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Buddha

Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy. To begin, she investigates the revolutionary ideas of the Buddha.

Historian Bettany Hughes embarks on an expedition to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy: Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. All three physically travelled great distances philosophising as they went and drawing conclusions from their journeys. With Bettany as our guide, she gets under the skin of these three great minds and shines a light on the overlooked significance of the 5th century BC in shaping modern thought across the world. In this first episode, Bettany investigates the revolutionary ideas of the Buddha.

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59 minutes

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Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:15

    Muse

    The Orion Arm

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Bettany Hughes
Series Producer Rob Cowling
Executive Producer Mike Smith

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Go to The Open University’s Genius of the Ancient World pages on OU Connect.