Talk:Bettany Hughes

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All Greek to me

Latest comment: 14 years ago6 comments5 people in discussion

She is a historian, not a linguist. Just because someone can't speak the language of a country like a native doesn't mean they can't know a lot about it. In any case, Greece is not an Islamic nation, and nor was the Troy of ancient legend, since it existed long before the rise of Islam. Maxwell's Demon 17:09, 24 June 2006 (UTC)Reply

Pope's translations of Homer are arguably still the very best and he didn't speak a word of Greek. I could list numerous such examples. Creative genius is independent of mere upping the ante. SEMTEX85 (talk) 21:44, 28 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Bettany's Athens: the Dawn of Democracy puts your supposition that she does not udnerstand Plato to shame! SEMTEX85 (talk) 21:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

"dead in the head and the spirit"?!? My God, how snobby! I bet they know Troy wasn't an Islamic city though!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.243.205.49 (talk) 22:14, 24 March 2010 (UTC)Reply

Troy is not a fairy tale. It did exist, although there's no evidence of Helen or the Horse. Look up Ilion or Wilusa. It was apparently related to the Hittites, and sided with them for defence against Mycenae. In any event, I agree that she doesn't really add anything new to the intellectual party. I did find her last one about Athenian democracy very good, though. It had far less fluff than the Sparta documentary.72.78.6.125 (talk) 09:39, 4 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

I know one shouldn't feed a troll, but you are a strange fellow/woman, Pliny. I'm sure there are message boards where you can actually debate these things, rather than talking to yourself, here. Guv2006 (talk) 00:19, 9 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

Degrees

Latest comment: 17 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I'm a little confused as to which degrees she has because there seems to be a mix of colloquial UK usage and Oxbridge usage (which is amongst the biggest source of confusion). Normally an Oxbridge graduate who's been conferred the MA is only referred to as "Foo Foo MA", with the BA ignored (regarded the Masters as effectively an upgrade of the Bachelors, not a separate degree). And the range of postgraduate Masters degrees from Oxford is highly conusing - see Degrees of the University of Oxford#Masters' degree. Timrollpickering 15:00, 13 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Article - 'The Spartans'

Latest comment: 17 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

I've just submitted the first entry for this documentary - feel free to add to it. (PS - User 62.64.238.74 .... my 17:11, December 29, 2006 removal of the "lesbian" quote from the 'Trivia' section wasn't "vandalism".)Gardener of Geda 13:17, 31 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Public relations

Latest comment: 10 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Look, I've changed the intro because it's far too gushing for an encyclopaedia. Where's the citation for "an acclaimed" historian who "reaches a wide audience". As a PR-person, I can pretty much guarantee that this was written by a PR. Whatever anyone feels about Bettany Hughes (and I'm sure she's a great historian etc etc) please can we keep Wikipedia objective, and resolve to delete PR puffery as and when it appears. Robjessel (talk) 20:35, 26 March 2011 (UTC)Reply

It looks like a lot of it has been changed back, probably by Bettany. 208.57.244.9 (talk) 23:12, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

The value and importance of Bettany Hughes' programmes

Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I just watched "When the Moors Ruled in Europe" narrated by Bettany Hughes and I am very impressed by the program. I already knew the most essential facts the program showed, but it is very valuable to have those facts put together in a single program which is accessible to all people in the world. Look up When the Moors Ruled in Europe Bettany Hughes and you will find that the program is available for free in many places on the internet, for example here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Daz0n5l8cJE

I have seen many programs narrated by Bettany Hughes before and I think she is a very good narrator. This program about the Moors in Spain is especially valuable because it describes how the Greek ideas about dialogue as a tool for progression of knowledge, and the necessary companion, freedom of speech, the idea of democracy, with its necessary companion equality, and the development of sciences came to Europe via the Moors in Spain. These ideas are the basis for humanism, which broke the power of the Pope and slowly but surely transformed Europe into the modern world we see today.

The Catholic church fought against these ideas with every means possible for hundreds of years. When the idea of equality among people reached the minds of the people in France they realized that they should not accept to be treated like animals by the higher classes and the king so they started the French Revolution, which had a very big influence on world history.

A little later the idea of equality created the worker's unions, socialism, social democracy and communism. Today socialism and communism are dead words, but social democracy, a mixed system, a compromise between socialism and capitalism is in rule in most of the countries in the world. And science and technology are now free from all religious limitations.

Bettany Hughes is very important because she makes valuable science and knowledge available to people in general, which is also obvious when we hear that her programs have been watched by more than 100 million people. Very few academic authors or speakers have reached such a numerous audience. I think this article should be enlarged and separate sections for certain programs should be added. Roger491127 (talk) 15:14, 1 August 2011 (UTC)Reply

You make many valuable points, Roger491127. Pliny (talk) 20:11, 1 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

Date of birth

Latest comment: 10 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion

This article has long categorised her as a a 1968 birth, so I have now put this information at the beginning of the article - that seemed a little more encyclopaedic.ACEOREVIVED (talk) 18:53, 25 August 2011 (UTC)Reply

What is the source for her date of birth, which was recently changed from 1968 to 1967? The reference to Bettany Hughes' About Bettany Hughes page does not give her age or date of birth, and I cannot find any mention of her date of birth anywhere on that site. BabelStone (talk) 19:35, 17 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

Listen, I emailed Bettany Hughes using one of the email addresses from her website and asked her, what date she is born. Her answer was May 14th 1967. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.44.134.228 (talk) 18:50, 9 March 2014 (UTC)Reply