History Hit. Continuing on with Episode 3 Napoleon: The Lover, this episode features Kate Lister from the Betwixt the Sheets podcast – she seems to be everywhere recently. I was critical of how the recent film depicted Napoleon as a sex-crazed emotional wreck and I expected Lister to share my criticisms, but she did not. She did, however, question the depiction of Napoleon as ‘the last chopper out of Saigon’ (her words, not mine) for Josephine, arguing that Napoleon needed her just as much for her connections and popularity. Josephine’s real name was ‘Maria’, but she went by ‘Rose’, and it was Napoleon who called her ‘Josephine’. She had had a rough revolution, and her first husband had been guillotined. She thinks that they really did love each other. Napoleon could have walked away after her affair but he didn’t. Our view of Napoleon as a lover is shaped by his letters to her, although she has never been able to find the famous “don’t wash” letter, only historians’ references to other historians.
Expanding Eyes I have been a bit disappointed in the recent episodes 53 and 54 about The Iliad, but Michael Dolzani returns to form with Episode 55: The Final Showdown. We have just sat through four books of procrastination- “Why?” he asks. In Book 21 Achilles fights with a river, and the gods start betting and fighting among themselves – it’s almost satiric. He suggests that we think of it like Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers who would interpose a comedic scene before a dramatic episode e.g. the drunk scene before Duncan’s murder in Macbeth. We see through Hector’s soliloquy that it is he, rather than Achilles, who has imbibed the Heroic Code despite his father begging him to return to safety. But his nerve breaks, and he runs. So what do we think of Hector now? Is this showing us that Hector is still a great, if flawed man? Or is it cutting him down to size? Then the gods intervene and cheat, with Athena impersonating Hector’s brother. Hector falls and has a long conversation with Achilles, which strains credulity somewhat.
Full Story (The Guardian) has a series at the moment called ‘The Tale I Dine Out On’. Comedian Wendy Harmer talks about going to the Oscars in 1998, just weeks after an emergency caesarean, with a moth-eaten dress, a hacked fringe, and post-natally hormonal. William McInnes, who I could listen to forever takes us back to Redcliffe in 1975 when he was a 15 year old in love with the local hairdressing apprentice, who gave him a terrible perm.
Emperors of Rome Podcast Episode CI The Last Will and Testament of Caesar. OK, so JC has died at the Forum- what happens next? Brutus and Cassius claimed the assassination as a victory and Brutus gave a speech about the murder which was received silently, but with respect. Mark Antony wasn’t sure that he wasn’t going to be next, so he went into hiding. Nobody really knew what was about to come next. The assassins all had provinces that they could go to, and Caesar’s wife spirited away his personal fortune, which was about $60 million worth in today’s money. Mark Antony read Caesar’s will which left 3/4 of his fortune to Octavius (his great nephew and adopted son) and the title Caesar. Caesar provided 300 sesterces per person for Roman citizens, which was equivalent to 4 months of a soldier’s salary. Some money was left to Decimus, one of the assassins, which was not a good look and the people turned against the assassins so they left before the funeral, leaving Mark Antony to organize the funeral. Octavian was only 19.
The London Review of Books Podcast Proust in English features Michael Wood, prolific contributor to the LRB. There have been six translations of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, and we need to ask Do we need another translation? And is it correct? The translator of any work has two options: first, to make it sound like English; or second, to emphasize the strangeness of the language so that you are always aware that you are reading a translation. As far as the book is concerned, is the narrator Marcel Proust? The name ‘Marcel’ appears twice- were the other mentions removed, or is he playing with the question. In fact, when you get to the end of the seven volumes, did the narrator even write the book anyway? Is the book you are reading the final product? Questions, questions…
Sydney Writers Festival The Arc of Racism in Australia I always get a little frisson of pleasure when I see one of my fellow students from the PhD program at La Trobe in the media. In this case, it’s Andonis Piperoglou who leads a panel discussion with Anthropologist and social critic Ghassan Hage, Palestinian-Egyptian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, The Sydney Morning Herald culture editor Osman Faruqi, and Gomeroi academic and author Amy Thunig. It’s all a bit sad, listening to a podcast recorded before the Referendum.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 