WE ARE BACK BITCHES.
And we couldn’t be happier.
Ostensibly, this episode is about the Greek term nostos – a heroic return home – in celebration of our return to our metaphorical podcast home at MD (it’s cheesy but we’re sticking with it).
In reality, you’ll be privy to Sarah and Abi catching up about their lives post-hiatus (don’t worry – we have in fact spoken in the interim...). The intention was to record a quick 15-minute teaser to lead us back into series 3 – but in true MD style, we ended up with over an hour of content and we’re not even sorry. There’s some pop culture moments we’ve been dying to share with you – get ready for some content from The Bachelor franchise.
Get ready for all your favourite Myth Dynamite moments: right from the off, we wax lyrical about how great we are; there’s some typical Odysseus bashing; we’ve got pop culture, side tracks, and some smooth segues; and Sarah even gets to talk about the Roman Civil War AND etymology (drool). We even shoe-horn in some female perspectives on the heroic nostos for you.
This episode has it all.
When we do finally get around to talking about nostoi (the plural of nostos, for you grammar nerds), it starts obscure before we get to the typical mythological ‘returns’ ... because we like to keep you on your toes. You’ll hear about Philoctetes’ smelly foot, Oedipus’ awkward family relations, Diomedes’ perfect nostos (of course Diomedes smashed it), and the Aeneid, the OG of ‘Home is where the heart is’.
We even end with some jacket potato meal options for you. You’re welcome.
References (click here for our summaries of the ancient sources):
- Homer, Odyssey, 8th century BCE (composed) and 6th century BCE (written down)
- Sophocles, Philoctetes, 409 BCE
- Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, 429 BCE
- Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 406-401 BCE
- Sophocles, Ajax, 443 BCE
- Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 458 BCE
- Sappho, Brothers (papyrus reference: P. Sapph. Obbink), c. 630-570 BCE*
- Virgil, Aeneid, 19 BCE
*Note, since recording this episode, some questions have been raised about the provenance of this papyrus that are yet to be answered. See the Brill page for more info. We’ll let you know when more comes out.