In this episode, we explore what happened to gender in the pressure-cooker of ancient war. To do that, we skip ahead ten years to a different beach: the war-blasted, corpse-strewn sands below the walls of Troy.
As the Trojan War dragged on, the most respect went to those who were able to slaughter and pillage and plunder: gender for men devolved into “Smash ... Show More
Nov 20
Like a Wolf but Not a Wolf: The Beast of the Gevaudan (Part 1)
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From 1764 to 1767, an area of southeastern France called the Gevaudan was stalked and terrorized by a mysterious beast. Some said it was a wolf. Others that it was “like a wolf, but not a wolf”—far stronger, faster, m ... Show More
1h 15m
Oct 2024
The Trojan War
The Trojan War was a time of heroes. From the swift-footed Achilles, and the hot-headed Prince Paris, to the beautiful Queen Helen, and the all-powerful gods, Zeus, Athena, and Aphrodite. In these early days of what we now call Ancient Greece, the story of Troy was already a saga ... Show More
54m 20s
Aug 2024
Choose Your Fighter: Achilles as a Manly Archetype
The game is on, Helen is abducted, and now it's time to gather the Greeks for war. There are lots of stories about how the Achaean forces made their way to Troy, and some of them--like the story of the Achilles heel--are permanently associated in the popular imagination with Home ... Show More
59m 44s
Feb 2025
La guerre de Troie a-t-elle vraiment eu lieu ?
<p>La guerre de Troie, immortalisée par Homère dans l’Iliade, fascine depuis des siècles. Mais s’agit-il d’un mythe littéraire ou d’un véritable conflit historique ? Depuis longtemps, les historiens et archéologues tentent de démêler la réalité de la légende.</p><br><p>Les source ... Show More
2m 24s
Sep 2024
I Would Gladly Fight in Battle Three Times Over, Than Give Birth Once… Women in Euripides
Some of the most realistic, sympathetic, complex, and villainous women of the ancient world are found in the works of Euripides. He seemed to have had an interest in the people on the margins, women, foreign "barbarians", and enslaved people. Today we're looking at them, and Euri ... Show More
39m 56s
Aug 8
Conversations: Not the Glory of War, but the Horror of it... The Iliad (kind of) w/ Joel Christensen
Newsflash: the Iliad is an anti-war epic. Liv and Michaela speak with returning guest Joel Christensen about (ostensibly!) the Iliad, all the reasons it's NOT a pro-war epic, and why empathy is VITAL to humanity, not a bug. NOTE: this episode was recorded a few months ago and dis ... Show More
1h 32m
Aug 2019
Amazons & the Real Warrior Women of Antiquity, Part 2
<p>Episode 2, Season 10. The ancient Greeks told lots of stories about the Amazons: the mythic bands of warrior women that Hellanikos of Lesbos described as "golden-shielded, silver-axed, man-loving, boy-killing females." They made up fantastic stories about both loving and subdu ... Show More
32m 53s
Jul 2024
SPECIAL! Gender Rebels of Greek Mythology: Heracles x Omphale by Ancient History Fangirl
Liv shares an episode of Ancient History Fangirl, Genn and Jenny have a story to share... That time Heracles, the strong man, son of Zeus and noted impenetrable penetrator, lived as a woman. Yes, you read that right. And not only did he live as a woman, he was the submissive to a ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 21
602. Greek Myths: Zeus, King of the Gods (Part 1)
What are the mythic origins of Zeus, King of the Olympians, and the other Greek gods? From what period did the earliest of the Greek myths derive? Who was Hesiod - alongside Homer, the greatest of the Greek poets, and the father of European literature - who first recorded Zeus’ s ... Show More
1h 1m
Sep 28
604. Greek Myths: Sex, Drugs & Tragedy (Part 3)
Who was Dionysus, the son of Zeus, and Greek god of ecstasy, revelry and madness? Why was he so central to the ancient Greeks? What is the story of the Bacchae, the play in which a young man is ripped apart by the handmaidens of the goddess Artemis? What did it mean to be a Bacch ... Show More
1h 4m