logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2019
30m 59s

Punishing Pentheus, the Frantic & Violen...

Liv Albert
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Today
ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Most Infamous Woman of Greek Myth, A History of Helen
This two part series on Helen originally aired in December 2021. Helen is simultaneously the most well known mortal of myth and a complete and utter enigma. What do we actually know about her, and the choices she did and did not make that lead to the Trojan War? Helen of Sparta, ... Show More
1h 2m
Yesterday
ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Women Are Human Too (Women's 'Health & Medicine')
This (EPIC) episode is a melding of episodes covering the history of women's health and medicine, featuring coversations with Dr Helen King and Dr Christie Vogler. First, Liv speaks with Professor Helen King about her new book Immaculate Forms, and the history of the female body. ... Show More
2h 57m
Jul 17
SPOILER SPECIAL: Liv's Unorganized Thoughts on Nolan's Odyssey (Mostly the Women)
SPOILERS (-ish, nothing crazy) for NOLAN'S ODYSSEY! These are Liv's unorganized thoughts/rants on the movie and, primarily, the treatment of the female characters. Listen or don't, this isn't a formal episode... It started out as the introduction to Friday's conversation and turn ... Show More
34m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
Madness and Piety: A Discussion on The Bacchae Part I
Madness, piety, gore, and reason! Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, host Dcn. Harrison Garlick and the always insightful Dr. Frank Grabowski delve into the first part of Euripides’ The Bacchae—a chilling yet captivating Greek tragedy that explores piety, eros, the nature ... Show More
2h 26m
Mar 2021
The Bacchae
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Euripides' great tragedy, which was first performed in Athens in 405 BC when the Athenians were on the point of defeat and humiliation in a long war with Sparta. The action seen or described on stage was brutal: Pentheus, king of Thebes, is torn in ... Show More
52m 11s
Mar 2021
The Bacchae
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Euripides' great tragedy, which was first performed in Athens in 405 BC when the Athenians were on the point of defeat and humiliation in a long war with Sparta. The action seen or described on stage was brutal: Pentheus, king of Thebes, is torn in ... Show More
52m 11s
Oct 2024
103: Euripedes - The Bacchae
<p>The Bacchae is a parennially popular Greek tragedy that portrays the coming of Dionysus to Greece. The Dionysian strikes Hellas like a wave of madness, and the play is full of miracles, illusions and other violations of the natural order. Often interpreted as a play about the ... Show More
1h 58m
Feb 2017
59-Greek Myths: The Violence of Our Ancestors
Many connected stories from Greek mythology. We'll start with story of Hades and Persephone, and learn why she's always hanging around the underworld (hint: it's not because she wants to). Then, I'll tell the story of the curse of the house of Atreus, starting with Tantalus and h ... Show More
45m 17s
Sep 2015
10A-Hercules: Going into Labor
The story of Hercules is one part gritty, serious tragedy and two parts over-the-top monster fights. This week, in the origin story of one of the greatest mythological heroes of the western world, we get to see the human side of the demigod before the story goes completely off-th ... Show More
35m 40s
Sep 2025
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
Sep 2020
195-Greek Myths: Stranger Danger
Dionysus was the god of wine from Greek myths and the last Olympian to earn a place on Mount Olympus. His story starts with him being born from Zeus's thigh...and then somehow gets stranger. He does make a lot of really fun, dangerously intense fans among the humans, though.The c ... Show More
43m 43s
Jun 2021
227-Greek/Roman Mythology: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Olympus
Two stories from Greek/Roman mythology this week with the (not remotely) love story of Apollo and Daphne as well as the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, where we'll see that a wall can bring people together as well as keep them apart. The creature is the Bakru, from Suriname, a mythol ... Show More
35m 14s