December reading about trees, so I’m building my arsenal.

Bookish Adventures

Here’s some book-related fun I had during June:

1. Each year, thriller writer Brad Thor signs and personalizes his latest book for our customers at Landmark Booksellers. It’s a joy to get to speak to him each year as he signs books.

2. My office/study mid-shelf rearrangement.

3. An event at Landmark Booksellers with Former United States Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.

4. Catching an Andrew Peterson concert at the Ryman where his backdrop was shelves of books.

5. In-person interview with Stephen Crotts, illustrator of Galahad and the Grail.

6. An event with Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman at Landmark Booksellers. I have listened to his music for many years, so it was neat to get to meet him.

I set aside one post per month to highlight my reading life. Books of Titans is a reading project aimed at seeking the ancient paths by reading The Great Books by 200 Authors chronologically over the next 40 years. Thank you for following my journey.

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 -

Last week, I wrote about how the Matter of Britain intersects with a number of the Great Books. Certain tales inspire the greatest minds. It’s helpful to know these stories to better appreciate the books that tap into these legends.

With that in mind, this article highlights the works that have told the Legends of King Arthur. As Malcolm Guite highlighted in the last podcast episode, there is not an authoritative work marking the origin of the Arthurian Legends. Instead, there are a number of works that have captured the tale over time.

The History of the Kings of Britain (1136 AD)

Geoffrey of Monmouth

It all started in Troy. While Aeneas was fleeing a Troy in flames and making his way to Italy, Brutus, another Trojan, was doing the same, making his way to Albion (Britain) to found New Troy, what we know today as London. From these lofty beginnings, this book chronicles the kings and legendary figures of Britain. You may have heard of some of them - King Lear, Merlin, and King Arthur.

Roman de Brut (1155)

Wace

Wace took Monmouth’s History that was written in Latin prose and adapted it to Old French poetry. He also added to the story and introduced the Round Table for the first time.

Here are some other important early works:

• Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes (1170 to 1191 AD) - introduced Lancelot, Percival, the Holy Grail, and Lancelot’s affair

• Brut by Layamon (1200 AD) - the first English retelling

• The Vulgate Cycle by Robert de Boron (1200 AD) - tied the Holy Grail to Joseph of Arimathea

The Flowering Hawthorn (1962)

Hugh Ross Williamson

I’m jumping ahead to this story as it connects Joseph of Arimathea to Glastonbury, where Arthur was buried. This story recounts how Jesus gave Joseph of Arimathea the Holy Grail (the cup from the last supper), the platter from the last supper, and the spear that pierced Jesus’ side on the cross. The Flowering Hawthorn is a staff that Joseph thrust into the ground on Wearyall Hill near Glastonbury Tor. The legend is that the staff flowers each Christmas (January 6th on the old calendar) in England.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Late 1300s)

Anonymous / J.R.R. Tolkien (Translation)

This poem survived in a single document and recounts the story of a large Green Knight and one of the Knights of the Round Table, Sir Gawain.

Le Morte Darthur (1470)

Sir Thomas Malory

This is one of the most famous prose collections of the Legends of Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory used French and English material to compose this work. It is mainly divided into different adventures that tell the stories of the Knights of the Round Table and the kingdom of Arthur.

Idylls of the King (1859)

Lord Tennyson

Tennyson revived the Arthurian Legends by composing a Victorian retelling within twelve narrative poems of blank verse.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)

Mark Twain

The story of an American Hank Morgan who winds up in 6th century England.

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1953)

Roger Lancelyn Green

A friend of C.S. Lewis, Roger Lancelyn Green took the long and sometimes contradictory stories from Malory and compiled them into a version perfect for first-timers or children.

Some other works:

• The Once and Future King by T.H. White’s (1958)

• The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck (unfinished)

That Hideous Strength (1945)

C.S. Lewis

A story, the third of a trilogy, that is heavily steeped in the Arthurian legend.

Galahad and the Grail (2026)

Malcolm Guite (illustrated by Stephen Crotts)

The first of a total four volume Epic Poem called The Arthuriad by poet Malcolm Guite. This fresh telling of the Arthurian legend is composed in ballad form that creates a pleasant aftertaste in your mind. I spoke with Malcolm about this work in a recent podcast episode.

The Inklings and King Arthur (2017)

Edited by Sørina Higgins

This is a look at the interactions between The Inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and others) with the legends of Arthur.

Where Should You Start?

If you are completely new to the Arthur Legends, I recommend starting with Roger Lancelyn Green’s King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. It’s a short and easy to understand review of the main stories. That provides an excellent foundation to approach any of the other works listed above.

In my conversation last week with Malcolm Guite, he identified three subject matters the medieval poets considered worthy of epic poetry:

1. The Matter of Troy

2. The Matter of Gaul

3. The Matter of Britain

I’ve dedicated my reading for June 2026 to The Matter of Britain, which consists of the legends of King Arthur. Except through brief encounters through movies, this is my first foray into these tales. I’ve been learning about Arthur through Sir Thomas Malory, Roger Lancelyn Green, and Malcolm Guite.

I’ve had an epiphany these past two weeks as I’ve been enjoying the tales of Arthur. I’m currently reading through The Great Books. I never realized how many of these classic works make use of The Matters as their subject matter.

For example, the tales of Arthur are taken up in the following works and by these authors from my Immortal Authors reading list:

• The Mabinogion (#67) — the earliest Welsh Arthurian tales

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (#82) — the finest Middle English Arthurian romance

• Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (#98) — Prince Arthur as questing hero

• Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King (#162) — the Victorian retelling of the whole cycle

• Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (#168) — the satirical inversion

Additionally, many of The Inklings, including C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield, wove these tales throughout their works. Lewis drew on the Arthur theme in That Hideous Strength, and Tolkien translated Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and embarked upon The Fall of Arthur.

As Malcolm Guite pointed out last week, there is no authorized version of the tales of King Arthur. There’s no definitive account on my list of Great Books. Geoffrey Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, and Sir Thomas Malory collected the tales through their works over the ages, but there’s not one original Arthuriad source we can point to. Like Homer, they took the oral tradition and set it to writing.

My epiphany is that these Matters intersect many of the Great Books and it’s important to have a proper familiarity with these stories.

The Matter of Troy permeates the Great Books. There are two main lines, two epic cycles from which Homer’s epic poems, the Greek Tragedians, and later authors pull from. These are the Theban and Trojan epic cycles. The Iliad and the Odyssey are part of the Trojan epic cycle. The Aeneid is also included in the Matter of Troy as Aeneas survives and escapes from Troy to found Rome, thus connecting Troy to Rome. (There’s a neat legendary connection between Troy and London that Malcolm Guite highlights in last week’s episode).

For the Matter of Gaul (France), also known as the Carolingian cycle, these three works of heroic deeds emerged between the late 11th and early 12th centuries:

• Chanson de Guillaume

• The Song of Roland

• Gormont et Isembart

The Song of Roland is on my Great Books reading list. Later authors like Boiardo with Orlando Innamorato and Ariosto with Orlando Furioso continued the tale.

I’ve been enthralled with the tales of Arthur that I’ve been reading for the first time over these past two weeks. They’ve quickened my imagination and it’s been amazing to see how many of the world’s greatest authors were also taken in by these tales. As you read through the Great Books, make sure you incorporate these Matters and these stories into your reading. You’ll see traces in your favorite books, movies, and music.

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 -

Let’s do an experiment. Say you’re trying to figure out what to read next. All you need is a topic and a timeframe. For example:

• Topic: King Arthur

• Timeframe: One Month

Let’s assume you can read a book a week. That gives you four books. What specifically do you want to know about King Arthur? Are you starting from scratch or are you well-versed in Arthurian lore? If you’re starting from scratch, look for a good version that gives an overview of the entire legend. Don’t be afraid to start with a young adult book for that overview.

Next, let’s go a little deeper. What is the gold standard version of the work? Perhaps you discover that Sir Thomas Malory has the best version. That can be book #2 and you get the added benefit of working your way through a classic.

After that, consider another type of book on the topic. If Malory was prose, is there a version of poetry?

Finally, consider authors you enjoy who have written about King Arthur. How about reading what Tolkien, Tennyson, or Twain wrote about the Arthurian legends?

The timeframe puts some fire in your spirit. It also provides an easily attainable goal while limiting exposure should you sour on the topic.

Another example:

• Topic: Trees

• Timeframe: Two Months

Let’s assume you like trees, see them quite often, but don’t know a thing about them. In this case, we need to start with some sort of “trees for dummies” book. Something covering the absolute basics.

Maybe you have a favorite tree. Mine is the Ginkgo tree. I’d next want to get a book about Ginkgo trees because I have a natural desire to learn more about those awesome looking leaves. I’m learning about trees through learning about a specific tree that I really happen to enjoy.

Next, dig in on a subject about trees that interests you. For me, I’ve heard that trees can somehow communicate with seeds that drop from their trees, even feeding them in mysterious ways. I don’t know if that’s true, but it sounds incredible, and it’s something I’d like to look into.

Finally, what better teacher than direct experience. What if I pick a tree in my yard, find out what it is, and get a book about its proper care. Here, I can immediately put into practice what I’m learning, solidifying that knowledge in my head.

A topic and a timeframe. Give it a go.

May 2026 Reading

Plato & Others

Here are the books I dabbled in during May. Let’s start at the bottom. I’m currently reading Plato, author #20 on my Immortal Authors reading list. In Plato: Complete Works, I read the Philebus and Symposium dialogues.

The Flowering Hawthorn is about the legend of Joseph of Arimethea arriving in England with a staff that flowered when he placed it on British soil. I covered that very interesting book in a podcast episode recorded in Oxford, England. Stephen Crotts, the illustrator of the Galahad and the Grail book, suggested this to me and it’s some prep work as I get into the Arthur legend (see below).

I picked up Sophie’s World at Landmark Booksellers as a way to review philosophy as I read it. I’ll keep this book on the reference rack and look at it as I cover each philosopher. I found the parts about the early Greek Philosophers to be very helpful, tying the idea of Atoms to Legos.

I finally finished The Greek Sophists and The First Philosophers after multiple months of reading through the Early Greek Philosophers. I did this in order to better understand Plato.

I bought Plato: Philebus at Blackwell’s at Oxford University. I always run through a dialogue for the first time in the huge Complete Works on the bottom and then will purchase a Penguin Classics or Oxford World’s Classics version for an additional read-through and helpful introductory notes.

And finally, Medea by Euripides was for the May meeting of my Short Great Books reading group. It became quite the lively discussion!

June 2026 Reading Plan

The Arthurian Month

I made a slight switch for June. I usually spend March - June reading The Great Books and then take July as a break month. My plan for this July was to then read books about Gilgamesh.

However, a few weeks ago, I was asked if I’d like to interview Malcolm Guite on the Books of Titans Podcast. I heartily agreed and am now in full-on prep mode for that interview. I moved my break month to this month, June, and will then return to The Great Books between July - November. Gilgamesh will have to wait until 2027.

I’m coming in completely fresh to the King Arthur Legend. I know next to nothing, so I’m starting with Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (The Death of Arthur). I’m currently reading that book and am skipping around to the parts that will provide the necessary background to read Malcolm Guite’s Galahad and the Grail.

Time permitting, I’ll read the Roger Lancelyn Green coverage of the Arthur legends (he was an Inkling, friends of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien), the two Tolkien books, and The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad.

I’m loving this so far and I can’t believe I’ve made it this far in life without having read the Arthurian legends. Let’s go!

Recently Acquired

May Book Purchases

Ok, I know that that photo makes it look like I purchased a lot of books during May, but in reality, that’s exactly the case. Here’s why I purchased each book. Let’s start at the top on this one.

• Clement of Alexandria - he wrote a lot about the early Greek philosophers and is one of the authors on my Immortal Authors list, and so this purchase was simply to build the arsenal. I purchased it at my favorite bookstore in all the world, Blackwell’s at Oxford.

• King Arthur and His Knights of the Roundtable by Roger Lancelyn Green - more of a summary of Malory’s work. For my Arthurian Month.

• For Art and For Life by Vincent Van Gogh - this book caught my fancy at an Oxford bookstore.

• Studies in Words by C.S. Lewis - I was flipping through this first edition and saw that there was a chapter about Nature that referenced one of the early Greek philosophers, Empedocles. Had to buy it.

• Le Morte Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory - for my Arthurian Month.

• The Enneads by Plotinus - I purchased this in preparation for my episode on The Birth of Love. Plotinus is also one of the 200 Immortal Authors.

• In Quietness & Trust by Matt Searles - my wife Stephanie had a concert with Matt Searles in the U.K. this past month and so I wanted to get his book.

• God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis - I also purchased purchased this in preparation for my episode on The Birth of Love in order to look into the role of myth. I wanted this book for my library, but just bought it for the moment for the chapter called Myth Became Fact.

• Tolkien Set - purchased these for my Arthurian Month (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Fall of Arthur in particular).

• Liturgies of the Wild: Myths that Make Us by Martin Shaw - saw this at Blackwell’s in Oxford and bought it. Martin has become friends with Malcolm Guite and I thought it’d be fun to read this one. I’m a bit obsessed with myths at the moment.

Bookish Adventures

May was one of the most insane bookish adventure months of my life. I spent a few weeks on and off in Oxford, England. I reconnected with an Oxford Don of mine and read in libraries I was not allowed to enter even as a student. Here are 9 photos from May:

1. An Oxford bookstore section I heartily approve of - Titans of Literature!

2. Inside the basement of Oxford’s Blackwell’s Bookshop, perhaps my favorite book room in all the world.

3. Inside Blackwells

4. Reading Plato in the Radcliffe Camera

5. Inside the Duke Humfrey’s Library

6. Inside the Duke Humfrey’s Library

7. Inside the Oxford Union Library

8. Reconnecting with my Oxford Don Dr. Susan Gillingham after 26 years.

9. My wife viewing a special collection of Lilias Trotter paintings and journals at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. That was cool.

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

A few weeks ago, I was reading in the Duke Humfrey’s Library at Oxford University. Above the desk were books that were hundreds of years old. Many of them contained a word I was unaccustomed to seeing on the spine of a book. That word was Opera.

I looked it up and learned that Opera was part of a Latin phrase (opera omnia) that referred to the complete works of a single author. Opera is the plural form of opus (a work or labor).

I loved that idea. There in front of me were the complete works, the opera, of different authors.

The book I had brought into the library to read was Plato Complete Works. Here I was in front of a bunch of books of Opera with my own copy of Plato’s Opera.

Something dawned on me. Here I was trying to figure out the list of Great Books that I wanted to read for this reading project. But as I continued on, I was enjoying the reading so much that I was naturally choosing to read the Opera of each author. Despite initially selecting a few plays per tragedy playwright, I had ended up reading the complete surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. I had initially decided to read a few dialogues of Plato, but here I was, slowly making my way through his Complete Works.

So, I’ve made a few executive decisions for the Books of Titans reading project. I’m setting aside 40 years to read through the complete works of 200 authors. Those are my limits - 40 years, 200 authors. I’ve thought long and hard about these authors (my list has always centered around authors first and books second with this recent decision to not select particular works, but to read them all, within reason). I’m four years in of the total 40 years and I am 46 years old, so 36 more years makes this a lifelong reading project. I’ll read the works chronologically by author according to the year the author’s death. There are only two authors who died within the past 50 years.

I combat burnout by taking regular breaks during the year. Eight months are dedicated to The Great Books and four months to the Bible and newer books that catch my fancy. Forty years may sound like a terrible chore, but these last few years of reading have been the best of my entire life. I look forward to the next 36 years of reading with great anticipation.

I have a rather strange goal with all of this. C.S. Lewis is the 194th author on my list. By the time I reach him and read his complete works, I want to catch the majority of his references to earlier works, not because I can see them mentioned in the footnotes, but because I’ve come to know those works in my soul.

The 200 Immortal Authors

Here they are in chronological order. The year either signifies our best guess of a creation date or the author’s year of death. Many of the works are by unknown authors. In those cases, I’ve listed the name of the work instead of the author’s name (Gilgamesh, the Rig Veda, The Mabinogion). If the author or work is in bold, I have read their complete works as part of this Books of Titans reading project. As you can see, I have a long way to go over the next 36 years:

1. Enheduana - 2250 BC

2. The Epic of Gilgamesh - 2100 BC

3. Writings from Ancient Egypt - 2000 BC

4. Enuma Elish (Creation Epic) & Atrahasis (Flood Myth) - 1700 BC

5. The Rig Veda - 1500 BC

6. Homer - 700 BC

7. Hesiod - 700 BC

8. Sappho - 570 BC

9. Aesop - 564 BC

10. Lao Tzu - 531 BC

11. Sun Tzu - 496 BC

12. Confucius - 479 BC

13. Aeschylus - 456 BC

14. Herodotus - 425 BC

15. Sophocles - 406 BC

16. Euripides - 406 BC

17. Thucydides - 400 BC

18. Aristophanes - 386 BC

19. Xenophon - 354 BC

20. Plato - 348 BC

21. Aristotle - 322 BC

22. Chuang Tzu - 286 BC

23. Epicurus - 270 BC

24. Euclid - 270 BC

25. Archimedes - 212 BC

26. The Ramayana - 200 BC

27. Terence - 159 BC

28. Lucretius - 55 BC

29. Cicero - 43 BC

30. Virgil - 19 BC

31. Ovid - 17 AD

32. Livy - 17 AD

33. Seneca - 65 AD

34. The Bible - 0

35. Josephus - 100 AD

36. Quintilian - 100 AD

37. Tacitus - 117 AD

38. Plutarch - 120 AD

39. Epictetus - 135 AD

40. Ptolemy - 168 AD

41. Marcus Aurelius - 180 AD

42. The Mishnah - 200 AD

43. The Bhagavad-Gita (in the Mahabharata) - 200 AD

44. St. Irenaeus of Lyons - 202 AD

45. Origen - 253 AD

46. Plotinus - 270 AD

47. Eusebius - 339 AD

48. St. Athanasius of Alexandria - 373 AD

49. St. Basil the Great - 379 AD

50. St. Gregory of Nazianzus - 390 AD

51. Gregory of Nyssa - 395 AD

52. St. John Chrysostom - 407 AD

53. St. Jerome - 420 AD

54. St. Augustine - 430 AD

55. The Talmud - 500 AD

56. Boethius - 524 AD

57. The Koran - 632 AD

58. Beowulf - 1000

59. Murasaki Shikibu - 1014

60. Abolqasem Ferdowsi - 1020

61. Sei Shōnagon - 1025

62. The Song of Roland - 1100

63. Saint Anselm of Canterbury - 1109

64. Anna Komnene - 1153

65. Hildegard of Bingen - 1179

66. The Mabinogion - 1200

67. The Forest of Thieves and the Magic Garden - 1200

68. Moses Maimonides - 1204

69. Magna Carta - 1215

70. Saint Francis of Assisi - 1226

71. The Saga of the Volsungs - 1270

72. The Poetic Edda - 1270

73. Rumi - 1273

74. Thomas Aquinas - 1274

75. Njal’s Saga - 1280

76. The Sundiata - 1300

77. Dante Alighieri - 1321

78. The Tale of the Heike - 1330

79. Giovanni Boccaccio - 1375

80. Geoffrey Chaucer - 1400

81. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - 1400

82. Julian of Norwich - 1416

83. Margery Kempe - 1438

84. The Arabian Nights - 1450

85. Thomas à Kempis - 1471

86. Niccolò Machiavelli - 1527

87. Thomas More - 1535

88. Desiderius Erasmus - 1536

89. Nicolaus Copernicus - 1543

90. Martin Luther - 1546

91. The Book of Common Prayer - 1549

92. François Rabelais - 1553

93. John Calvin - 1564

94. Teresa of Avila - 1582

95. St. John of the Cross - 1591

96. Michel de Montaigne - 1592

97. Edmund Spenser - 1599

98. The Story of Hong Gildong - 1612

99. William Shakespeare - 1616

100. Miguel de Cervantes - 1616

101. Francis Bacon - 1626

102. John Donne - 1631

103. George Herbert - 1633

104. Galileo Galilei - 1642

105. Miyamoto Musashi - 1645

106. Westminster Confession of Faith - 1647

107. René Descartes - 1650

108. Blaise Pascal - 1662

109. Molière - 1673

110. John Milton - 1674

111. Baruch Spinoza - 1677

112. Thomas Hobbes - 1679

113. John Bunyan - 1688

114. Matsuo Bashō - 1694

115. Jean Racine - 1699

116. John Locke - 1704

117. Isaac Newton - 1727

118. Daniel Defoe - 1731

119. Alexander Pope - 1744

120. Jonathan Swift - 1745

121. Charles-Louis Montesquieu - 1755

122. David Hume - 1776

123. Jean-Jacques Rousseau - 1778

124. Voltaire - 1778

125. Founding Fathers - 1787

126. Adam Smith - 1790

127. Edward Gibbon - 1794

128. James Boswell - 1795

129. Olaudah Equiano - 1797

130. Immanuel Kant - 1804

131. Jane Austen - 1817

132. John Keats - 1821

133. William Blake - 1827

134. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - 1831

135. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - 1832

136. Sir Walter Scott - 1832

137. Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 1834

138. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison - 1836

139. Alexander Pushkin - 1837

140. Emily Brontë - 1848

141. Edgar Allan Poe - 1849

142. William Wordsworth - 1850

143. Mary Shelley - 1851

144. Søren Kierkegaard - 1855

145. Charlotte Brontë - 1855

146. Alexis de Tocqueville - 1859

147. Arthur Schopenhauer - 1860

148. Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1864

149. Alexandre Dumas - 1870

150. Charles Dickens - 1870

151. John Stuart Mill - 1873

152. George Eliot - 1880

153. Gustave Flaubert - 1880

154. Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 1881

155. Charles Darwin - 1882

156. Ralph Waldo Emerson - 1882

157. Karl Marx - 1883

158. Victor Hugo - 1885

159. Emily Dickinson - 1886

160. Herman Melville - 1891

161. Walt Whitman - 1892

162. Alfred Tennyson - 1892

163. Frederick Douglass - 1895

164. Harriet Beecher Stowe - 1896

165. Friedrich Nietzsche - 1900

166. Anton Chekhov - 1904

167. George MacDonald - 1905

168. Mark Twain - 1910

169. Leo Tolstoy - 1910

170. William James - 1910

171. Henry James - 1916

172. Marcel Proust - 1922

173. Joseph Conrad - 1924

174. Franz Kafka - 1924

175. Thomas Hardy - 1928

176. G.K. Chesterton - 1936

177. Edith Wharton - 1937

178. Sigmund Freud - 1939

179. William Butler Yeats - 1939

180. Mikhail Bulgakov - 1940

181. James Joyce - 1941

182. Virginia Woolf - 1941

183. Dietrich Bonhoeffer - 1945

184. Willa Cather - 1947

185. Sigrid Undset - 1949

186. George Orwell - 1950

187. Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1951

188. Albert Einstein - 1955

189. Thomas Mann - 1955

190. Dorothy Sayers - 1957

191. Zora Neale Hurston - 1960

192. William Faulkner - 1962

193. W.E.B. Du Bois - 1963

194. C.S. Lewis - 1963

195. Flannery O’Connor - 1964

196. T.S. Eliot - 1965

197. John Steinbeck - 1968

198. J.R.R. Tolkien - 1973

199. Daphne du Maurier - 1989

200. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - 2008

24 of the 200 authors are female, including the very first author on the list

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:

1. Goodness in Moderation

2. In Beauty

3. In Intellect and Reason (Wisdom from the beginning)

4. Knowledge

5. 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.

For years, I’ve been using the same bookmark in nearly all of the books I’ve read. I purchased it at Oxford University during the summer of 2000 while I was a student in a 6-week study abroad program. It shows three rows of old books from the Duke Humfrey’s Library, one of the twenty-eight of the Bodleian Libraries.

This past week, I opened up the Complete Works of Plato with the bookmark in that very library. It had been a long wait. Back in the year 2000, despite being a student, I did not have the necessary credentials to access any of the Bodleian Libraries. I had been longing to enter for 26 years.

For the first time in my life, I read, worked, journaled, and marveled within two of the Bodleian Libraries this past week - the Radcliffe Camera and the Duke Humfrey’s Library. I spent parts of five different days in these beautiful places and was in my glory. I’d like to share some of that experience with you:

The Oath

Upon obtaining the necessary credentials to access the Bodleian Libraries, I was asked to recite the following oath out loud:

I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.

The Radcliffe Camera

My first library visit was to the Radcliffe Camera, a stunningly beautiful building at the heart of Oxford with three levels of reading and studying areas. I quickly climbed the stairs to the highest spot and set out to read Plato’s Philebus dialogue. Reading a great work of literature within these hallowed halls was an experience I will never forget.

The Duke Humfrey’s Library

I spent most of my time in this library, setting up at one of the desks along the row of books that are hundreds of years old. Warning signs adorn each shelf - “Please do not touch the books, they are alarmed.” Though tempting, I did not touch the books.

At the end of the room, there’s an area with large windows and two levels of bookshelves. At 4:45pm, they sound a loud bell in the room to warn readers that it’s time to begin packing up before the prompt 5pm closing. Drinks and food are strictly forbidden in this room.

If a Platonic Form of the library exists in heaven, this is our closest counterpart on earth.

Dr. Susan Gillingham

During this trip, I also reconnected with one of my Oxford dons, Dr. Susan Gillingham. She’s an expert on the Psalms and taught the Old Testament Literature course I took 26 years ago. We talked about Gilgamesh, her upcoming books, and our mutual acquaintance Malcolm Guite.

I found myself struck by the sheer number of beautiful, old buildings in Oxford. They tell a story about the thousands of people who dedicated their time, talent, and resources to building these colleges, libraries, and chapels. Our predecessors have communicated a very important message to us about what they believed to be of utmost importance. Housing books in libraries of such immense beauty shows a reverence for the written word beyond what most of us believe in this time. What are we building that will last and communicate to the next generations what is of utmost importance to us?

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.

Photos

Here 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 past week, I attended a lecture by author Judith McQuoid titled “Stress, Chaos, and Change: C.S. Lewis in the Narnia Years.”

She focused on the time period of 1945 - 1956, with a special emphasis on 1949 - 1953, the four-year stretch during which C.S. Lewis wrote the seven books of the beloved Chronicles of Narnia series.

I’ve been to Lewis’ house near Oxford, the Kilns, and have seen the desk from which he wrote. I picture him at that desk writing in perfect peace in a sort of idyllic ivory tower utopia.

That’s not exactly how it went down.

During WWI, Lewis made a promise to his friend, Edward “Paddy” Moore, that if either of them were to perish during the war, the other would take care of that man’s mother. Paddy did indeed die in 1918, and C.S. Lewis kept his promise to look after his mother, Janie King Moore, for the next 30 years of his life.

It was not easy taking care of Mrs. Moore. She lived at the Kilns and was demanding of Lewis’ time and energy. Lewis not only took care of her, but also walked the dogs, cooked the meals, and did the household chores. His writing only came in short “snatches.”

She eventually required nursing home care in April 1950 and died in January 1951. Lewis was responsible for the monthly nursing home payments, which placed a strain on his finances. It’s quite startling to consider that he was struggling financially while writing books that would go on to sell 120+ million copies.

This was not the only stress in his life at the time. His brother Warren (Warnie) Lewis was an alcoholic who regularly wound up in the hospital due to binge drinking episodes. At one point, Lewis had the chance for a much needed one-month break in Ireland, but a alcohol-fueled hospital visit by Warnie made that trip impossible.

Lewis was also teaching at Oxford, walking back and forth from Magdallen College to the Kilns, frequenting the Eagle and Child pub, and responding to countless letters.

I don’t know how he did it. He broke every rule of modern-day productivity gurus. He didn’t distance himself from those who put a drain on him. He didn’t hire out menial tasks so he could focus on what he did best. It seems like he didn’t focus on himself much at all. And yet he left a legacy of over 30 books that have touched millions of lives. And he wrote those while remaining true to his commitments to those closest to him.

Would we have Narnia were it not for this dedication? These responsibilities nearly broke Lewis (at one point he was hospitalized for exhaustion). But perhaps the endless winter came from personal experience of a 30-year commitment to look after the mother of a friend. Perhaps the escape into a magical land helped Lewis cope with his monotonous and difficult circumstances. Perhaps these nearly lifelong commitments were a part of what made him the type of person who could write the types of books he wrote.

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

Of the early Greek philosophers, surprisingly few were born in Athens. I had always equated early philosophy with that city, but the Pre-Socratics lived along the edges of the Greek world. They lived in Ionia, Magna Graecia, Sicily, and Thrace. Many later traveled to Athens, and some settled there, but this map shows how wide their world actually was.

Pre-Socratics:

• Thales • Miletus (Ionia) • 625 - 545 BC

• Anaximander • Miletus (Ionia) • c. 610–546 BC

• Anaximenes • Miletus (Ionia) • c. 585–528 BC

• Pythagoras • Samos (born); Croton (school) • c. 570–495 BC

• Alcmaeon • Croton (Magna Graecia) • c. 570–490 BC

• Xenophanes • Colophon (Ionia); lived in Magna Graecia • c. 570–475 BC

• Heraclitus • Ephesus (Ionia) • c. 535–475 BC

• Parmenides • Elea (Magna Graecia) • c. 515–445 BC

• Melissus • Samos • c. 470–430 BC

• Zeno • Elea (Magna Graecia) • c. 490–430 BC

• Empedocles • Acragas (Sicily) • 495 - 435 BC

• Hippasus • Metapontum (Pythagorean) • c. 500–450 BC

• Philolaus • Croton/Tarentum (Pythagorean) • c. 470–385 BC

• Ion of Chios • Chios • c. 480–420 BC

• Hippo • Samos or Rhegium • 5th century BC

• Anaxagoras • Clazomenae (Ionia); lived in Athens • c. 500–428 BC

• Archelaus • Athens (Miletus origins) • 5th century BC

• Leucippus • Miletus or Abdera • c. 460–? BC

• Democritus • Abdera (Thrace) • c. 460–370 BC

• Diogenes of Apollonia • Apollonia • 5th century BC

Sophists:

• Gorgias • Leontini, Sicily (worked in Athens) • c. 483 – c. 375 BCE

• Protagoras • Abdera (worked in Athens) • c. 490 – c. 420 BCE

• Prodicus • Ceos (Iulis) • c. 465 – c. 395 BCE

• Hippias • Elis • c. 460 – c. 399 BCE

• Antiphon • Athens (Rhamnus) • c. 480 – 411 BCE

• Thrasymachus • Chalcedon (worked in Athens) • c. 459 – c. 400 BCE

• Critias • Athens • c. 460 – 403 BCE

• Lycophron • Unknown (associate of Gorgias) • 5th – early 4th century BCE

• Callicles • Acharnae, Athens • 5th century BCE (fl. c. 420 BCE)

• Euthydemus • Chios (later Thurii) • 5th century BCE (fl. c. 420 BCE)

• Dionysodorus • Chios (later Thurii) • 5th century BCE (fl. c. 420 BCE)