Podcast spins tales of common myths

Myths are an important part of a culture. They are stories that tell foundational tales explaining some natural phenomenon involving supernatural beings. There are whole sections of bookstores dedicated to mythology, so it’s really no surprise that there is a podcast focusing on mythology. Called simply Mythology, Vanessa Richardson narrates the weekly series which can be found on Spotify every Tuesday.

Each myth is told in two parts, one each week. Part one is the telling of the myth and part two is Richardson’s analysis of the story. The first episode is about Athena, the goddess of war, who rebelled against Greek social norms where women didn’t go to war. Instead they stayed home and raised a family. Athena approaches war with logic and meditation rather than jumping into battle with her emotions. Athena is an anomaly in a society where she is a goddess for no one because women are treated as second class citizens.

The episodes are intriguing as they have actors for the different characters so that the episodes have a dramatic retelling of the story, not just a narrator providing the text. With the addition of sound effects, these episodes have an audio drama feel. Audio drama is a dramatized acoustic performance with no video, which describes the performances of Mythology.

After the episodes about Athena, Richardson focuses on the following gods and goddesses – Loki, Hercules, Gilgamesh, Narcissus and Jason. With 68 episodes available, there are many heroes to follow. Each episode lasts anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, so the two episodes back to back will require a time commitment from the audience. 

As I listened to several of the podcasts in order to write this article, I realized that I enjoyed them enough that I would be listening to more of them over the next few weeks. The myths are interesting and the analysis is thought provoking. As long as Mythology continues to produce episodes like their first ones, they will continue to draw a large audience.

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