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Myth Dynamite is a labour of absolute and unequivocal love for ancient mythology. We - Abi and Sarah - met back in 2016 when we both decided to happily sacrifice another year of further study at the altar of the Olympian Gods. We left a year later, with shiny new MA Classics degrees, and a firm friendship. Ever since we've had dinner after dinner (billed as catch ups) that would unsurprisingly result in conversations on myth, and how its many, many stories reflect and refract some of today's issues: sexuality, the self, gender, power, family, respect, and humanity's immutable ability to metamorphose (lovely little Ovid reference for those who know, and for those who don't head over to our first full episode 'One Poet to Rule them All' to find out. A shameless plug, we'll admit it.) It became very clear to us, that we had a lot to say - and we want to share it with people: other people who love myth; people who have some idea of myth; and people who haven't come across ancient Greek and Roman myths before. Hence - after a long time spent developing it (read talking about myth some more) - a shining star, which Myth Dynamite will hopefully be for people, was born (if you haven't, please see Disney's 'Hercules' stat).N.B. This is ancient myth and we're not censoring it. There will be adult content throughout. We hope you have as much fun listening to us rabbit on about myth as we had making this podcast.
42 Episodes
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We left you last week with an introduction to the far-too-good-for-him-smash-the-patriarchy-don’t-take-no-bullshit-stay-out-of-my-larder Queen of Ithaca, fighter of Suitors, keeper of households, and skilled AF weaver, wife of Odysseus.Fending off the greedy, luring Suitors who are quite literally eating her out of house and home, she devises trick after scheme to hold onto the life she has built in Odysseus’ absence. You may have heard of the shroud (especially if you listened to Part One of this episode... and if you didn’t... good luck to ya). But there’s more. So, she survives. OH, she survives. Seriously, she’s so good EVEN ODYSSEUS is impressed at one point.
In this episode, we bring you one of the smartest, savviest, and most beloved (by us here at MD) mythological women – PENELOPE OF SPARTA! Yes, she’s also of Sparta, and if you’ve listened to our Helen episode from Season Two, you’ll know how much we live for this fact!There’s honestly so much to say about her that we had to give her two episodes to do her justice! In this first episode, we'll be giving you context, etymology, how a short-legged dolt (please direct any complaints to Margaret Atwood) made a devil of a deal for Penelope’s hand in marriage, and how she manipulates ancient ideas of womanhood to her own end. That’s queen behaviour that is, literally. Then we’ll be leaving you on tenterhooks. You lovely people will have to wait for the next episode to find out the rest of Penelope’s story. In the immortal words of Harry Styles – “That’s called edging!”. You’re welcome!
WE ARE BACK BITCHES.Ostensibly, this episode is about the Greek term nostos – a heroic return home – in celebration of our return to our metaphorical podcast home at MD (it’s cheesy but we’re sticking with it). In reality, you’ll be privy to Sarah and Abi catching up about their lives post-hiatus (don’t worry – we have in fact spoken in the interim...). When we do finally get around to talking about nostoi (the plural of nostos, for you grammar nerds), it starts obscure before we get to the typical mythological ‘returns’ ... because we like to keep you on your toes. You’ll hear about Philoctetes’ smelly foot, Oedipus’ awkward family relations, Diomedes’ perfect nostos (of course Diomedes smashed it), and the Aeneid, the OG of ‘Home is where the heart is’.
But wait – there’s more? Part 2 of our Trojan ramble brings you a deep dive into THE ILIAD ITSELF *cue fanfare/war cry*. In the second of our Trojan War episodes, we take you on a very summary ride through the first of Homer’s great epics (it’s bumpy, there are shortcuts, peaks and troughs, roundabouts... are we taking this metaphor too far?). This book has got it ALL. Emotion, gore, grief, bravery, a night raid, A LOT of hero-posturing, and some very niche vocab about a wagon (sexy). And hey, guess what ... the Iliad isn’t actually about war. Mic drop. Bear with us. There’s a lot in here. Come back, take notes, revise and repeat (plus we get more listens that way) – you’ll get to grips with it. Our takeaway from the episode? The film Troy (2004) is great but don’t believe it.
This time we’re bringing you a BIGGIE. The OG of myth, the big mumma of epic, probably one of the most famous stories from the Classical World: THE. TROJAN. WAR. And yeah – it’s another double (and this was us being concise... ish). If you’re hoping for a ‘A-Z of Troy’, then keep hoping. We’re not even sure that’s possible to be honest. But this episode should at least bring you the key players and events of the narrative. Part 1 plunges you into the characters – heroes, kings, queens, prophetesses – some better known than others (Glaucus, we’re looking at you). We’re talking Agamemnon, we’re talking Achilles, we’re talking Helen ... and of course any excuse to wax lyrical about Hector a little more. Here’s where we background the war for you – literarily and mythologically. “What...?!”, we hear you cry “The Iliad wasn’t the only book about the Trojan War?!” That’s right people. We’ve got a WHOLE CYCLE (and the Iliad only covers a tiny part of the chronology). And the myths! THE MYTHS, dear listeners! What bit of fruit set off the chain reaction that would lead to the death of Patroklus (single tear)? Was it really all about Helen? What’s this Oath of Tyndareus all about anyway – obligatory MD eye roll about Odysseus.
APHRODITE PART TWO: yes everyone, we’re bringing Season Three back with a double episode bang (pun intended)In Part Two, we revisit our little teaser snippet on MythsBaby, and take you on a deep dive of one of the most famous and quoted statues ever, even though she’s lost to the depths of history herself – the Aphrodite of Knidos! We take you through the statue and her legacy. Mainly, though, we talk about how she was modelled on a woman. A REAL WOMAN. With dates and everything. Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Phryne. YOU’RE WELCOME. The fun facts we drop here are some of our favourite, and they’ll soon be some of yours too.The androgyny of Aphrodite and the fluidity of sexuality that she represents are our favourite things about the goddess, and they’re both aspects of her that are now almost forgotten or, more accurately, specifically been pushed aside in favour of heteronormative sexuality. We leave you with the way in which the classical Greek world eventually managed to reconcile these two aspects of Aphrodite within their rapidly cementing structured misogynistic society, paving the way for the hyper-sexualisation of Aphrodite and her co-option as a symbol for heterosexual love.*shakes fist at thousands of years of repressed patriarchy of (supposedly) yesteryear*
APHRODITEPut down anything sharp, move breakables out of harm’s way, and prepare yourself...WE’RE BACK....AGAIN *party hats and poppers galore*We’ve returned with Season Three of Myth Dynamite (you’re welcome), and we’re starting with a biggie! We bring you the goddess of love herself – it’s APHRODITE *cue Meryl Streep’s exclamation at the end of Mamma Mia*.In this, yes, double episode, we’ll be putting her back into her context and the long-standing Eastern tradition she came from. We’ll talk about how she even came to Greece and what she was really all about. Here, we’ll be focusing on Greek Aphrodite and saving Roman Venus for a later date. They’re just too juicy! Oh, and expect plenty of innuendo – some we’d like to apologise for in advance.
Yes it’s ANOTHER special episode (beginning to play fast and loose with the word ‘special’ now...). But this time we couldn’t help it because we’ve recorded an episode on the ancient Olympics and we could hardly wait another 4 years now, could we? Coinciding perfectly with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (or is it 2021? We’re really not sure anymore), it’s as synchronised as Tom Daley and Matty Lee. So, whilst you become a sofa-expert in taekwondo, artistic swimming and table tennis (seriously, the table tennis is INTENSE), why not plug your earpods into this episode and become a sofa-expert in ancient history too?In this episode we try and unpick the rather confusing mythological origins for the Olympics (no – it’s not as simple as everyone makes it out to be ... there are TWO Herakles’s and A LOT of family relations) and bring you our fave fun facts about the ancient event. Mule cart driving anyone?
We’re just gonna put it out there straight away – this episode is about porn. More specifically, it is about PornHub’s recent project called ‘Classic Nudes’ which caused a bit of a stir amongst museums (who we’re pretty sure were mostly annoyed about their image rights). In an attempt to prove that whilst ‘porn may not be considered art ... some art can definitely be considered porn’, PornHub have taken some of the biggest museums of the Western art historical tradition and, well, highlighted all the sexy bits. But seriously guys, this is PROFESH – with maps, bios, audio guides, the LOT. We tried to contain our thoughts in a tweet, but it wasn’t enough, so this cheeky little special episode was born.
On the 27 May 2021, the British Museum opened their newest exhibition on the absolute OG of scandalous, dastardly Roman Emperors: Nero. He also happens to be Sarah’s personal passion project, so Abi just joined her to get all the juicy tidbits and nod along. We thought we’d try something a bit different and podcast ‘live’ in the exhibition ... but it was not the smooth ‘tour-like’ experience we imagined. So in this special episode, we reflect on the highlights and our expectations, with some pro editing magic bringing in snippets from the original recording throughout. Let us know what you think of the format. If you enjoy, then I suppose we’ll force ourselves to enjoy more exhibitions together in the future...Oh no! What a shame!‘Nero: the man behind the myth’ is open until 24 October 2021.
Recently we were lucky enough to be featured on the Let's Talk About Myths, Baby podcast, alongside the Against the Lore, as part of Liv's promotion of myth/classics podcasters. In the clip, we give you a bit of an episode teaser that we're planning for Season Three: Aphrodite. You'll hear all about the supposed "first female nude" and how... well... she's not. We talk the Male Gaze and feminist approaches to the statue. All in 5 minutes. Phew. We thought we'd release our clip on our channel too so you can get a teaser of what to expect from Season Three. Watch this space
Following on from our Season One Tidbit Compilation, here are more myth fun facts from Season Two to sate your tidbit hunger (yes that’s a thing). In this compilation, we cover topics from Harry Style’s mythological island, Eroda, through to Assassin’s Creed and the original ‘tortured artist’ (in a horrifyingly literal sense...). Season Two brought you episodes on Helen of Troy, Dionysus, hybrids, and a lengthy rant about Odysseus, so why not get a smattering of the fun through the tidbits that close our episodes?Thank us later.
Oooooooh a SPECIAL episode?! We are fancy AF. And we are absolutely DELIGHTED to be joined by the lovely Laura Jenkinson-Brown, the creator behind Greek Myth Comix. If you listened to our last two episodes of Myth Dynamite Season 2 (and if you haven’t ... rude) then you will know that Abi and Sarah got a bit ... well ... mad about Odysseus. Listening back, we felt an external point of view might balance things a bit. That’s where Jenks comes in. Jenks’ knowledge of the Odyssey is DEEP (I mean the nerdy references alone... we can’t even) and it has inspired her comics, merch and even a ‘Choose your own adventure’ book, Odyssey-style (coming out of hiding for the FIRST TIME in this episode!) We planned to chat for 30 mins ... we recorded for 2 hours. It was a joy
Yes, there's more. Here's Part 2 of our ranting about Odysseus. Enjoy. O Times, O mores! Yes, we did just use an obnoxious Cicero joke to signal the end of times. Or, more accurately, the end of times you’ll get an episode this season. But don’t worry, we’ve saved the best ‘til last for our season finale. You didn’t think we’d go out like a lead balloon, did you? Sarah and Abi are excited this week to bring you a double helping of raging about Odysseus.In this episode, we take one of Greek myth’s best-loved heroes and ... well ... rip him a new one. Sarah tries to play devil’s advocate – she makes some good points about his sexual entrapment with Calypso. But all-in-all the positivity doesn’t last long, and this is mostly a tirade about his terrible choices and insufferably vanity. Remember – the tales of Odysseus’ travels home in Homer’s Odyssey are mostly reported speech from the master-wordsmith himself. Big shock, he comes across well.
O Times, O mores! Yes, we did just use an obnoxious Cicero joke to signal the end of times. Or, more accurately, the end of times you’ll get an episode this season. But don’t worry, we’ve saved the best ‘til last for our season finale. You didn’t think we’d go out like a lead balloon, did you? Sarah and Abi are excited this week to bring you a double helping of raging about Odysseus.In this episode, we take one of Greek myth’s best-loved heroes and ... well ... rip him a new one. Sarah tries to play devil’s advocate – she makes some good points about his sexual entrapment with Calypso. But all-in-all the positivity doesn’t last long, and this is mostly a tirade about his terrible choices and insufferably vanity. Remember – the tales of Odysseus’ travels home in Homer’s Odyssey are mostly reported speech from the master-wordsmith himself. Big shock, he comes across well.
*BREAKING NEWS* People’s Sexiest Hybrid Alive has been announced. Well, more accurately, Abi and Sarah accidentally spend most of this week’s episode discussing how sexy each hybrid group is. Remarkably, there’s more to this discussion than a simple case of objectification on our part. It’s interesting to us - fascinating to us in fact - how sexualised female hybrids have become since their narrative geneses in the ancient world. We also loved looking at which parts of these supernatural hybrids are animal, and which are human. And we’re not just talking about their physicality. Is the minotaur a horribly misunderstood hipster who just lives to smoke his meats in peace? Yes. Anyway, this week we take you through the six major hybrids of ancient myth: the Minotaur, Scylla, the Sphinx, Harpies, Sirens, and Centaurs. Tune in to hear us chat Disney, Harry Potter (obviously) and the terribly ill-advised breeding programme of Joe Exotic.
In this Part Two, we’ll take you through Agrippina's most famous years: her time as matriarch of the Empire during the reign of her son – Nero. The culmination of her political intrigue turned out to be a great success....or did it? How successful is Nero at building a collapsing bed? Are all the rumours true about their “special relationship”? You know, the really important questions. Here’s where the myth comes in! Agrippina’s success as a powerful woman has become so mythologised and intertwined with the characterisation of the powerful woman in myth – poisoner, manipulative, other, incestuous, and many many more – that it’s impossible not to read her life as a myth of sorts now. One thing is undeniable, though, she did make it to the top against all odds and through some of the most uncertain times in the Roman Empire. Thank goodness it's so easy for a woman to hold a position of power today, am I right? We end this episode with a little look at the women we have in power today, and (quite rightfully) gushing over Jacinda Ardern.
This week Abi and Sarah bring you a very exciting episode on one of our favourite ancient women! You could call her a one-woman band, but I think that’s grossly underestimating her wide variety of talents. This week, we take you through the extraordinary life and times of Agrippina the Younger! In Part One, we take you through Agrippina’s early life and experiences under the rules of Emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. We’ll show you the ancient fires in which this maneuverer extraordinaire was forged, casting a political figure of iron resolve. Whilst her methods are more than questionable, and we do not approve her message here at Myth Dynamite, we can’t help but admire a Roman counterpart’s rise to the highest seat in one of the most influential empire’s in history (especially in a time when her counterparts were limited to seats in general).
Warning: there’s some talk of rape in this episode (sadly it’s quite unavoidable in myth).This week Abi and Sarah nerd-gasm HARD (yes, it’s possible for us to get MORE nerdy) because we’re bringing it back to our main man, Ovid (Latin poet of the first-century BCE/CE) and his poem, published in around 8 CE: the Metamorphoses. NOT ONLY THAT, but we also get to talk about art and artists, so basically ... we’re in heaven. Yes, this episode we’re talking about ‘Ovid’s Artists’, but my goodness there are a lot of them, so technically this episode we’re talking about ‘Three Of Ovid’s Artists With A Few Scattered Along The Way’. Catchy, right?
This episode, Abi and Sarah bring you our interview for Season Two with the wonderful Hardeep Dhindsa (*trumpet fanfare*). In our fascinating chat with Hardeep, we cover issues like the discipline divides in the UK, whiteness and Classics, and why most Classicists are “afraid of post-modernism”. (Honestly, anything this side of the eruption of Vesuvius is all a bit much for us). And we do this, all within an episode that brings you art (just can’t help ourselves), Troy and Troy: Fall of a City, studying in Rome, The Carter’s Apeshit, and Hardeep just generally ticking all of our mythological boxes (we’re looking at you Polyphemus and Sarpedon). The title of this episode was lovingly ripped straight from Hardeep’s own MA thesis (with his kind permission) because we can’t resist a pun.
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