These nine videos are the recordings of a set of monthly talks provided in what was intended to be a year-long series (cut short by our move from New York to Milwaukee), hosted by the historic Kingston Public Library. Each of these popular talks includes some lecture and a good bit of discussion with the participants in the series, and the entire set focuses upon the topic of anger.
I’ve been researching the topic of anger for over a decade, and a good portion of that research – in fact some of the most enjoyable bits of it – have involved studying ancient and medieval theories and discussions of the emotion. So, I decided to provide an entire series of talks for a general audience engaging with ancient and medieval philosophical, religious, and literary sources for understanding anger.
What you have here, available for free, for anyone who wants it, is in effect a short course examining nine classic perspectives on the emotion of anger. There is about 17.5 hours of footage total.
Here are the videorecordings of the nine sessions, along with a selection of the handouts provided.
Session 1 – Anger in Greek Epic and Dramatic Poetry
- Understanding Anger Lecture 1 – The Wrath of Achilles and the Rage of Medea (1:28:50)
- Handout – The Wrath of Achilles (and Agamemnon, Ajax, and Odysseus)
- Handout – Anger in Euripides’ Medea