Greeced Lightning

Sara, Luke, and Sam take their first dive into ancient history, rather than myth, this week with the 2007 violent, machismo-soaked 300! Learn all about the Persian Wars and Spartan life while enjoying topics of discussion such as: jock rock as a movie, fun ancient instruments, and the Greeks' aversion to pants.

• Aulos music - The aulos played in this video is a reconstruction based on an ancient aulos discovered in Egypt.
• Map: The Achaemenid Empire at its Greatest Extent - This map (from Wikimedia Commons) shows the Persian empire at its greatest extent, around 500 BCE. The first war between Persians and Greeks occurred a decade later in 490 BCE.
• English translation of Herodotus's Histories - An English translation of Herodotus's Histories, which is our main Greek source for the Persian Wars. (P.S.: This website, Lacus Curtius, is a great resource in general for translations of other ancient texts!)
• English translation of Aeschylus's Persians - A 2009 translation of Aeschylus's play The Persians, which was performed at the City Dionysia festival in Athens in 472 BCE.

This week, your hosts end their time with the Titans with 2012's Wrath of the Titans. Sara returns to her #BadClassicist ways, Sam earns 5 Greeced Lightning Points, and Rip Torn gets his Greek God kudos.

• Ps.-Apollodorus, The Library - An easily-navigable English translation of the work Bibliotheca (The Library) by Pseudo-Apollodorus. If you're interested in looking at the Greek text as well, check out the Loeb volume cited at the top of this webpage.
• Toyverse theory on Hanksy Panksy - For more on Sam and Luke's development of the rules of the Toyverse, check out the Toy Story episodes of their other podcast, Hanksy Panksy!
• Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar - Athena fights against giants in the Gigantomachy (Wikimedia Commons)

We’re back with more myth soup, and the 2010 reboot of Clash of the Titans! Sara, Luke, and Sam discuss Gorgons, Io, Priapus, and whether the world is ready for an Irish Zeus. CW: This episode’s myths involves a lot of rape.

• Athena with the aegis - Athena Promachos, from Herculaneum, now housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. You can see the aegis (goat skin) draped over her extended arm, with the gorgon head mounted on it.
• Prometheus Bound - An accessible translation of Aeschylus' tragedy Prometheus Bound by George Theodoridis.
• Gorgon kylix by Nikosthenes (Met Museum) - A 6th century BCE drinking cup, called a kylix, with a Gorgon face in the bottom interior of the cup. When you tipped the cup up to drain the wine, this is what you'd see! This cup was painted by Nikosthenes, a successful ceramicist of the day.
• Gorgoneion roof tile (Met Museum) - A 6th century BCE roof tile featuring a scary Gorgon grimace, surrounded by snakes for hair. These Gorgon tiles were apotropaic, meaning they were intended to ward off evil.
• The Priapeia - Sara summarizes Poem 67 in the episode. The syllables highlighted in the first two lines spell out the verb pedicare, which means "to sodomize":

Episode 4 is the first of three episodes breaking down the “of the Titans” saga. We start with 1981’s Clash of the Titans! Join us for the story of Perseus and Andromeda, according to both Ovid and Ray Harryhausen: golden showers, color and gender in ancient art, special effects so bad they’re good, Laurence Olivier thirst, and more!

• Ovid's Metamorphoses - The 1986 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses that Sara uses. There are definitely more recent (and possibly better) translations out there, but this is the one Sara bought for her undergraduate class in classical mythology, so here we are.
• Perseus and Andromeda amphora painting - 6th c. BCE amphora depicting Andromeda, Perseus, and the sea monster Cetos.
• Perseus and Andromeda from Agrippa Postumus' villa at Boscotrecase - This fresco depicts Andromeda (center) chained to a rock waiting to be eaten by the sea monster (bottom left) and Perseus flying to her rescue.

This week, we’re breaking down the myth of Pygmalion: the original incel! After Luke and Sam teach Sara what negging is, discussion includes ancient pickup artists, blurred lines between sculpture and real life, the absolute delight that is Lars and the Real Girl, and what it takes for a doll to be real.

• "Guy and Doll" - Luke says Lars and the Real Girl is great because a woman wrote it. Here’s a short article about that woman, Nancy Oliver, and the movie.
• Metamorphoses - The 1986 translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses that Sara uses. There are definitely more recent (and possibly better) translations out there, but this is the one Sara bought for her undergraduate class in classical mythology, so here we are.

Welcome back for Episode 2! Dr. Sara, Luke, and Sam dive into Homer’s Odyssey to discuss tricksy heroes, visits to the Underworld, murderous rampages, and how loose of an adaptation we think O Brother Where Art Thou is.

• Madeline Miller - Join Sam and Sara in their love of Madeline Miller's myth-themed novels!
• Edith Hamilton - Edith Hamilton's Mythology
• Emily Wilson translation - Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, beautifully done in iambic pentameter

In the series premier of Greeced Lightning, Dr. Sara Hales-Brittain, Luke Patrick, and Sam Siegel begin their deep dive into ancient Greek mythology by breaking down the legend of the Trojan War. Dr. Hales-Brittain teaches Luke and Sam about the epic cycle, Paris' past, and how much the movie Troy failed.

• Troy: Fall of a City - The miniseries Troy: Fall of a City aired in 2018 and does an excellent job of interpreting the Iliad and the epic cycle of the Trojan War. Check it out for a more accurate rendition of Homer!
• The Iliad, trans. Fagles - One of the most commonly used translations of The Iliad, by Robert Fagles. This is the one Sara usually uses.