Introducing History's Arrow, a podcast form the Greek Goddess Harmonia. The world is changing, and Harmonia is watching. She tells us that "History is an arrow, loosed toward the future, and the archer knows where the arrow will land. " Stay tuned for an extraordinary telling of how history created the world we live in today.
Over five thousand years ago, a man walked into the Alps and never returned. In this episode, Harmonia tells the astonishing true story of Otzi-the Iceman-whose body was frozen in a glacier and forgotten, until two hikers stumbled upon him in 1991. Through his tools, clothes, and even his last meal, we discover a world before written history, and the deep humanity carried in every stitch and scar. This is not just archaeology. It's memory.
Harmonia talks about schools, you may think going to school is a drag, or something you might take for granted, but it's not always been that way. and people have been going to school ever since they learned to write, because writing is o no value if someone else can't read it.
This is a republished episode due to an audio file failure. Hopefully our archives will now have the correct audio file.
Before Confucius, before Marcus Aurelius, before Mary Wollstonecraft--there was Ptahhotep. In this episode, Harmonia walks with us through the sand-swept ruins of ancient Egypt to uncover the quiet legacy of a vizier who dared to teach virtue through humility. Four thousand years ago, Ptahhotep offered the world not commandments, but counsel--urging future leaders to listen, to serve, to remain just. His "Maxims" became one of the earliest and most enduring works of moral philosophy.
Before Homer, before the Torah, before Plato--there was Enheduanna. In this episode, Harmonia introduces us to the world's first recorded author: a poet, a priestess, a daughter of empire. Living in ancient Mesopotamia four thousand years ago, Enheduanna dared to do what no one before her had done--write in her own voice and sign her name. Through hymns of exile, power, and divine fury, she gave rhythm to memory and presence to history. Her words survived millennia not through conquest, but through copying--passed hand to hand across the centuries.
In this special "fireside" episode of History's Arrow, Harmonia, goddess of unity and self-appointed podcast guide, takes a moment to speak directly to you. No history lesson--just a warm, thoughtful invitation to understand what this journey is all about. Why tell these ancient stories now? Why trace history's winding path through forgotten names and distant lands? Because it matters. Because memory shapes meaning. Because even in a noisy world, the quiet voices of the past still echo forward. This isn't just a podcast. It's a map. A conversation across centuries.
Long before science had a name, there were shepherds under the stars--watching, wondering, and remembering. In this episode, Harmonia invites you to lie back beneath the ancient sky and discover how the quiet attention of early sky-watchers gave rise to one of humanity's oldest sciences. From moon phases to Venus cycles, from clay tablets to cosmic rhythm, this is the story of how awe became inquiry, and how you, too, are part of the lineage of those who looked up and cared enough to notice.
Before science had a name, Thales of Miletus stood by the sea and asked: What is the world made of? In this episode, Harmonia remembers the first natural philosopher--a man who tried to explain nature without gods, and started a tradition of questioning that echoes to this day.
Anaximander, a student of Thales, was the first to map the known world--and to name what lay beyond it. In this episode, Harmonia explores his radical ideas: a boundless origin, a structured cosmos, and a vision of knowledge not rooted in myth, but in models. The questions he asked still shape our world.
