Much of this episode hews to the story line of the Iliad, meaning the focus is on the latter stages of the rage of Achilles and its tragic consequences but ultimately also its glorious aftermath. Patrokles and Hector are key elements but an outraged river also makes an appearance? The destructive nature of excess and the paramount importance of honor pulse throughout this episode. Harrowing or satisfying? You be the judge. Enjoy nonetheless. 

As promised previously in Episode 1, hear the Homeric cycle in a generally linear, episodic but decidedly non-academic and at times rather breezy and sometimes risqué version of Homer’s epic story.

As advertised, Episode 1 told of the Golden Apple of Discord, the Judgment of Paris, Helen of Sparta and the enlistment of Achilles and Odysseus into the Greek war effort.

As anticipated, Episode 2 moves forward through the challenges the Greeks face launching the thousand ships to wage war on Troy and retrieve Helen, the discord among the Greeks that leads to the rage of Achilles, the showdown between the offending Paris and the offended Menelaus, and an aristeia of Diomedes involving the gods, as well as an interesting sidebar that forms part of the Homeric tradition.

Greek mythology is strange stuff. No less so in the works of Homer, but much of it is inaccessible because it's written in Greek after all! But you may still be curious about the Trojan War, the Iliad, the Odyssey and Homer and all the strange doings and characters therein - Achilles, Cassandra, Penelope, Ajax, Diomedes, Odysseus, Thetis, Eris, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, just to name a few?

In these podcasts, you’ll hear the Homeric cycle in a generally linear, episodic but decidedly non-academic and at times rather breezy version of Homer’s epic saga, as if MC were a rhapsode narrating it to you around a campfire?

At any rate, Episode 1 tells of the strange goings on before the Trojan War: the Golden Apple of Discord, the Judgment of Paris, Helen of Sparta, and the enlistment of Odysseus and Achilles into the Greek forces to lay seige to Troy and reclaim the honor of the wronged brother and Greek chieftain, Menelaus. Enjoy and embrace the epic strangeness of Homer.

Everyone has heard of the modern Olympics and all the drama therein. Well, before all that, there was Mount Olympus of course, home to the classical Greek gods and goddesses. Everyone's heard of Zeus, the most powerful of the Olympians, and of Athena, the wisest of the gods, and perhaps some others, but you've probably not heard them quite like this. 

At any rate, in this episode of Last Gasp or Gigantomachia, you'll hear first a brief introduction to the play by ye olde MC himself and after that our cast, Dreamus Teamus 2.0, introduce themselves. Following that, lend your ears to the two parts of this Olympian comedy to see how the Olympians respond to an external threat to their status quo.

After a prologue of sorts, Act I opens with Hera and Zeus looking for a special flower which would confer a sort of prophylactic protection to the gods should the Giants, let loose by Gaea in revenge for the death of her son, Antaeus, storm Mount Olympus. With the exception of Ares, all the Olympians sniff said flower but, like many of the defensive measures put forth by the Olympians, this measure falls short, especially in Hera’s case. Our beloved gods do in fact get some unexpected help from unexpected quarters to their great relief.

The second scene deals with the aftermath of the Giant attack on the Olympian stronghold and the gods’ pathetic defense thereof. As in the first play in MC’s Olympian cycle, much dirty laundry gets aired, and nobody in this fractious family comes out smelling like roses. Furthermore, given the near success of the assault on Olympus by the Giants, existential questions surprisingly arise for some of the Olympians.

So, without further ado, strap yourselves in, as it may be a harrowing ride up to Mount Olympus during this Giant attack, yet as always, enjoy and embrace, in this case, not so much the absurd and dysfunctional, but the apocalyptic.

Just a short teaser before the upcoming drop of the full episode of Last Gasp or Gigantomachia. Ye Olde MC sets up various scenes that involve the entire* cast at various moments in the play. 

*subject to last minute changes.

Act II continues the saga with the three rebels' returning from subduing almighty Zeus. As the gods and godesses are in the throes of determining who will rule Olympus in lieu of He Who Must Not Be Named, lo and behold, the god of thunder himself returns, and now that he is unbound, he is raging! Will the rebels get their comeuppance? Will Hades return? Will order ever be restored? Will Hephaestus lose his mind over all the jokes he now gets? Will the gods and goddesses ever stop their infernal correcting? Where in Hades are the censors? Tune in and find out the answers to your burning questions and more, in the conclusion to As The Olympian World Turns: The Rebellion.

You've all heard of the Olympics and all the drama therein. Well, before all that, there was Mount Olympus of course, home to the Greek gods and goddesses. You've probably heard of Zeus, the most powerful of the Olympians, and of Athena, the wisest of the gods, and perhaps some others. But how well do you really know the denizens of Olympus? Did you know the gods outnumber the goddesses? Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? Did you know that Hades does not have a throne up there? (Death never takes holiday, does it? And so the Rich One must never leave his precious Underworld?) Did you know that one of the Olympians has a mortal for a mother?! Yes, a mortal! Scandalous I know, but mythologically true! It's beginning to sound like a soap opera, right? Ah-ha, the title! 

Well, at any rate, in this episode you'll hear first a brief introduction to the play, which itself is an in medias res introduction to the gods and goddesses of Olympus. After that, our Dreamus Teamus of a cast introduces themselves, but you may be hard pressed to recognize the actors, so immersed are they in their roles. Following that, lend your ears to the two parts of this two act comedy, As the Olympian World Turns - MC's particular (read: idiosyncratic and irreverent) take on the Greek Olympians. 

Act I opens with the gods and goddesses or, more accurately, Hera, Poseidon and Apollo, spearheading an open revolt against their leader, Zeus. Wary of Zeus's power, the remaining Olympians, however, are slow to warm to this insurrection idea. In the course of the arguments for removing the tyrannical Zeus, much dirty laundry gets aired, and nobody in this fractious family comes out smelling like roses. But after some heated discussion, they do finally come to a consensus of sorts!  

Act II continues the saga with the three rebels' return from subduing almighty Zeus. As the gods and goddesses are in the throes of determining who will rule Olympus in lieu of He Who Must Not Be Named, lo and behold, the god of thunder himself returns, and now that he is unbound, he is raging! Will the rebels get their comeuppance? Will Hades return? Will order ever be restored? Will Hephaestus lose his mind over all the jokes he now gets? Will the gods and goddesses ever stop their infernal correcting? Tune in and find out the answers to your burning questions and more, in the conclusion to As The Olympian World Turns: The Rebellion.  

Please note: unlike previous MC productions, the voices of the characters in this play are provided by the much ballyhooed Dreamus Teamus of former colleagues and students who generously provided us their formidable talents. So, without further ado, strap yourselves in, as it may be a bumpy ride up on Mount Olympus, yet as always, enjoy and embrace - in this case not so much the surreal, as the dysfunction. 

You've heard of the Olympics and all the drama therein. Well, before all that, there was Olympus of course. You've probably heard of Zeus, the most powerful of the Olympians, and of Athena, the wisest of the gods, and perhaps some others. But how well do you really know the denizens of Mount Olympus? Did you know the gods outnumber the goddesses? Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? Did you know that Hades does not have a throne up there? Death never takes holiday, does it? And so the Rich One must never leave his precious Underworld? Did you know that one of the Olympians has a mortal for a mother?! Scandalous, I know, but mythologically true. It all sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? Ah-ha, the title!

Well, at any rate, in this episode you'll hear first a brief introduction to the play, which itself is an in medias res introduction to the gods and goddesses of Olympus. After that, our Dreamus Teamus of a cast introduces themselves, but you may be hard pressed to recognize the actors, so immersed are they in their roles. Following that, lend your ears to the two parts of the two act comedy, As the Olympian World Turns - MC's particular (read: idiosyncratic and irreverent) take on the Greek Olympians.

Act I opens with the gods and goddesses, or more accurately, Hera, Poseidon and Apollo, spearheading an open revolt against their leader, Zeus. Wary of Zeus's power, the remaining Olympians, however, are slow to warm to this insurrection idea. In the course of the arguments for removing the tyrannical Zeus, much dirty laundry gets aired, and nobody in this fractious family comes out smelling like roses. But after some discussion, they do finally come to a consensus of sorts!

Please note: different from previous MC productions, the voices of the characters in this play are provided by the much ballyhooed Dreamus Teamus of former colleagues and students who generously provided us their formidable talents. So, without further ado, strap yourselves in, as it may be a bumpy ride up on Mount Olympus, yet as always, enjoy and embrace - in this case not so much the surreal, as the dysfunction.

Act V has been updated with yet another cameo performance! 

The set up, however, is as before. In this busy episode, Act V, the surreal, open ended conclusion to MC’s Jonah, our great prophet has begun in earnest his protest of the Lord’s sparing of the newly penitent Ninevites. For some reason, despite his reservations about choosing Jonah in the first place, the Lord shows pity on Jonah again by protecting his little protest hut from the blistering sun with...a floating gourd - yes, you read right! a floating gourd! Meanwhile, In the midst of all this, his wife Abigail and son Enoch have come to Nineveh to confront Jonah with their displeasure; not surprisingly, this reunion doesn't end well. In another twisty development, the Lord, for obscure reasons, sends forth a giant worm to eat up the gourd that protects Jonah. In the extreme hallucinatory heat, Jonah has a talk with this worm. Yes indeed, and so the stalemate goes. Finally, before the gates of the city, two grizzled prophets debate to a draw Jonah’s folly. 

Enjoy, and embrace the surreality. 

Note: now if anyone were to need any more incentive to tune in, MC has secured four, yes four! cameos for this episode: the newest addition is the adventurous Andrew Tiller as the Lord in Scene i, the incomparable Jessica Childs returns as Abigail, Jonah’s long-suffering wife, in Scene ii,  the multi-talented Brett Ewer as the Worm in Scene iii, and the media veteran William B. Childs as both prophets in Scene iv. Talk about a stacked cast!

In this episode of Jonah, our hero (?), after repenting and being spat out ashore by the great fish, makes the arduous journey to Ninevah where he preaches as if his life depended on it. Meanwhile, with son in tow, his wife, Abigail (another cameo by the incomparable Jessica Childs) has also made the trek to demand an accounting for his behavior and a road map for their future together. Surprisingly, the people of Ninevah and the king, Ashur himself, after some initial resistance to this prophet of the god of the desert, decide to change their sinning ways and thus be spared the Lord's destructive wrath. This is wholly unexpected and disappointing to Jonah who was looking forward to some Old Testament fireworks from the Lord. Not happening. So there's a bit of a stalemate between the Lord and his chosen prophet. On the one hand, Jonah has finally come through and done as he was bidden and should be applauded. On the other hand he just can't leave well enough alone and criticizes the Lord's judgment in sparing Ninevah. And unfortunately, Jonah is not done yet with venting his displeasure...