Timothy B. Shutt (–2025)

I hadn't even finished listening to CD one when I was asking why Dr. Shutt was utterly ignoring Asian countries. There was proto writing in China in 6600 BCE, which is definitely earlier than the Sumerian writing in 3400 BCE, if not so well developed. 1605's Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes may be considered the first modern novel, but Japan's first novel, Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, dates back to the 11th century, or well before Cervantes.

Dr. Shutt mentions that Robinson Crusoe and show more Gulliver's Travels have been considered children's books and wondered why. When I took History of Children's Literature in library school, our professor said that certain books written for adults (both of those titles were mentioned, if I remember correctly), were read by children because what was available for children wasn't that interesting, or some such word.

I was offended by the use of the word "seduction" for Clarrisa because Lovelace drugged and raped her when he failed to seduce her. Just come right out and say it was rape. show less

A big dip in quality for this series. The history focus becomes very scattershot trying to fit in the big changes in political philosophy from Machiavelli to Hobbes, while discussing artists from Giotto to Michelangelo, the northern renaissance, then back to global history with the early New World explorers. We get a lot of discussion of Luther, but the reformation (and counterreformation) gets short shrift, and the religious wars get a rather implausible rounding off in that "people just show more grew tired" of them.
It makes complete sense that a western civilization history would become harder to conduct as we get closer to the present and the tendrils of history really start diverging. Choosing what to cover and how is tough, and this falls short in trying to do too much at once. show less

Shutt has a lot of opinions and an enthusiastic delivery but I'm not sure this was one of the better lectures on the Epics. It covers the basics for sure, but it's so lopsided when it comes to what gets covered (is it a historical analysis, literary criticism only?). The Illiad gets two lectures, The Odyssey one, The Divine Comedy four. Huh? We at least touch on Beowulf as an alternative, and I was pleasantly surprised that he dealt with fantasy books as the new home of the epic in the show more lecture on the Epic after Paradise Lost.
The material in Odyssey of the West II: A Classic Education Through the Great Books: From Athens to Rome and the Gospels was much better and the series on the whole sets up both the books and the context. show less

An excellent series of lectures on the intellectual history of antiquity. Shutt is a lively and provocative lecturer. He attempts to demonstrate how these ideas have interacted and been synthesized. The accompanying book explains his ideas in depth.