Muses of Mythology

“Ragna-Rock-a-Doodle-Doo.”

All right, let's do this one last time…

Darien (she/her) and DJ (he/him) jump back into Norse Mythology by starting at the very end of all things—or do they?

Other topics include Snorri Sturluson doing whatever he pleases, the Ragnarok Highlight Reel, Darien misremembering key details about an independent live-action/animated musical comedy film from 1991, analyzing if anyo...

“Odin and Mr. Moseby are friends! Canon!”

Darien (she/her) and DJ (he/him) enjoy a romp across the nine realms in a series of delightful, medium-stakes adventures in the short story collection 9 from the Nine Worlds.

Other topics include disappointing art choices, Hearthstone being a top-tier spell slinger, DJ winning the ship war, Amir’s story getting wildly dark, Schrödinger’s joke, a disappointing portrayal of a Celtic ...

“I’m sure—and this is me again, huffing Hopium—he’s got something planned.”

Set sail to prevent Ragnarok in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead!

Other topics include ranking Riordanverse books based on satisfying endings, the injustice of Halfborn Gunderson’s Big Damn Hero Moment happening off-page, the LEGENDARY transcription from Chapter 9 to Chapter 10, the massive crossover story that Rio...

“I’m thirty. I don’t hang out with sixteen-year-olds who haven’t been to therapy yet.”

The podcast course corrects and dives back into Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard!   

Other topics include Magnus Chase subverting the expectations for a male hero protagonist, the three-way tie for Worst Parent Ever, an unexpected comparison of an elf and dwarf to heroes of the Iliad, Darien’s struggles to picture settings accurat...

We're not ending the show!

If you read the title, got freaked, and immediately checked the show notes, let us assure you that the announcement isn't the end of Muses of Mythology.

Since you're here, we'll give you the short version: The first ten minutes is the start of what was meant to be our Einherjar episode. Then we went off-mic for about 30 minutes to have a serious conversation about so...

“Water? Do you think Odin would serve water?!”

Time to begin the journey through Norse mythology in earnest! First stop: Valhalla.

Other topics include a brief examination of how far away Iceland is from the rest of the Nordic countries (Thank you, Owen!), a correction on the number of floors in Hotel Valhalla, Odin’s penchant for costumes, a typical day in Valhalla, the best of meats, and the prettiest of trees....

“He’ll flood the Earth. So, let’s not do that; we’re in Iceland.”

Before we get into talking about Norse mythology, Darien (she/her) and DJ (he/him) spend some time exploring why talking about Norse mythology is so weird.

Other topics include the brevity of the Viking Age compared to other mythic eras, when Christianity became all the rage in Scandinavia, Snorri Strurlson being way more than a poet, the challenge...

“Have you heard the theory that Jason Grace goes to Valhalla?”

Darien (she/her) and DJ (he/him) leave Greek mythology behind and check into Hotel Valhalla with Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Other topics include the perfect timing to branch away from the Percy Jackson books, first-person narrative being Rick Riordan’s greatest strength, the fluctuating timeline of these interconnected middle-grade book seri...

"Illuminating the often-overlooked stories of women in mythologies."

In this special bonus episode, Darien was joined by author, drawer, and singer Amrita Sen to discuss her musical audiobook, Hidden Women.

"Hidden Women is a captivating collection of stories that shines a spotlight on the often-overlooked women who played significant roles in the lives of famous men from well-known narratives. This...

“Why is he a bird still?!”

From the top of Mount Olympus, we explore the home of the gods and reflect on our journey through Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Other topics include the name for a group of pegasi, Medusa’s inventory management strategy, the correct number of treats to give a multi-headed canine, weirdly specific myths Percy knows versus common ones he doesn’t, the ever-evolving percep...

We apologize for the delay in our regularly scheduled programming. We need a bit more time to release the best version of our finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Please accept a very special Patreon episode drop, our ReMyth episode about the first print volume of Lore Olympus, the beloved webcomic by Rachel Smythe. 

The volume focuses on the first 25 chapters of Lore Olympus, but our conversion does incl...

“Oh my God, the winds are real?!”

It’s the big one. This whole season has been leading up to The Iliad. Buckle up, dear listeners, because we brought in a real Iliad kid. Emily Garber (she/her), classics scholar(ish) and co-host of The Monster Donut podcast, shares the kind of insight about The Iliad you’d usually have to pay tuition to get. And so the episode is the length of a decent college lecture. Enjoy!

Oth...

“You can’t be precious about your interpretations of a text that was so unstable.”

Returning guest and temporary co-host Megs Peterson (they/them) comes aboard to discuss the many rich, valid interpretations of Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship and how it’s not necessary to have a strict definition of said relationship to value their bond—but the homophobic interpretations are automatically wrong.

Other topics...

“Hesiod definitely didn’t have a problem with women.”

Pandora gets blamed for everything. Literally, Hesiod decided the first human woman is responsible for every bad thing in the world. Quinn Albert (she/her) joins the podcast to discuss the terrifying implications of stories that blame women for the suffering of men. Also, charm bracelets!

Topics include Hesiod’s account from the worst side of TikTok, Hermes’ ...

“You were never going to take us to McDonald’s, Zeus!”

Rick Riordan created a rather bizarre portrayal of Prometheus. But what else is new? The Ancients also presented dramatically different versions of the fire-thieving Titan of foresight. Let’s talk about all of them and Mary Shelley, too!

Talking points include who is really to blame for Luke Castellan’s fate, Zeus being a brat about getting tricked by Promethe...

“Rivers are goofily important.”

Life thrives around rivers, and fandom thrives around fan creators. This week, we’re joined by special guest DisenyBeans (Bri) to discuss the potamoi (AKA River Gods). 

Talking points include minor spoilers for Chalice of the Gods, the importance of cutting those plastic can holder rings up, a friendly reminder to STAY OUT OF CANALS, rivers as primordial kings, that time Achilles straight up fought a r...

“Persephone is not a minor goddess.”

Our residency in the Underworld ends with some quality time spent with Queen Persephone.

Talking points include Rick Riodran’s wildly different portrayals of Persephone in various stories, DJ’s season-based headcanon to explain the wildly different portrayals, Darien ruining another beloved mythic name etymology, Persephone always being queen of the underworld and goddess of s...

“Guess we know who planned the menu for this one.”

The other half of Camp Half-Pod, writer and Dolphin Girl Erin Moynihan (she/her), joins the show to reexamine Demeter’s reputation as mythology’s biggest helicopter parent.

Talking points include which godly parents actually care about their demigod children, projecting difficult parental relationships onto Demeter in the Taking of Persephone story, speculation ab...