Sing Muses, sing to me a story of Olympus and the deathless gods who govern earth, sea and sky…
Since November 2022, our producer Andrew Hulse has contributed oral storytelling scripts to the HistoryHit original podcast The Ancients and their miniseries on the Greek gods (as well as a few other classical myths). Each podcast in the miniseries begins with a performance of oral storytelling – a myth related to the god in question – followed by an interview with a subject specialist.
The Ancients, hosted by historian Tristan Hughes, is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Historians and archaeologists join Tristan to discuss specific themes from antiquity, from Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome. You can find the full podcast – and its amazing breadth of content – here.
Check out each of the storytelling scripts below as well as a link to the full episode.
Zeus: King of the Gods
The myth of Zeus’s parentage, beginning with Uranus and Gaia.
13 November 2022
Hera: Queen of the Gods
The myth of Kleobis and Biton, the sons of Hera’s chief priestess.
11 December 2022
Hephaestus: God of Fire
The myth of Hephaestus’s birth and his marriage to Aphrodite.
8 January 2023
Aphrodite: Goddess of Love
The myth of the judgement of Paris.
5 February 2023
Ares: God of War
The myth of Ares’s daughter Alcippe and the first homicide.
12 March 2023
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom
The myth of Athena’s contest with Poseidon to claim patronage of Athens.
9 April 2023
King Midas
The myth of King Midas’s golden touch.
4 May 2023
Achilles
The myth of Achilles and Patroclus.
25 June 2023
Poseidon: God of the Sea
The myth of Odysseus and the cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon.
27 July 2023
Medusa
The myth of Medusa and her gaze of stone.
7 September 2023