a clearer path

Those of you who have followed my blog over the last few months may have noticed that I seem to jump around a lot. Psychology. History. Tech. Motivational mumbo jumbo, etc. I attribute that mostly to a lack of direction. 

The holiday break allowed me to take a step back and contemplate my objectives for 2016 and beyond. I've come to the conclusion that the real strength of the Achilles Gene project - the thing that sets it apart - is its focus on some niche aspects of ancient history. The history is also what has been most interesting to me lately. So expect a more history-themed blog for the foreseeable future. I plan on getting pretty deep into the weeds of a few mysterious, lesser-known subjects of ancient Greek history. 

To jumpstart this new commitment to historical research, I have enrolled in Gregory Nagy's MOOC course called The Ancient Greek Hero, offered through EdX and Harvard. Knowing how detailed and entertaining Nagy's books are, I expect this course to be superb. Please - if you've been curious about ancient Greece or the ancient heroes and have a couple extra hours a week to spare - join us. 

In other news, I've really been enjoying my time on Quora lately. It seems like a great platform for learning more about ancient history (and virtually everything else) and asking whatever questions you've always wondered about. I've also met some very interesting, knowledgeable people there.

Yesterday, I posed an open question about how reliable Arrian's account of Alexander's campaign is. That's the main subject I'll be researching over the week. If all goes according to plan, I'll have a nice, detailed post addressing that question next Monday.