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Quackcast 778 - My amazing idea Ha ha ha! (mythcast)
Myths and legends are a massive part of our culture. We have the original versions of them that still stay with us, mostly intact, but because of how important and well known they are we're always getting new versions of them that are changed and added to to reflect our contemporary culture. Big stories like King Arthur, Robin Hood, Beowulf, the Odyssey, The Journey to the West and many other stories keep getting new versions in our modern world.
The Greek myths beings quite old, very detailed, and well written get a LOT of different versions, which has been happening since antiquity. Even the Romans like Ovid revised them, his versions were made to reflect his own cultural and political realities. Most recently there's the Nolan version of the Odyssey coming out. Some are annoyed at the various non-white people in certain roles, but that's a trend that's been popular for about 30-40 years or so and simply reflects our modern diverse cultural and ethnic makeup. The only thing that irks me are the stupid costumes and reinterpretation of the armour, but also the silly commentary concerning it- on one hand you have supporters of the crude fantasy styles in the film and on the other supporters of ancient Mycenaean styles. The thing is though that Ancient Greeks ALWAYS depicted their mythological figures armoured like hoplites (or naked), with Corinthian helmets. That wasn't a case of them showing the figures in contemporary fashions either- hundreds of years after those styles were dead they were still used for the characters. So there was never a need to reinterpret them OR imagine them in archaic "historically accurate" styles, they should always be shown as classical Greek warriors. /rant
Beowulf shows up in various ways, there are direct and indirect interpretations. One of the interesting aspects is that people use the monster, Grendel, for their indirect interpretations- Everything from Friday the 13th (the first one), to Frankenstein (at least as an inspiration to the various adaptations), Jaws, The 13th Warrior, Split Second (a monster in futuristic flooded London), you could even include Predator and Alien.
Journey to the West is a very important story to many cultures in eastern Asia because it's tied closely with Buddhism and the spread of that religion on the continent. It was important to me when I grew up with endless TV repeats of the dubbed Japanese series Monkey Magic, starring Masaaki Sakai, Japanese pop sensation (The Spiders), and perennial charismatic TV personality. It featured comedy, endless fighting with demons and monsters, and the retelling of various stories. This version was so popular that people have remade it rather than just the myth itself, and it's inspired films and TV shows with the costumes it used for the characters. Many others now know the myth through the Dragon Ball anime and Manga, with Goku as the Monkey King.
Disney's anthro version of Robin Hood had a gigantic impact on the creation of furry culture. The King Arthur myth, focussing on the heroic journey of a random, scruffy orphan into a prophesied king of a nation shows up everywhere in fantasy and Scifi, examples include Star Wars and the fantasy series The Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings and many others, including more direct versions like Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, Disney's Sword in the Stone, and the fantastic Excalibur. The Jewish myth of David and the giant Goliath show up over and over in things too because of the focus on an underdog who triumphs despite huge odds and then goes on to become a famous ruler.
What are your fave myths that keep on inspiring popular culture (directly and indirectly), and what is your fave version?
This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - Ripping off King Arthur - We're all preparing for the big event here with this theme. It's a weird mixture of a Rocky theme, fantasy epic, and 8 bit video game music… as if were were about to see a pixelated, medieval fantasy themed version of Mortal Kombat! The fight showdown to end all fight showdowns! - I chose this because it mentions King Arthur, a mythical figure. Originally from: Quackcast 451, 4th of Nov, 2019.
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic: Exposure - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/03/featured-comic-exposure/
Featured music: Ripping off King Arthur - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ripping_Off_King_Arthur/ - by Arspitzer, rated M.
Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!
Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
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By Michael Morris
3.7
33 ratings
Myths and legends are a massive part of our culture. We have the original versions of them that still stay with us, mostly intact, but because of how important and well known they are we're always getting new versions of them that are changed and added to to reflect our contemporary culture. Big stories like King Arthur, Robin Hood, Beowulf, the Odyssey, The Journey to the West and many other stories keep getting new versions in our modern world.
The Greek myths beings quite old, very detailed, and well written get a LOT of different versions, which has been happening since antiquity. Even the Romans like Ovid revised them, his versions were made to reflect his own cultural and political realities. Most recently there's the Nolan version of the Odyssey coming out. Some are annoyed at the various non-white people in certain roles, but that's a trend that's been popular for about 30-40 years or so and simply reflects our modern diverse cultural and ethnic makeup. The only thing that irks me are the stupid costumes and reinterpretation of the armour, but also the silly commentary concerning it- on one hand you have supporters of the crude fantasy styles in the film and on the other supporters of ancient Mycenaean styles. The thing is though that Ancient Greeks ALWAYS depicted their mythological figures armoured like hoplites (or naked), with Corinthian helmets. That wasn't a case of them showing the figures in contemporary fashions either- hundreds of years after those styles were dead they were still used for the characters. So there was never a need to reinterpret them OR imagine them in archaic "historically accurate" styles, they should always be shown as classical Greek warriors. /rant
Beowulf shows up in various ways, there are direct and indirect interpretations. One of the interesting aspects is that people use the monster, Grendel, for their indirect interpretations- Everything from Friday the 13th (the first one), to Frankenstein (at least as an inspiration to the various adaptations), Jaws, The 13th Warrior, Split Second (a monster in futuristic flooded London), you could even include Predator and Alien.
Journey to the West is a very important story to many cultures in eastern Asia because it's tied closely with Buddhism and the spread of that religion on the continent. It was important to me when I grew up with endless TV repeats of the dubbed Japanese series Monkey Magic, starring Masaaki Sakai, Japanese pop sensation (The Spiders), and perennial charismatic TV personality. It featured comedy, endless fighting with demons and monsters, and the retelling of various stories. This version was so popular that people have remade it rather than just the myth itself, and it's inspired films and TV shows with the costumes it used for the characters. Many others now know the myth through the Dragon Ball anime and Manga, with Goku as the Monkey King.
Disney's anthro version of Robin Hood had a gigantic impact on the creation of furry culture. The King Arthur myth, focussing on the heroic journey of a random, scruffy orphan into a prophesied king of a nation shows up everywhere in fantasy and Scifi, examples include Star Wars and the fantasy series The Belgariad and Malloreon by David Eddings and many others, including more direct versions like Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, Disney's Sword in the Stone, and the fantastic Excalibur. The Jewish myth of David and the giant Goliath show up over and over in things too because of the focus on an underdog who triumphs despite huge odds and then goes on to become a famous ruler.
What are your fave myths that keep on inspiring popular culture (directly and indirectly), and what is your fave version?
This week we have another best off from Gunwallace and this time it's - Ripping off King Arthur - We're all preparing for the big event here with this theme. It's a weird mixture of a Rocky theme, fantasy epic, and 8 bit video game music… as if were were about to see a pixelated, medieval fantasy themed version of Mortal Kombat! The fight showdown to end all fight showdowns! - I chose this because it mentions King Arthur, a mythical figure. Originally from: Quackcast 451, 4th of Nov, 2019.
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic: Exposure - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2026/feb/03/featured-comic-exposure/
Featured music: Ripping off King Arthur - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ripping_Off_King_Arthur/ - by Arspitzer, rated M.
Special thanks to: Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/ Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!
Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS