Author: Nathan

Eteocles and Polynices were the sons of Oedipus and like their father they were cursed. In their case, they were doomed to kill each other. Eteocles and Polynices fought over their father’s throne and Polynices was eventually exiled from Thebes. He gained the support of Adrastus, the king of Argos; and a collection of un-heroic scoundrels, including  the unpredictable Tydeus and the seer Amphiaraus. Together, they led a great army against Thebes with the intent of making Polynices king.

Oedipus is probably the one Greek hero who has broken free from Greek mythology and become something else entirely. That of course is all thanks to psychologist Sigmund Freud. Many people today are familiar with the hero, who is cursed with killing his father and sleeping with his mother. But the wider tradition of Greek myth about Oedipus is much more complex. Stretching at least as far back as the 8^th century BC, Oedipus is another of the famous beast-slayers of Greek mythology. Additionally, the story of Oedipus’s curse actually concerns 4 different generations of the Theban royal family. Taken together, it is called the Theban Cycle. This episode focuses on Oedipus and his father Laius.

The great hero twins Castor and Polydeukes (Roman Pollux) were known as the Dioscuri which means “Sons of Zeus”. Considered by the ancient Greeks to be two of the greatest heroes, there are surprisingly not a whole lot of stories starring them that survive to today. However, there are a few important incidents, which are covered in this episode. Beyond the Dioscuri, Greek mythology features several examples of other hero twins with interesting similarities to the Dioscuri.

In Greek mythology, centaurs were dangerous. Numerous heroes got into fights with them and there was even a centaur war. In it, the half-horse creatures fought against an equally fierce human tribe called the Lapiths, led by a hero named Pirithous. Pirithous is an interesting character in Greek mythology. He is not well known today, but its clear he was important to the ancient Greeks. This episode covers:

• The mythical origins of the centaurs and Lapiths
• How trouble at Pirithous’s wedding led to a war between the two groups
• Pirithous’ ill-fated friendship with Theseus

Theseus was one of the heroic monster-slayers of ancient Greece. This episode covers his most famous deed – the slaying of the Minotaur. As a punishment for the Athenian king’s involvement in the murder of his son, Minos of Crete demanded a tribute of 7 young men and 7 young women every nine years to feed the Minotaur. Theseus was one of these youths. He went to Crete, and with help from the princess Ariadne, killed the Minotaur. After returning to Athens, Theseus ascended the throne and went on to have other adventures.

Theseus was one of the heroic monster-slayers of ancient Greece. This episode covers his beginnings. The Athenian king Aegeus was childless and worried about his hold on the throne. The fairly unhelpful advice he got from the Oracle of Delphi brought him to the palace of his friend Pittheus. What followed was the pregnancy of Pittheus’ daughter Aethra, and the birth of Theseus. When Theseus grew up, he set out to meet his father, and met some dangerous characters along the way.

Peleus is a Greek hero who is not well known today but was important during ancient times. He was an Argonaut searching for the Golden Fleece, and a hunter for the Calydonian Boar. Peleus enjoyed a special relationship with the centaur Chiron, and the fondness of the Olympian gods. His most important myth was his marriage to the goddess Thetis.

A few special events in Greek mythology have multiple heroes from different parts of Greece come together to get a job done. One of these was the Hunt for the Calydonian Boar. The boar was sent by an angry Artemis and terrorized the woods of Calydon. The hero Meleager organized a party of heroes to stop the beast’s rampage through his homeland. A key figure was the female hunter Atalanta. This episode covers her role in the Hunt and what she did afterwards.

Orpheus was a hero from the Greek region of Thrace. The the ancient Greeks considered Thrace a wild and barbarous place full of warring tribes. Surprisingly though, Orpheus was not warlike. He was a talented musician and a keeper of strange sacred knowledge. The best-known myth about Orpheus involves his wife Eurydice and his descent to the underworld to rescue her. This episode also explores the Orphic Argonautica, which tells the story of the Golden Fleece from Orpheus’ perspective. 

In the last four episodes, I covered the story of Jason and the Argonauts. In the poem the Argonautika, which was the basis of my retelling, the success of their adventure mostly revolved around the actions of the young woman Medea. This episode continues on from last time and tells what happened to Medea after she returned with Jason to Greece. I also go into more detail on the figure of Medea herself. She had a very well-developed body of mythic material going back to the earliest days of ancient Greece.