Myth Dynamite
42 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago -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.
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Episodes
Episode Seven: I Am Woman (Part 2)
April 13, 2022 21:00 - 54 minutes - 37.8 MBWe 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...
Episode Six: I Am Woman (Part One)
April 01, 2022 13:00 - 45 minutes - 31.7 MBIn 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 Margare...
Episode Five: Homeward Bound
March 18, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBWE 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...
Episodes Three: Hero (Part One)
October 08, 2021 17:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBThis 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, pr...
Episode Four: Hero (Part Two)
October 08, 2021 17:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBBut 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 he...
Episode One: Let's Talk About Sex, Baby (Part One)
September 24, 2021 15:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBAPHRODITE Put 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. ...
Episode Two: Let's Talk About Sex, Baby (Part Two)
September 24, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 45.6 MBAPHRODITE 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 an...
Simply the Best (Olympics Special)
July 28, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 54.4 MBYes 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 ...
Nudes
July 27, 2021 10:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBWe’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, highligh...
Nero: The Man Behind the Myth
July 02, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBOn 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...
Trailer: Season Three Teaser (as featured on Let's Talk About Myths, Baby!)
June 10, 2021 13:00 - 6 minutes - 4.8 MBRecently 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 ...
Teaser: Season Two Tidbit Compilation
June 01, 2021 11:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBFollowing 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...
Teaser: Season One Tidbit Compliation
May 11, 2021 16:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBAfter a suggestion from a listener, we’ve decided to release the ‘tidbits’ that close our episodes as a compilation of fun facts about ancient myth and culture and a little insight into our pod if you haven’t listened before. Here’s Season One’s collection. The subjects range from the elderly in myth through to Roman Emperor Augustus himself. Listening back, you’ll find us answering the BIG questions: like what do Marvel and the 8th century BCE have in common? And how did Brad Pitt end up ...
Odysseus Unmasked: Myth Dynamite x Greek Myth Comix
April 30, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 78.1 MBOooooooh 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 ...
Episode Twelve: Trouble (Part 2)
April 11, 2021 17:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBYes, 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 Gre...
Episode Eleven: Trouble (Part 1)
April 09, 2021 15:00 - 45 minutes - 31.7 MBO 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 tri...
Episode Ten: Strange Magic
March 26, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 46 MB*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 h...
Episode Nine: Mother Knows Best (Part Two)
March 12, 2021 10:00 - 36 minutes - 24.8 MBIn 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 inte...
Episode Eight: Mother Knows Best (Part One)
March 12, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBThis 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 extraordi...
Episode Seven: Various Artists
February 26, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBWarning: 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 goodnes...
Episode Six: A White Lie / Myth Dynamite x Hardeep Dhindsa
February 12, 2021 15:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBThis 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 Ci...
Episode Four: Blind Love (Part One)
January 29, 2021 15:00 - 43 minutes - 30.3 MBIf you ask us, this episode is *eye*conic. We’re *eye*ing up one of our favourite mythological figures, the Cyclops, Polyphemus (yes he’s got a name guys, let’s use it). He’s our *blind* drunk, *eye*rate, *eye*ronic friend with just the one peeper (or is it just one?). In Part One of this topic, we’ll be taking you through his journey from epic monster to preening (if ambitious) pastoral suitor and finding out how he got there. You might have to turn a *BLIND EYE* to his actions – but hey...
Episode Five: Blind Love (Part Two)
January 29, 2021 15:00 - 46 minutes - 32.4 MBIf you ask us, this episode is also pretty *eye*conic. In Part Two of this topic, we bring you the main theme of the Cyclops – transgression (ooooooooh). Transgressing more than just the social norm of “don’t kill people for cheese”, Polyphemus is found crossing (or failing to cross) boundaries of love, genre, and landscape. All in all, he’s just a big, hairy guy with a bit of an anger issue and we think he deserves some Blind Love.
Episode Three: What a Wonderful World
January 15, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 42.6 MBGosh, what a year this week has been! Don’t know about you, but we’re ready to Inception ourselves into wonderland, and live out our days in an idyllic ancient dreamworld That’s why today, somewhat hilariously, we bring you What A Wonderful World. Tune in to hear about ancient mythological places, and how the ancients used utopian worlds (anachronism, we know - apologies) to imagine their best lives and scrutinise their real ones. We take you on a whistlestop tour - thanks to a request from...
Episode Two: Red, Red Wine
January 01, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBIt’s a new year and THANK GOD 2020 is behind us. We suspect many of you may have had a drink or two last night saying goodbye to this shitshow of a year, so we thought: who better to soothe your hangover than the god of revelry himself? That’s right, today we’re bringing you DIONYSUS, the god of wine, ecstasy, madness, theatre, generally cool animals, partying, and all-round goodness. He is, without a doubt, the SEXIEST god of the Greco-Roman pantheon. So, if you can stomach it, raise a gla...
Season Two, Episode One: You Don't Own Me
December 18, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 42 MBThis week, we bring you the great HELEN! We’ve wanted to bring her to the table for a long, long time now, and she will always hold a special place in our hearts as the character we slaved over countless times when we were testing the concept of Myth Dynamite. Helen was a great beauty, or so they say. She even launched c. 1000 ships with her face! Quite the party trick. We think there might be a little more to her than meets the eye (or “male gaze” – sorry lads, that’s the term for it. Take...
Trailer: Season Two (Part 3)
December 14, 2020 15:00 - 1 minute - 1.07 MB*Sound the cymbals and the tympanum* Myth Dynamite has a Season Two coming your way and (in our humble opinion) it’s GLORIOUS. From highbrow academic discussions about ekphrasis – it’s more interesting than it sounds – to lowbrow (and shameless) Odysseus bashing, this season is jampacked with fun facts galore. We start from the OG of mythological women HERSELF – Helen of Troy – and wind our way through Cloud Cuckoo Land, sexy hybrids, the beautiful Cyclops (yeah that’s right), to the life of...
Trailer: Season Two (Part 2)
December 04, 2020 11:00 - 2 minutes - 1.71 MB*Sound the hundred-reeded panpipes* Myth Dynamite has a Season Two coming your way and (in our humble opinion) it’s GLORIOUS. From highbrow academic discussions about ekphrasis – it’s more interesting than it sounds – to lowbrow (and shameless) Odysseus bashing, this season is jampacked with fun facts galore. We start from the OG of mythological women HERSELF – Helen of Troy – and wind our way through Cloud Cuckoo Land, sexy hybrids, the beautiful Cyclops (yeah that’s right), to the life of ...
Trailer: Season Two (Part 1)
November 27, 2020 15:00 - 1 minute - 1.31 MB*Sound the trumpets* Myth Dynamite has a Season Two coming your way and (in our humble opinion) it’s GLORIOUS. From highbrow academic discussions about ekphrasis – it’s more interesting than it sounds – to lowbrow (and shameless) Odysseus bashing, this season is jampacked with fun facts galore. We start from the OG of mythological women HERSELF – Helen of Troy – and wind our way through Cloud Cuckoo Land, sexy hybrids, the beautiful Cyclops (yeah that’s right), to the life of Agrippina, the ...
Trailer: Season One
October 22, 2020 13:00 - 3 minutes - 2.82 MBSeason One was a whirlwind of poets, heroes, witches, the elderly, gods, emperors, and some serious self-love (on our behalf and Narcissus’). We got into the big issues like what to do with your guard goose, how to summon a demon at a crossroads, and Eric Bana’s chest hair. Listen in to hear us reclaim the witch, get nerdy about art (or pretty much everything really), and proclaim The Aeneid as FAKE NEWS. We’re busy getting Season Two ready for you now but here’s a taster of our first season...
Episode Ten: Make Rome Great Again!
October 11, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBThis episode, Myth Dynamite gets political (gasp!) as we delve into the world of the Emperor Augustus and his manipulation of myth in one of the boldest and most drastic political overhauls of all time. A big claim and we’re sticking to it. In 27 BCE, Augustus became the first Emperor of Rome and dragged it from warring Republic into “peaceful” and “harmonious” autocracy. And he used myth *cough* Fake News *cough* to do it. We’ve started to wonder if there is a little more of Donald Trump in...
Episode Nine: Holding Out For A Hero
September 25, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 51.3 MBThis week, lovely Listeners, we bring you ... a third person! Let us introduce you to the third of our triumvirate (ooohhh – Roman joke): Ms Eden Wood. Eden teaches Latin and Classical Civilisation in a Scottish secondary school and is doing all the hard work of getting kids into Classics. For the most part, we’ll be chatting about HEROISM – a subject studied in the Highers Curriculum – so, for any students studying the same course: listen up, she offers some serious GOLD here.
Episode Eight: Witch, Please! (Part 2)
September 11, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MBOh hi! You’re back! You must have loved our first of the ‘Witch, Please!’ episodes, because you’ve come straight on over to part two! Right? If not, you should have, because in our totally objective opinion this is also a cracking episode. Have you ever wondered why the Romans hated Odysseus so much? Tune in to Part 2 to hear Sarah and Abi deliver a pretty accurate “performance” of hating the hero. But seriously, this episode looks at the potions of Circe, the poisonous nature of Erictho and...
Episode Seven: Witch, Please! (Part 1)
September 11, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 42 MBThis week, it’s Witching Hour – or to be more accurate – Witching hours, because Abi and Sarah have brought you another two-parter. We know, we know – we’re a delight, and we really make sure you get all the detailed content you could wish for. Or, more accurately, Abi and Sarah found another topic about which they can’t stop waxing lyrical. You guessed it! This week in our episode ‘Witch, Please!’ we’re talking for two glorious hours on the witch, her role in the ancient world, and how (and...
Episode Six: Just the Two of Us
August 28, 2020 14:00 - 1 hour - 47.4 MBThis week Abi and Sarah get emotional about Classics, and this time it’s not a result of the overwhelming joy we feel for them (I mean, there’ll obviously be some of that too). Instead, we’ll be looking at one of our favourite duos with affection and a little bit of sadness. I know, right? Versatility! Seriously, though, we never thought a bath could be so emotional. This couple, in our humble opinion, give us one of the greatest moments of Homer’s Iliad – the exchange between Hector and And...
Episode Five: Knowing Me, Knowing You (Part Two)
August 14, 2020 14:00 - 36 minutes - 25.5 MB‘A Part Two?!’, we hear you cry with elation. How lucky are you? That’s right, Sarah and Abi talked for so long about Narcissus that we had to make two episodes (AND you’re hearing the significantly cut version…). Knowing Me, Knowing You part two will take you to Pompeii, images, art, Surrealism, and (inevitably) Disney’s Hercules. If for nothing else, tune in for us awkwardly trying to describe paintings in audio. Believe it or not, we think Narcissus deserves EVEN MORE love.
Episode Four: Knowing Me, Knowing You (Part One)
August 14, 2020 13:00 - 43 minutes - 30.3 MBNo, this episode isn’t about ABBA. Sorry. We’re especially excited for this one (we know we say this most episodes … but this one is special!), because our protagonist this week is Narcissus. This is the boy you fell in love with himself (you know, narcissism and all that). The world’s first selfie! We’ll be taking you through some of the different versions of the story and why we think they’re great. Expect the word ‘interesting’ approximately a thousand times.
Episode Three: Dirty Old (Wo)Man
July 31, 2020 13:00 - 59 minutes - 41.3 MBThat’s right - the content you’ve all been waiting for - old people in myths of old (see what we did there?)! Yes today we are celebrating the eldery characters who pop up throughout ancient myths - the exemplary, the heroic, and the downright mischievous. And hey, who doesn’t love a scandalous incest story, right? …. Right?
Episode Two: Hades Gonna Hate
July 17, 2020 11:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBThis episode Abi and Sarah tackle the enigma of Hades, God of the Underworld! We know, we know: he’s the god of the underworld and in some ways not such an enigma. Poor old Hades has been a bit pigeon-holed as another Prince of Hell or God of Death over the centuries. Let’s not rob either the Devil or the Grim Reaper of their jobs, people - it’s a tough market as it is. Instead of fetching us from our deathbeds, Hades is our keeper as we join the millions of people who’ve gone before us, and...
Mythchief Managed
July 03, 2020 20:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBThis is just a little side episode – a footnote, in academic speak – for you to revisit whenever you fancy. It’s a short sketch over what myth is; some sources you might want to look at; just a leg up really, for those new to myth. You’re welcome.
Episode One: One Poet to Rule Them All
July 03, 2020 20:00 - 56 minutes - 38.9 MBSo here we are at our first proper episode. We kick off with a favourite of Abi and Sarah’s – the glorious wordsmith, mythographer, love poet, and, quite frankly, utter bastard: Publius Ovidius Naso, known more commonly as the Latin poet, Ovid.
Myth Dynamite: A Prelude
July 03, 2020 19:00 - 35 minutes - 24.8 MBJoin us - Abi and Sarah - for the inaugural episode of Myth Dynamite *cue fanfare*. Seriously, though, we can promise little to no fanfare in this podcast, other than the copious amounts of fan-girling we do over myth and it's relevance in today's world. Click on the link below to hear how we fell in love with myth, and - hopefully - by the end, you'll be ready to fall in love with it too.