Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! | Greek Mythology & the Ancient Mediterranean

This episode originally aired in November 2024. Liv speaks with author Emily Hauser about her book How Women Became Poets. They look at women in Greek myth, literature, etymology, and, very specifically, the long and arduous history of women 'poets' in Greek literature. Plus, a sneak peak at Emily's next work: Mythica/Penelope's Bones. Find more from Emily here. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. G...

Liv and Michaela come together for the third (?) annual Battle of the Bas--no wait that's actually the Battle of the Bad B*tches. Helen and Clytemnestra come together and we chat about everything that those two wonderful women were up to in the ancient sources. It's beautiful, it's amazing, and we support all their wonderful ways.

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Liv reads the final book of Statius' Thebaid, translated by JH Mozley. The brothers of Thebes, Eteocles and Polynices, are dead. Their wives and sisters want to bury them, but (unfortunately!) they need the king of Athens, Theseus, to make it happen. Submit to the Q&A at mythsbaby.com/questions and get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby

CW/TW: far too many Greek m...

On Friday we looked at Cleopatra Selene (aka Cleopatra Jr, Cleopatra VIII), so it's only fitting to revisit an old (and very fun!) episode with the amazing Partial Historians about Cleopatra Selene's far more famous mother, Cleopatra VII (aka THAT Cleopatra... Find more from the Partial Historians here.

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Liv speaks with Jane Draycott again this week about her book Cleopatra's Daughter: Egyptian Princess, Roman Prisoner, African Queen. Jane Draycott is an amazing scholar who has done phenomenal work on Roman women who often are left without a voice or are given a much lesser reputation than they deserve. Cleopatra Selene is a delightful character to give to the world, and to share her life with the rest of the world. Plus, Jane has ...

We are back with the Wars of the Diadochi and finally Ptolemy gets his proper introduction. Join me today to see what goes on after the Lamian War, see who takes what sides, and who does or does not die.

Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I try ...

Liv and Michaela speak with Dr. Talia Prussin about the Seleucid empire and the Hellenistic Period generally. Much shenanigans went down, and many discussions on which little guy is everyone's favourite.

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CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I ...

Some more fun history time for you all! This time we are diving into the Wars of the Diadochi, well more like Alex dying and all the Greek rebellions and the Lamian War in this episode. Starting off a new subsection of episodes based on the Hellenistic series, because we all need some more Hellenistic lore in our lives!

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Liv speaks with returning guest Owen Rees about his new book looking at the fringes of ancient empire... From Egypt to Greece to Rome and China. Learn more about Owen's book, Bad Ancient, and Substack. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I try to pr...

Michaela here giving you a remix of past episodes, looking at three different times that we have explored Hermes here on the show. From the Homeric Hymn, to Emily Hauser's How Women Became Poets, to Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound we are examining the ways that Hermes appears within antiquity. He is an interesting character for sure, and has a lot of different paths you could take to understand him. I love him for all his trickery, his...

Liv and Michaela speak with Dan-el Padilla Peralta about his new book Classicism and Other Phobias, breaking down the 'Founders of Western Civilization' myth, the field of 'Classics', and the racialized mess its often made. Find more about the book, and the article Racing the Classics. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition...

Liv reads (the second half) of Book 11 of Statius' Thebaid, translated by JH Mozley. It's the beginning of the end... The brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, fight to the death and leave their surviving family members - Jocasta, Antigone, Ismene, and Oedipus - to deal with their grief. Submit to the quarterly Q&A at mythsbaby.com/questions and get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patr...

Liv speaks with Andromache Karanika about women's work, work songs, and the very concept of real ancient women's lives. Set fire to the patriarchy, my dear listeners... And learn more about Dr Karanika. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I try to p...

We're here this Tuesday with another fun history episode because Liv deserves a break too! This was a fun one to research and write for you all, just a good ole deep dive into all the fun little oracles that are out there. Okay, we only looked at Delphic oracles, but to be fair that's because they were so incredibly important within the ancient Greek cultural understanding that they are the easiest ones to find. Plus I was reading ...

Hear ye! Here ye! Liv met up with the Historical Homos again to talk all things Disney Hercules and how wonderfully queer it is! Thebes as the big city! Feeling out of place as a child because of something that's just a part of you! Merch as success! It's simply the most beautiful thing in the world.

Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to...

Liv reads (the first half) of Book 11 of Statius' Thebaid, translated by JH Mozley. It's the beginning of the end... The brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, are about fight each other. But first, rants, raves, and pleas from the women in their lives... Furies, Jocasta, and Antigone. Submit to the quarterly Q&A at mythsbaby.com/questions and get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon...

Happy Halloween! Today we've cobbled together selections from three favourite Spooky Season Conversations, featuring selections from 2022's Halloween Special w/ Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts, 2021's Scream Queens conversation with Vanessa Stovall, and 2022's Monster conversation with Jasmine Elmer. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle ...

This episode originally aired in October 2020... It might be old, but the story feels right on point in 2025. We travel to Thessaly where their king, Erysichthon gets a horrifying punishment for his crimes against Demeter. Plus, Lamia and Empusa... monstrous and vampiric women of mythology. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Ed...

Thanks for your patience... New episodes are (fingers crossed) coming soon! For now, this episode originally aired in October 2021 (which, yes, Liv looked up AFTER guessing it was 'a couple years ago'... time is a flat circle). Liv speaks with Maxwell T Paule all about witches (and much, much more) of classical myth and Roman poetry... Follow Maxwell on Twitter and TikTok. The poem recited is Horace's Epode 5, translated by Maxwell...