A newly-crowned Irene struggles to impose her will on her aristocratic ladies, but makes a new friend in the eunuch Staurakios. The Emperor grows angry at foolish words spoken by Megaris, but is mollified by some unexpected news.

ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE was written by Helen Banner and composed by Grace Oberhofer. Featuring Hilary Asare (Narrator), Iris Beaumier (Cyra), Isabella Dawis (Constantine VI), Hannah Eakin (Constantine V), Julia Izumi (Court), Grace Oberhofer (Court), Lukas Papenfusscline (Staurakios), Shanta Parasuraman (Megaris), Yael Shavitt (Leo) and Kay Weber (Irene). Music direction by Robert Frost. Audio engineering by Nathan Leigh. Sound design by Grace Oberhofer and Nathan Leigh. Featured foley artist Nicole Orabona. Produced by Emily Caffery. Learn more about the Byzantine Choral Project at www.byzantinechoralproject.com/podcast.

If you enjoyed this episode, you can support our work by making a tax-deductible donation to the Byzantine Choral Project at byzantinechoralproject.com/donate. Thank you for listening!