Autocrat- A Roman History Podcast

Bonus X- Pyramus and Thisbe (Valentine's Day Special) Feb 14, 2025

It's Valentine's Day! Let's look at some of the romantic stories in Greek mythology and... oh. Well, at least Ovid gave up a prototype version of Romeo and Juliet to work with. That's right, it's the story of Pyramus and Thisbe!

Sources for this episode:

TBA

63- Iliad Part V: Hector Loses It Feb 09, 2025

We continue to watch the gods meddle in human affairs as Zeus sends confusing omens and turns Hector into a boulder throwing maniac. Oh, and yet more people getting injured in ways that make the hosts shudder.

Sources for this episode:

Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antiphus (online) (Accessed 19/01/2025).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Eris (mythology) (online) (Accessed 19/01/2025).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ilus (online) (Accessed 19/01/2025).

62- Iliad Part IV: Fast and Furious with Chariots Feb 02, 2025

Expect random acts of violence, petty squabbles and a chariot race with a twist as we journey through Books IX and X of the Iliad. Oh, and we give Odysseus more of a verbal beating that he doesn't deserve...

Sources for this episode:

Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ilus (online) (Accessed 19/01/2025).

Inspiration for the drawing from the following

https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/how-to-draw-a-horse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Triumph_of_Achilles_in_Corfu_Achilleion.jpg

61- Iliad Part III: Hector and Andromache, Sitting in a Tree Jan 26, 2025

Covering Books VI through VIII of the Iliad today, we learn that it's dangerous to be a charioteer to Hector, as you might end up with a spear in a very tender area... We also see a pause from war as Hector has a quiet moment with his wife and son, and Odysseus gets his ego shattered.

Sources for this episode:

Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Cubit (online) (Accessed 09/12/2024 and 18/01/2025).

Inspiration for the drawing from the following:

By Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein - Own work, James Steakley, 2001-08-06, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16878331

60- Iliad Part II: Diomedes is the Main Character (feat. the Jingle-Jangler) Jan 19, 2025

As the tenth year of the Trojan War continues, Diomedes starts cutting through the Trojans like a knife through butter. Aside from a possible cameo from a primary source author himself, Diomedes is about to show the world how cool he is- including taking on the God of War himself...

Also, get ready for a cameo from the heiress presumptive who has been recording our jingles!

Sources for this episode:

Homer (1965), The Iliad. Translated by E. V. Rieu. Harmondsworth; Penguin Books Ltd.

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Dares Phrygius (online) (Accessed 09/12/2024).

Inspiration for the drawing from the following:

By Copy of Nausykles or Kresilas (?) - Jastrow (2007), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2091049

59- Iliad Part I: Achilles' Hissy Fit Jan 12, 2025

We've finally started one of the famous works of the ancient world! In this instalment, Achilles and Agamemnon have a falling out because of a slave girl, Aphrodite proves herself the worst and the war is nearly settled right there and then after a siege of nine years...

Sources for this episode:

Homer (2021), The Iliad & The Odyssey. Translated by S. Butler. Oviedo: Entreacacias, S. L.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated with an introduction by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pentalogy (online) (Accessed 18/08/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Tetralogy (online) (Accessed 18/08/2024).

Update- January 2025 Jan 05, 2025

The Autocrat team is on a bit of a break before we get into the Iliad in episode 59 next week. However, we didn't want to leave you starved of content! This week includes a bit of an update on scheduling, plus some fun moments from the podcast's history- including some never seen before...

Let us know if you want to see more bloopers, and we might include some on a Patreon someday!

Bonus IX- Welcome to 2025! (New Years' Special) Dec 31, 2024

A quick update welcoming you to 2025- or the 2778th year of Rome- and a primer on what you can expect for the year ahead. For any ancient Romans listening, feel free to ignore this until your New Year in March.

Sources for this episode:

Blakemore, E., National Geographic (2023), The new year once started in March- here's why (online) (Accessed 31/12/2024).
The Editors, Encylopedia Britannica (2024), Chinese New Year (online) (Accessed 31/12/2024).
Author unknown, Uchicago (date unknown), Roman Calendar (online) (Accessed 31/12/2024).

58- Bring Your Daughter to Sacrifice Day Dec 29, 2024

Agamemnon is a family man. It's just a shame that family is also the answer to who needs to be put up on an altar. As the Greeks are loitering at Aulis before setting off for Troy, we watch the goddess Artemis announce that Iphigenia needs to sacrificed in order to placate her anger...

Sources for this episode:

Antoninus Liberalis (1992), The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis. Translated by F. Celoria. London and New York: Routledge.
Euripides (1910), The Plays of Euripides in English in 2 Volumes (Volume 1). Translated by Shelley Dean Milman, Potter and Woodhull. London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Hyginus (1872), Fabulae. Edited by M. Schmidt. Jenae: Hermann Dufft.
Lucretius (1921), On the Nature of Things. Translated by W. E. Leonard. London, Toronto and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Myrmidons (online) (Accessed 07/12/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Snake Island (Ukraine) (online) (Accessed 07/12/2024).

Bonus VIII- Yearly Histories (feat. Augustus History) (Christmas Special) Dec 25, 2024

Christmas and the Anno Domini system of counting years are very intertwined. So, what better way to celebrate than to talk to someone going through every year of the AD calendar one at a time? We sat down with Dan from Augustus History, the creator of Yearly Histories, to talk about the challenges and the joys of such an endeavour.

57- Choosing Miss Olympus Dec 22, 2024

Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. These are the three goddesses now fighting over an apple. And, strange as it sounds, it's this dispute that will lead to three naked goddesses standing in front of an unsuspecting mortal called Paris...

Sources for this episode:

Brooks, F. (1896), Greek Lyric Poets. London: David Nutt.
Euripides (1967), The Bacchae and Other Plays. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Hyginus (1872), Fabulae. Edited by M. Schmidt. Jenae: Hermann Dufft.
Koniaris, G. L. (1967), On Sappho, Fr. 16 (L. P.) Hermes 95(3): 257-268.
Raynor, D. J. and Lardinois, A. (2014), Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.

56- I'm Just a Goddess, Standing in Front of a Boy Dec 15, 2024

Content warning: Peleus is a terrible person, so expect a mild reference to some implied nastiness.

Peleus is one of those people who gets things he doesn't deserve. Despite all that terrible behaviour we outlined in episode 55, he gets to marry a goddess! However, it's at the wedding that the seeds of something dreadful will be sown...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Hyginus (1872), Fabulae. Edited by M. Schmidt. Jenae: Hermann Dufft.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Judgement of Paris (online) (Accessed 01/12/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Thetis (online) (Accessed 01/12/2024).

55- Odysseus and Friends Dec 08, 2024

In the quiet before the storm of the Trojan War and its immediate causes, we introduce two major characters today. The first is Odysseus, great-grandson of Hermes and creator of oaths that blow up in his face. The second is Achilles- descendant of Zeus and an ancient Greek example of play dress-up to run away from your problems.

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Hyginus (1872), Fabulae. Edited by M. Schmidt. Jenae: Hermann Dufft.
Statius (1928), Statius. Volume II: Thebiad V- XII and Achilleid. London and New York: William Heinemann, Ltd. and G. P. Putnam's Sons.

54- The House of Tantalus (See Also Child Cannibalism) Dec 01, 2024

Content warning: the title should tell you everything you need to know here. The descendants of Tantalus are violent, and they don't mess about.

Tantalus is usually known for being the originator of the word tantalising. But how bad can his story really be? In this episode, Vince tells a progressively more horrified Cassie about the messed-up lives of his descendants- including Agamemnon and Menelaus...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. In Twelve Volumes. Volume III: Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Tzetzes, J. (last edited 2018), Chiliades or Book of Histories. Translated by A. Untila, G. Berkowitz, K. Ramiotis and V. Dogani.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Tantalus (son of Thyestes) (online) (Accessed 19/11/2024).

53- Helen: The Origins Nov 24, 2024

Meet the most beautiful woman in the world- who may have hatched from an egg. She's got suitors lining up to marry her which poses a problem for her stepfather Tyndareus. Maybe Odysseus will have a short term solution that will only cause problems later?

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Pausanias (1886), Pausanias Description of Greece. In Six Volumes. Volume II: Books VII to X. Translated by A. R. Shilleto. London: George Bell and Sons.
Plutarch (1938), Plutarch's Lives. Dryden's Edition, Revised, with an Introduction, by Arthur Hugh Clough. In Three Volumes (Volume I). Everyman's Library 407. London and New York: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc.
Procopius (2016), The Secret History. Translated by G. A. Williamson. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Leda and the Swan (online) (Accessed 17/11/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Penelope (online) (Accessed 17/11/2024).

52- Aeneas: The Origins Nov 17, 2024

Prince Aeneas of Troy has a bit of an unusual parentage- he's the son of minor prince Anchises by Human Woman. Who is definitely human. And not Aphrodite.

Sources for this episode:

Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Tithonus (online) (Accessed 16/11/2024).

51- Paris: The Origins Nov 10, 2024

The secondborn son of Priam and Hecabe was already making a big splash before he was born- and well before he swooped on a woman called Helen. There's not many of us who get a prophecy about our destructive legacy- or who get confused with a major European city...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Ovid (1914), Heroides and Amores. Translated by G. Showerman. London and New York: William Heinemann and The Macmillan Co.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Wilkinson, P., Carroll, G., Faulkner, M., Field, J. F., Haywood, J., Kerrigan, M., Philip, N., Pumphrey, N. and Tocino-Smith, J. (2018), The Mythology Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Author unknown, Merriam Webster (date unknown), What is a 'Firebrand?' (online) (Accessed 10/11/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Heroides (online) (Accessed 10/11/2024).

50- Cassandra: The Origins Nov 03, 2024

It's the start of Chapter II, so we're off to the Trojan War! Except... Not just yet. We need some background first. You might have heard of our subject today- she shares a name with one of the co-hosts...

Sources for this episode:

Euripides (1981), Medea and Other Plays. Translated by P. Vellacott. London: The Penguin Classics.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Callimachus and Lycophron (1961). Translated by A. W. Meir. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Norwich, J. J. (2003), Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. London: The Folio Society.

Any sources and future debate about Aesacus to be put here.

Bonus VII- Six Spooky Stories (Halloween Special) Oct 31, 2024

All Hallows' Eve is upon us... and that means spooky stories! Join us for two longer-form Greco-Roman stories and four tales from around the world. Plus, the Autocrat palace may or may not be haunted. So there's that.

Sources for this episode (to be updated tomorrow):

Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
Pliny (1969), The Letters of the Younger Pliny. Translated by B. Radice. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Steel, R. W. , Gardiner, R. K. A. , McMaster, D. N. , Dickson, K. B. , Nicol, D. S. H. W. , Clarke, J. I. , Kröner, A. , Middleton, J. F. M. , Mabogunje, A. L. and Smedley, A., Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Africa (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Tacitus (1983), The Annals of Imperial Rome. Translated by M. Grant. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Africa (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Claudius (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Curtius Rufus (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Hadrumetum (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) List of consuls (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Lucius Vitellius (consul 34) (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Quintus Curtius Rufus (online) (Accessed 28/10/2024).

Bonus VI- In Other News: Chinese Myths (feat. The History of China) Oct 27, 2024

Back in episode 15, we discussed the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha in their experience of the great flood sent by Zeus to destroy humanity. However, there are other flood myths we didn't get to cover because of our focus. So, we welcomed Chris Stewart from the History of China to go through Chinese creation stories, flood myths, scientific controversy, and more!

Sources for this episode:

Allan, S. (2017), The Jishi outburst flood of 1920 BCE and the great flood legend in ancient China: preliminary reflections. Journal of Chinese humanities 3.1: 23-34.
Bergman, J. (2003), Do Creation and Flood Myths Found World Wide Have a Common Origin? The Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism 5: 517-528.
Wilkinson, P., Carroll, G., Faulkner, M., Field, J. F., Haywood, J., Kerrigan, M., Philip, N., Pumphrey, N. and Tocino-Smith, J. (2018), The Mythology Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Wu, Q., Zhao, Z., Liu, L., Granger, D. E., Wang, H., Cohen, D. J., Wu, X., Ye, M., Bar-Josef, O., Lu, B., Zhang, J., Zhang, P., Yuan, D., Qi, W., Cai, L. and Bai, S. (2016), Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty. Science 353(6299), 579-582.
Author unknown (2010), Holy Bible: International Children's Bible (New Century Version). Milton Keynes: Authentic Media Limited.

49- Summary of Chapter I: Mythology Oct 20, 2024

After 48 episodes, it's time to move on to the Trojan War. Before we do, let's look back at everything we've covered, watch the co-hosts quiz each other and answer your questions and comments! All while we struggle to pronounce words and feel pain over the fall of Constantinople. Plus, a voice from somewhere beyond the microphone...

Some sources for this episode:

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), History of Portugal (online) (Accessed 17/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Siege of Perinthus (online) (Accessed 17/10/2024).

48- Heracles/Hercules Part XV: Death of a Demigod Oct 13, 2024

It is time to say an emotional goodbye to Heracles- but not before he sacks Troy before it becomes cool, does some light target practice on a centaur and builds himself a funeral pyre.

Sources for this episode:

Berg, J. M., Tymoczko, J. L. and Stryer, L. (2007), Biochemistry (6th edition). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
Homer (2021), The Iliad & The Odyssey. Translated by S. Butler. Ovieda, Spain: King Solomon.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Plutarch (1973), The Age of Alexander. Translated by I. Scott-Kilvert. Harmonsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Robertson, J. (1788), The Parian Chronicle, or the Chronicle of the Arundelian Marbles; with a Dissertation Concerning its Authenticity. London: J. Walter, Charing Cross.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Agesilaus II (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Argead dynasty (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aristomachus (mythology) (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Caranus of Macedon (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Cleodaeus (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Coenus of Macedon (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Eurysthenes (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Heracleidae (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Iole (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Leonidas I (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Neoptolemus (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Temenus (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Tyrimmas of Macedon (online) (Accessed 06/10/2024).

Sources for drawing research:

Afidah, A., Agustina, M. F. and Trisnawati, R. K. (2022), Colorful God and Goddess as the representation of modern Greek mythology in Lore Olympus. DIKSI 30(2): 160-169.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Apollo (online) (Accessed 14/10/2024).

Update- October 2024 (feat. After Alexander) Oct 06, 2024

Just to let you know that there won't be a new episode this week due to one of the co-hosts not feeling great. However, stick with us! In this filler episode, we discuss the direction the podcast is going to take over the next few weeks and go through a bit of housekeeping. Not only that, but if you are lacking your history podcasting fix this week, there's an exclusive clip of episode 69 of After Alexander- before it's even out on that podcast's feed...

47- Trouble in (Questionable) Paradise Sep 29, 2024

Another instance of a cursed family tree- this time in two stories. The first is one of a man who just wants to find a nice statue and settle down. In the second, a series of cursed events lead to someone Aphrodite can fall in love with! A handy precedent to set as we wind our way towards the Trojan War...

Sources for this episode;

Bernstein, N. W. (2023), The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Galatea (mythology) (online) (Accessed 13/08/2024).

46- Heracles/Hercules Part XIV: Go Fetch (Cerberus)! Sep 22, 2024

Quick correction- we call Orthus the father of Cerberus in the episode, but it's actually Typhon! Just swap 'father' for 'brother' and everything still works.

The final and most dangerous task is here, and we've got to go down into the underworld... We've got the whole package: Heracles solving fighting-based problems; Harry Potter connections from Cassie, and Vince going down a rabbit hole about mythological chronologies!

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

45- The Basilisk Sep 15, 2024

Back in episode 33, we examined what the ancient authors had to say about the phoenix. Well, this time the basilisk is under scrutiny! Also, find out which snake we think it probably sprung from! That and Part II of Harry Potter references...

Sources for this episode:

Alexander, R. McN. (1963), The Evolution of the Basilisk. Greece & Rome 10(2): 170-181.
Rackham, H. (1967), Pliny Natural History with an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume III: Libri VIII-XI. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.

44- Heracles/Hercules Part XIII: The Golden Apples Sep 08, 2024

Originally meant as a wedding gift for either Zeus or Hera, the Golden Apples lie in a garden far in some direction- either north or west, the sources disagree. Look forward to a cameo from a sly Atlas! He may have already become a mountain due to Perseus' shenanigans in episode 17 if you believe Ovid but hey, who's really keeping score... Plus sky giraffes. We can't forget about those.

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

43- Atalanta Sep 01, 2024

A heroine in Greek mythology! Her story involves the stories of many other heroes, including Peleus, the fallout from Oedipus and Jason and the Argo. We also see that if you want to get ahead in life, all you need is some divine golden fruit and you'd be... well... golden.

Sources for this episode:

Aelianus, C. (1665), Various History. Translated by T. Stanley. London: Printed for Thomas Dring.
Bernstein, N. W. (2023), The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Florio, P. I. (1983), Birth of a Lion x Leopard Hybrid in Italy. International Zoo News 30/2(178): 4-6.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Tzetzes, J. (last edited 2018), Chiliades or Book of Histories. Translated by A. Untila, G. Berkowitz, K. Ramiotis and V. Dogani.

42- Heracles/Hercules Part XII: Geryon's Cattle Aug 25, 2024

If there's one thing Heracles is good at... It's gratuitously killing things. Oh good, here's another chance to do that while fetching some cows from the remnants of Atlantis! That and horrify Cassie by committing crimes against doggos...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Author unknown, UNRV Roman History (date unknown), The Aventine Hill (online) (Accessed 07/05/2024).

41- Medea's Revenge Aug 18, 2024

You either die a hero... or you're Jason. Let's watch the wheels come off the wagon off Jason's cart as he angers a powerful sorceress by marrying princess Glauce behind her back. Expect violence, murder and a wild life the hosts were very excited to tell each other about!

Content warning: It's Medea, so we're going to get a lot of violence.

Sources for this episode:

Aelianus, C. (1665), Various History. Translated by T. Stanley. London: Printed for Thomas Dring.
Baldauf, S. L. and Palmer, J. D. (1993), Animals and fungi are each other's closest relatives: congruent evidence from multiple proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 90(24): 11558-11562.
Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited.
de Carli, G. J. and Pereira, T. C. (2017), On human parthenogenesis. Medical Hypotheses 106: 57-60.
Euripides (1981), Medea and Other Plays. Translated by P. Vellacott. London: The Penguin Classics.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Watts, P. C., Buley, K. R., Sanderson, S., Boardman, W., Ciofi, C. and Gibson, R. (2006), Parthenogensis in Komodo dragons. Nature 444: 1021-1022.

Sidenote: The Medea Complex is characterised as a wish of a mother to kill one's children, while the Argo became the constellation Argo Navis. Sources for these tangents:

Stern, E. S. (1948), The Medea Complex: The Mother's Homicidal Wishes to her Child. Journal of Mental Science 94(395): 321-331.
Tyminski, R. (2014), The Medea Complex- Myth and Modern Manifestation. Jung Journal 8(1): 28-40.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Argo Navis (online) (Accessed 18/08/2024).

40- Heracles/Hercules Part XI: Hippolyta's Belt Aug 11, 2024

The Amazons feature for the first time in a major way, as Heracles is tasked with fetching a belt from their queen! All in order to please the first recorded instance of both a spoiled princess and a daddy's girl... Content warning: An apparent Amazon practice of mutilation gets mentioned very briefly. Sources for this episode: • Beverly, B. I. (1947), Spoiled Children. Postgraduate Medicine 2(2): 90-92. • Euripides (1930), Euripides in Four Volumes (Volume III). Translated by Way, A. S. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam's Sons. • Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann. • Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd. • Herodotus (1904), The Histories of Herodotus. Translated by Cary, H. New York: D. Appleton and Company. • Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

39- Argonauts, Assemble! Aug 04, 2024

A rightful heir who's been defrauded of his inheritance, a king with a fetch-quest and a talking boat. Just the right ingredients to summon together an Avengers-style all-star cast of Greek heroes. All while our hero barely seems relevant in his own story...

Content warning: It's a story containing Medea, so it gets a bit brutal at times.

Sources for this episode:

Apollonius Rhodius (1889), The Argonautica. Translated by E. P. Coleridge. London: George Bell and Sons.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aeolus (son of Hellen) (online) (Accessed 04/08/2024).

38- Heracles/Hercules Part X: The Horses of Diomedes Jul 28, 2024

Carnivorous horses! Speculation about Alexander the Great! A cameo from the jar! This episode has it all. Expect Heracles to have to clean up someone else's mess, as well as deal with a bunch of his groupies and an unexpected funeral...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

37- Narcissus Jul 21, 2024

You might think you've seen a few vain people in your life, but this one gets an entire psychological trait named after him. He's quite the heart-breaker, but is he prepared to have his own heart broken?

Sources for this episode:

Chadburn, H. (2014), Narcissus poeticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T193504A2239955.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Sheldon, F. A. S. (1816), History of the heathen gods, and heroes of antiquity, to which is added an original translation of the battle of the gods and giants. The whole newly arranged, corrected and enlarged, with the addition of several original and valuable articles. Boston: Isaiah Thomas.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Tzetzes, J. (last edited 2018), Chiliades or Book of Histories. Translated by A. Untila, G. Berkowitz, K. Ramiotis and V. Dogani.
Author unknown, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (online) (Accessed 26/06/2024).
Author unknown, Kew (date unknown), Daffodils (online) (Accessed 26/06/2024).
Author unknown, Theoi (date unknown), NARCISSUS (Narkissos) (online) (Accessed 26/06/2024).

36- Heracles/Hercules Part IX: The Cretan Bull Jul 14, 2024

We've come back for one last look at the Theseus saga, as in this week's task we sort of deal with the consequences of Minos II annoying Poseidon that time! Not that we're sure how this fits with the timeline of Minos dying on Sicily but hey- at least there's a big bull for Heracles to deal with.

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

35- Prequel to New Rome Jul 07, 2024

Constantine the Great founded New Rome, or Constantinople, in the 4th century. However, there was already a city there centuries earlier. For the mythical roots of Byzantium, we have to go back to yet another man with dubious parentage- this time called Byzas...

Sources for this episode:

Angelov, D. (2019), The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bernstein, N. W. (2023), The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Doležal, S. (2020), The Reign of Constantine, 306-337: Continuity and Change in the Late Roman Empire. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Genesios (1998), On the Reigns of the Emperors. Translated by A. Kaldellis. Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies.
Kazhdan, A. P. (ed.) (1991), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Volume 1-2-3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mango, C. (1990), Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople Short History. Washington D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
Michael the Syrian (2013), The Chronicle of Michael the Great, Patriarch of the Syrians. Translated by R. Bedrosian. Long Branch, New Jersey.
Oldfather, C. H. (1963), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume II: Books II (continued) 35- IV, 58. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
Smith; W. (ed.) (1867), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. In Three Volumes (Vol. 1-3.). Boston: Little, Brown, And Company.
Venning, T. (ed.) (2006), A Chronology of the Byzantine Empire. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Whitby, M. and Whitby, M. (2007), Chronicon Paschale, 284-628 AD. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Wiseman, T. P. (1983), The Wife and Children of Romulus. Classical Quarterly 33(ii): 445-452.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Byzas (online) (Accessed 25/06/2024).

34- Heracles/Hercules Part VIII: The Stymphalian Birds Jun 30, 2024

The shareholders have agreed that the Heracles Cleaning Company is branching out today, because we're going to deal with a pest species running riot in Stymphalus! How many birds? A million, you say? Well, maybe or maybe not...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Prip, C. (2018), The Convention on Biological Diversity as a legal framework for safeguarding ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services 29: 199-204.
Author unknown, International Union for Conservation of Nature Brief (2021), Invasive Alien Species and Climate Change. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

33- The Phoenix Jun 23, 2024

Steering away from the standard format of stories for a bit, this episode we will be talking all about the phoenix! Is it what you were expecting? Is it like in Harry Potter? Eh... Not quite.

Sources for this episode:

Bernstein, N. W. (2023), The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
BirdLife International (2018), Chrysololophus pictus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22679355A131874282.
Cooke, F., Dingle, H., Hutchison, S., McKay, G., Schodde, R., Tait, N. and Vogt, R. (2008), The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide. Sydney: Weldon Owen Pty Ltd.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Herodotus (1904), The Histories of Herodotus. Translated by Cary, H. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
Rackham, H. (1967), Pliny Natural History with an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume III: Libri VIII-XI. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Robine, J.-M., Allard, M., Herrmann, F. R. and Jeune, B. (2019), The Real Facts Supporting Jeanne Calment as the Oldest Ever Human. Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 74(S1): S13-S20.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Phoenix (mythology) (online) (Accessed 29/05/2024).

32- Heracles/Hercules Part VII: The Augean Stables Jun 16, 2024

This next task has hired the Heracles Cleaning Company, because it's time to muck out some stables! Not just any stables, though- the famously impossible stables of King Augeas... Plus, we get to hear the hosts speculating about rice paper for a sizeable fraction of run time! What's not to love?

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

Bonus V- The Worst Byzantine Emperors (feat. Eastern Roman History) Jun 12, 2024

In today's episode, we are delighted to be joined by Daniel from the YouTube channel Eastern Roman History! This is a collaboration where we discuss the best and the west that the Byzantine portion of Roman history has to offer us. We discussed our candidates for the greatest Byzantine emperors over on his channel- now let's turn to the worst rulers who have ever sat atop the imperial throne.

Sources used in our discussion during this collaboration:

Davis, L. D. (1990), The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787), Their History and Theology. Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc.
Dennis, G. T. (1984), Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Gibbon, E. (1905), The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Volume IV. London: Methuen's Standard Library.
Hughes
Linn, J. (2012), The Roman Grain Supply, 442-455. Journal of Late Antiquity 5(2): 298-321.
Norwich, J. J. (2013), A Short History of Byzantium. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
Panou, Eirini (2023), Ensuring Childbirth in Byzantium: Deviant and non-deviant practices. Byzantina Symmeikta: 165-181.
Turtledove, H. (1982), The Chronicle of Theophanes: An English translation of anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602 813), with introduction and notes. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Venning, T. (ed.) (2006), A Chronology of the Byzantine Empire. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Andronikos I (online) (Accessed 06/04/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Basiliscus (online) (Accessed 06/04/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Zoe Porphyrogennita (online) (Accessed 06/04/2024).

31- Psyche Jun 09, 2024

Sometimes we get tales of star-crossed lovers and, well... sometimes we get whatever this is. Let's explore the bizarre story of Psyche, a tale which feels as though every character needs to be sat down in a psychiatric chair and work through some issues.

Just an advance warning- there are some references to suicide in the story itself (although this is kept to an absolute minimum in our retelling).

Sources for this episode:

Apuleius (2004), The Golden Ass. Translated by E. J. Kenney. London: The Penguin Group.
Cooper, R. L. (date unknown), "Walking About in the Heart of the Forbidden Zone": Surrealist Practices and Affective Space.
Di Leo, J. R. (2015), Higher Pleasure: In Defense of Academic Hedonism. The Comparatist 39: 196-207.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Hedone (online) (Accessed 29/05/2024).

30- Heracles/Hercules Part VI: The Erymanthian Boar Jun 02, 2024

Another fetching job! Heracles might be the equivalent of an Ancient Greek delivery man, but this time he's being sent to fetch a boar...

Sources for this episode:

Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

29- Arachne May 26, 2024

Arachnaphobes, look away- this is where all your problems originate! Today's story is basically How the Spider Came to Be. And yes, we know that about 6% of the population has a fear of spiders; let's hope Arachne's presence this episode doesn't alienate that many people...

Sources for this episode:

Agnarsson, I. (2023), Grand challenges in research on arachnid diversity, conservation, and biogeography. Fontiers in Arachnid Science 2: 1101141.
Cohen, K. M., Finney, S. C., Gibbard, P. L. and Fan, J.-X. (2013, updated), The ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart. Episodes 36: 199-204.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Arachne (online) (Accessed 08/05/2024).
Olshan, Y. (2011), Arachne: The Origin. Thesis submitted to the University of Michigan.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Selden, P. A., Corronca, J. A. and Hünicken, M. A. (2005), The true identity of the supposed giant fossil spider Megarachne. Biology Letters 1: 44-48.
Young, E., The British Psychological Society (2021), Fear of Spiders May Have Its Evolutionary Roots in Aversion to Scorpions (online) (Accessed 12/05/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Megarachne (online) (Accessed 08/05/2024).

Bonus IV- Studying Roman History (feat. Elliot) May 22, 2024

A little break for another bonus episode today. This time, we sit around the podcast campfire with a student of Roman history and delve into the topic of the fall of the Roman Republic- as well as touching on his next realm of study in the form of the fall of the Western Roman Empire...

Sources used for our discussion this episode:

Caesar (1953), The Conquest of Gaul. Translated by S. A. Hanford. London: Penguin Books.
Cassius Dio (1961), Dio's Roman History in Nine Volumes. Volume II. Translated by E. Cary. London, United Kingdom and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
Duncan, M. (2017), The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic. New York City: Hachette Book Group.
Goldsworthy, A. (2023), The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict. London: Head of Zeus Ltd.
Hayne, L. (1991). The Importance of the Gracchi. Ancient History Resources for Teachers, 21(2): 86-89.
Henderson, M. M. (1968), Tiberius Gracchus and the Failure of the Roman Republic. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 31: 51-64.
Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Guide: History of France. London: Rough Guides Ltd.
Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.

28- Heracles/Hercules Part V: The Ceryneian Deer May 19, 2024

Task number three! The fact that we jokingly labelled it 'deer fetch-quest' in one of our thumbnails basically tells you everything you need to know. This week, we've got a deer that runs way too fast. That, and a man who has so far been way too used to hitting problems with a club having to take on a running challenge.

Sources for this episode:

Bejan, A., Gunes, U., Charles, J. D. and Sahin, B. (2018), The fastest animals and vehicles are neither the biggest nor the fastest over lifetime. Scientific Reports 8: 12925.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Hirt, M. H., Jetz, W., Rall, B. and Brose, U. (2017), A general scaling law reveals why the largest animals are not the fastest. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1: 1116-1122.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Weil, S., African Wildlife Foundation (2013), Cheetahs: The World's Fastest Land Animal (online) (Accessed 06/05/2024).
Wilson, A. M., Lowe, J. C., Roskilly, K., Hudson, P. E., Golabek, K. A. and McNutt, J. W. (2013), Locomotion dynamics of hunting in wild cheetahs. Nature 498: 185-189.
Author unknown, Metric Conversions (date unknown), Meters per second to Kilometers per hour (online) (Accessed 06/05/2024).

27- Cadmus and Harmonia May 12, 2024

There's a strong reptilian theme on Autocrat today! It's the episode all about Cadmus- who we last dealt with properly during Typhon's days in episode 3. Get ready to discuss adultery among the gods, yet another instance of basing city locations on bovine migration, and a very high number of snakes and dragons...

Sources for this episode:

du Toit, B. M. (1960), Some Aspects of the Soul-Concept among the Bantu-Speaking Nguni-Tribes of South Africa. Anthropological Quarterly 33(3): 134-142.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Hyginus (date unknown), Fabulae. Translated by Grant, M. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies 34. Accessed via Topos Text (online) (Accessed 08/05/2024).
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Theban kings in Greek mythology (online) (Accessed 08/05/2024).

26- Heracles/Hercules Part IV: The Lernaean Hydra May 05, 2024

Not only is this episode yet another monster for Heracles to hit really hard with his club, it's an opportunity to sneak some maths into the podcast!

Sources for this episode:

Bianconi, E., Piovesan, A., Facchin, F., Beraudi, A., Casadei, R., Frabetti, F., Vitale, L., Pelleri, M. C., Tassani, S., Piva, F., Perez-Amodio, S., Strippoli, P. and Canaider, S. (2013), An estimation of the number of cells in the human body. Annals of Human Biology 40(6): 463-471.
Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited.Clennett, C., Locke, J. and Jackson, T. (editorial consultants) (2023), How Biology Works. LonondM Darling Kindersley Ltd.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2016), Iolaus (online) (Accessed 05/05/2024).
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jain, N., Kourampi, I., Umar, T. P., Almansoor, Z. R., Anand, A., Rehman, M. E. U., Jain, S. and Reinis, A. (2023), Global population surpasses eight billion: Are we ready for the next billion? AIMS Public Health 10(4): 849-866.
Jowett, B. (1892), The Dialogues of Plato, translated into English with Analyses and Introductions (Vol. I) (3rd edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Khoklov, A. N. (2014), On the Immortal Hydra. Again. Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin 69(4): 153-157.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Author unknown, European Space Agency (date unknown), How many stars are there in the Universe? (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024).
Author unknown, World Population Clock (date unknown), World Population Clock: 8.1 Billion People (LIVE, 2024) (online) (Accessed 05/05/2024).

Bonus III- Imperial Election Results! May 03, 2024

On April Fools' Day, we declared Autocrat to be the digital home of a new Roman Empire, with ourselves as co-emperors. We put up an election poll thinking it was a fun, light-hearted way to interact with the community and, well- here's the results!

25- Bellerophon Apr 28, 2024

All you need is a flying horse, a false accusation and a fear of accidental immodesty in women to get a pretty interesting story... That's the tale of Bellerophon and his sidekick Pegasus! But for all his questing and Perseus-style protagonist energy, pride comes before a fall...

Sources for this episode:

Babbitt, F. C. (editor) (1931), Plutarch's Mulierum virtutes. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann, Ltd. and Harvard University Press. Accessed via Perseus Digital Library (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024).
Cavendish, R. (editor) (1998), Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Twickenham: Tiger Books International PLC.
Choniates, N. (1984), O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates. Translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Cox, B. and Cohen, A. (2013), Wonders of Life. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
The Editors, Encylopedia Britannica (2024), Mount Olympus (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024).
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume II).
Plescia, J. B. (2004), Morphometric properties of Martian volcanoes. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: e03003.
Sheldon, F. A. S. (1816), History of the heathen gods, and heroes of antiquity, to which is added an original translation of the battle of the gods and giants. The whole newly arranged, corrected and enlarged, with the addition of several original and valuable articles. Boston: Isaiah Thomas.
Wheelwright, C. A. (1844), Pindar. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Worthen, T. D. (1995), The Pleiades and Hesperides: Finding Parity with an Astronomical Key. Vistas in Astronomy 39: 539-545.

Additional audio used for this episode: AkkordGliss harp music, public domain, used unchanged in first instance and reversed in the second. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AkkordGliss.ogg (Accessed 28/04/2024).

24- Heracles/Hercules Part III: The Nemean Lion Apr 21, 2024

Nemea has a lion waiting for Heracles. Expect stories of fighting in caves, thirty-day deadlines and a king cowering in a jar...

Sources for this episode:

Alden, M. (2005), Lions in Paradise. The Classical Quarterly 55(2):335-342.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Masetti, M. and Mazza, P. P. A. (2013), Western European Quaternary lions: new working hypotheses. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 109: 66-77.
Oldfather, C. H. (translator, 1953), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume II: Books II (continued), 35-IV, 58. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
Stuart, A. J. and Lister, A. M. (2011), Extinction chronology of the cave lion Panthera spelea. Quaternary Science Reviews: 2329-2340.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nemea (online) (Accessed 20/02/2024).

Bonus II- The Marble Emperor Apr 14, 2024

As of episode 23, we are still right at the start of our story. However, there's an interesting story from the end of the life of the Roman Empire to consider. This is the myth of the Marble Emperor, otherwise known as Constantine XI. As it turns out, this myth is more common than it first appears...

Sources for this episode:

Mijatovich, C. (1892), Constantine: the Last Emperor of the Greeks, or the Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (A. D. 1453). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company Ltd.
Philippides, M. (2019), Constantine XI Dragaš Paleologus (1404-1453): The Last Emperor of Byzantium. Oxon: Routledge.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (2022), The Return of the King, being the third part of The Lord of the Rings. London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Author unknown, Byzantine Chronicle (date unknown), Emperors & Saints (online) (Accessed 09/04/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), King asleep in mountain (online) (Accessed 09/04/2024 and 14/04/2024).

23- Heracles/Hercules Part II: To-Do List Apr 07, 2024

In this second part of the Heracles saga, let us introduce Heracles and his very special to-do list. What sounds like a very mundane list of chores might reveal to be more dangerous than you might think. Oh, and the gods are also going to throw a huge reward into the mix as well..

Thanks to Lost Roman Heroes for collaborating with us! Find their show at the following links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fl1eyQcV7OygaNooun66Q?si=bfb4cf303c09474b
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/lost-roman-heroes/id1702422822?l=en-GB

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostromanheroes?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Sources for this episode:

Cavendish, R. (editor) (1998), Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Twickenham: Tiger Books International PLC.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Markestad, T., Kaaresen, P. I., Rønnestad, A., Reigstad, H., Lossius, K., Medbø, S., Zanussi, G., Engelund, I. E., Skjaerven and Irgens, L. M. (2005), Early Death, Morbidity, and Need of Treatment Among Extremely Premature Infants. Pediatrics 115(5): 1289-1298.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Labours of Heracles (online) (Accessed 07/04/2024).

Extra sound effect: Modified tuning radio sound (https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/tuning-radio-7150/), free for use under Pixabay Content Licence (https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/).

Bonus I- Fourth Rome (April Fools' Day Special) Apr 01, 2024

A new era dawns today. We welcome a new emperor and a new empress of the Romans...

Vote on our elevation at the following links! Results will be declared on the 3rd of May after we consider the vote closed on the 1st.

Website: https://wordpress.com/page/autocratpodcast.wordpress.com/587
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5N4UZGq-Em/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu0Hnh-S2FwxluFRPvOo8xA/community
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6GCSTXQpilgG5NIgFcGRTm?si=ee52098276f84cd6

Sources for this episode:

Cronin, V. (c. 1971), Napoleon. London: William Collins.
Laats, A. (2009), The Concept of the Third Rome and its Political Implications. KVÜÕA toimetised 12: 98-113.
Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Guide History of France. London: Rough Guides Ltd.
Montefiore, S. S. (date unknown), The Romanovs 1613-1918. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson (eBook).
Porphyrogennetus, C. (date unknown), Constantine Porphyrogennetus: The Book of Ceremonies. Leiden: Brill.
Strémooukhoff, D. (1953), Moscow the Third Rome: Sources of the Doctrine. Speculum 28(1): 84-101.
Venning, T. (editor) (2006), A Chronology of the Byzantine Empire. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Wheatley, J. (2016), A Problem or a Solution? The Referendum as a Mechanism for Citizens' Participation in Constitution Making. Chapter in: Ruth, S. P., Welp, Y. and Whitehead, L. (editors), Let the People Rule? Direct Democracy in the Twenty-First Century. Colchester: ECPR Press.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Philotheus of Pskov (online) (Accessed 25/03/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), 1802 French constitutional referendum (online) (Accessed 25/03/2024).

22- Heracles/Hercules Part I: An Introduction Mar 31, 2024

Heracles is here! Or Hercules... or Alcides... He's got a lot of names. His early life will involve an ancient Greek case of superfecundation, a half-brother who needs a hug, and a lesson that all babies are different. Some may act as pest control for giant snakes!

Sources for this episode:

Blickstein, I. (2003), Superfecundation and superfetation: lessons from the past on early human development. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 14(4): 217-219.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (1904), Geoffrey of Monmouth's Histories of the Kings of Britain (translated by Evans, S.). London: J. M. Dent and Co.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Head, J. J., Bloch, J. I., Hastings, A. K., Bourque, J. R., Cadena, E. A., Herrera, F. A., Polly, P. D. and Jaramillo, C. A. (2009), Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equitorial temperatures. Nature Letters 457: 715-717.
Kustritz, M. V. R. (2006), Clinical management of pregnancy in cats. Theriogenology 66: 145-150.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Oldfather, C. H. (translator, 1953), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume II: Books II (continued), 35-IV, 58. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
Segal, N. L. and Nedelec, J. L. (2021), Heteropaternal twinning: Unique case of opposite-sex twins with different fathers. Forensic Science International 327: 110948.
van der Hart, O., Brown, P. and Graafland, M. (1998), Trauma-induced dissociative amnesia in World War I combat soldiers. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33(1): 37-46.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Cubit (online) (Accessed 30/03/2024).

21- Oedipus Mar 24, 2024

He thinks he has it all. A kingdom just falls into his lap with a ready-made queen. But the gods- and the playwright Sophocles- are just waiting to undo him...

Sources for this episode:

Boothe, B. (2017), Oedipus Complex. Chapter in: Ziegler-Hill, V. and Shackleford, T. K. (editors), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Sophocles (1938), Oedipus, King of Thebes (translated by Murray, G.). London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Stevenson, A. (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of English (3rd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Oedipus Rex (online) (Accessed 24/03/2024).

20- Magic Tricks Have Consequences! Mar 17, 2024

The world's first game show (involving a spiral shell), a Greek mythology spa treatment and ant-related hijinks all lie in store for us in the conclusion of our minotaur trilogy...

Sources for this episode:

Alvarez, L. W., Anderson, J. A., El Bedwei, F., Burkhard, J., Fakhry, A., Girgis, A., Goneid, A., Hassan, F., Iverson, D., Lynch, G., Miligy, Z., Moussa, A. H., Sharkawi, M. and Yazolino, L. (1970), Search for Hidden Chambers in the Pyramids. Science 167(3919): 832-839.
Cary, H. (1904), The Histories of Herodotus. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Jones, W. H. S. (1918), Pausanias Description of Greece. In Six Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Jowett, B. (1892), The Dialogues of Plato, translated into English with Analyses and Introductions (Vol II.) (3rd edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Norton, C. E. (1892), The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Volume I: Hell. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Peris, M. (1978), The Tunnel-Maker and the Labyrinth Builder. Chapter in: van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, J. E., Prematilleke, L. and Indrapala, K. (eds.), Senarat Paranavitana Commemoration Volume: 145-165.
Sambuelli, L., Comina, C., Catanzariti, G., Barsuglia, F., Morelli, G. and Porcelli, F. (2019), The third KV62 radar scan: Searching for hidden chambers adjacent to Tutankhamun's tomb. Journal of Cultural Heritage 39: 288-296.
Wheelwright, C. A. (1844), Pindar. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Daedalus (online) (Accessed 13/03/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Minos (online) (Accessed 13/03/2024).

19- Theseus Mar 10, 2024

Only one man can save Athens from the Minotaur. And he's a surprisingly terrible human being. Join us for a tale of how not to treat women, bad decisions and a euphemistic prophecy about a wineskin which sees Aegeus dying of grief- all because he had a kid before he got back to Athens. Talk about not obeying oracles...

Sources for this episode:

Clough, A. H. (date unknown), Plutarch’s Lives (Volume I). Everyman’s Library.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Osborne, M., Smithsonian Magazine (2023), The World’s Oldest Living Land Animal, a Tortoise named Johnathan, Turns 191 (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
Robertson, J. (1788), The Parian Chronicle, or the Chronicle of the Arundelian Marbles; with a Dissertation Concerning its Authenticity. London: J. Walter, Charing Cross.
Author unknown, Guinness World Records (2023), Oldest land animal (living) (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aegeus (online) (Accessed 05/03/2024).

18- Asterius the Minotaur Mar 03, 2024

Sometimes the foundation of a dynasty can lead to unexpected outcomes. Minos II of Crete- great-grandson of Zeus and Europa- is about to find out that a tryst between his wife Pasiphae and a bull is going to create a monster...

Sources for this episode:

The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Minoan civilisation (online) (Accessed 29/02/2024).
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Graham, J. W. (1957), The Central Court as the Minoan Bull Ring. American Journal of Archaeology 61(3): 255-262.
Jones, W. H. S. (1918), Pausanias Description of Greece. In Six Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Mylonas, G. E. (1940), Athens and Minoan Crete. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 51(Supplementary Volume I): 11-36.
Oldfather, C. H. (1993), Diodorus of Sicily: the Library of History. Books IV.59- VIII. London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Robertson, J. (1788), The Parian Chronicle, or the Chronicle of the Arundelian Marbles; with a Dissertation Concerning its Authenticity. London: J. Walter, Charing Cross.
Thompson, J. G. (1986): The Location of Minoan Bull-Sports: A Consideration of the Problem. Journal of Sport History 13(1): 5-13.
Wójcik, E. and Szostek, M. (2019), Assessment of genome stability in various breeds of cattle. PLOS ONE 14(6): e0217799.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Europa (consort of Zeus) (online) (Accessed 29/02/2024).

17- Perseus Feb 25, 2024

Being the lover of Zeus can be a difficult job. Just ask Semele or Io... However, it turns out being his son can be very, very easy. Join us for the story of Perseus- the man who, after a. bit of a rocky start, had everything pretty much handed to him on a silver plate.

Many thanks to Quest for Power for collaborating with us! You can find them at the following links:

Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2tcN4SLk27BAvqKkvBxqz1?si=c125768fecac4f42⁠
Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/quest-for-power/id1645972223⁠
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/questforpowerpod/⁠

Sources for this episode:

Berger, B. M. (1960), How Long Is a Generation? The British Journal of Sociology 11(1): 10-23.
Coleridge, A. P. (1889), "The Argonautica" of Apollonius Rhodius. Translated into English Prose from Text of R. Merkel. London: George Bell and Sons.
De Lamotte, D. F., Leturmy, P., Missenard, Y., Khomsi, S., Ruiz, G., Saddaqi, O., Guillocheau, F. and Michard, A. (2009), Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertical movements in the Atlas system (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia): An overview. Tectonophysics 475: 9-28.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
MacLeod, M. D. (1961), Lucian in Eight Volumes (Volume VII). London and Cambridge, Massachusetts: William Heinemann Ltd. and Harvard University Press.
Matsamura, S. and Forster, P. (2008), Generation time and effective popular size in Polar Eskimos. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275: 1501-1508.
Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Robertson, J. (1788), The Parian Chronicle, or the Chronicle of the Arundelian Marbles; with a Dissertation Concerning its Authenticity. London: J. Walter, Charing Cross.
Author unknown (2007), Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (6th edition). Volume 1: A-M. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author unknown (2007), Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (6th edition). Volume 2: N-Z. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

16- Lord of Troy Feb 18, 2024

Troy is finally going to be introduced into the mix! To get there, we need a few ingredients- a cow won by wrestling, a statuette falling from the heavens, and of course a descendant of Zeus whose name is pronounced shockingly inconsistently throughout.

Sources for this episode:

Church, A. J. (1900), The Story of the Iliad. London: MacMillan & Co, Ltd.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2019), Croesus (online) (Accessed 15/02/2024).
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Jones, H. L. (1950), The Geography of Strabo (Volume VI). London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Wheelwright, C. A. (1844), Pindar. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ilus (son of Tros) (online) (Accessed 13/02 and 18/02/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Palladium (classical antiquity) (online) (Accessed 13/02/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pallas (daughter of Triton) (online) (Accessed 13/02/2024).

I should mention I've been unable to find the video I reference with regard to Tithonus, but the point made about the myth in the episode would still hold.

15- The Greek Noah Feb 11, 2024

Zeus has just about had enough of humanity- perhaps set off by a human sacrifice incident- and decides it's time to wipe the slate clean. With water. Lots of it. But one son of Prometheus isn't going to be swept away that easily...

Sources for this episode:

Blennow, A. (date unknown), Exiled words and lost worlds- the tale of Sappho in Sicily. Språkens magi 31.
Bye, O., YouTube (2015), History of the World: Every Year (online) (Accessed 11/02/2024).
Cellauro, L. (2003), Iconographical aspects of the Renaissance villa and garden: Mount Parnassus, Pegasus and the Muses. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes 23(1): 42-56.
Cory, I. P. (1828), The Ancient Fragments; containing what remains of the writing of Sanchoniatho, Berossus, Abydenus, Megasthenes, and Manetho. Also the Hermetic Creed, the Old Chronicle, the Laterculus of Erastosthenes, the Tyrian Annals, the Oracles of Zoroaster, and the Periplus of Hanno. London: William Pickering.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2013), Mount Parnassus (online) (Accessed 18/01/2024).
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Mount Ararat (online) (Accessed 18/01/2024).
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Rosenberg, D. (1994), World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics (3rd edition). Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Publishing Group.
Walbank, F., Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Alexander the Great (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown (1888), The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the original tongues: and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty’s special command. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author unknown, The Met (date unknown), List of Rulers of Ancient Egypt and Nubia (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, National Geographic Society (updated 2023), Mount Everest (online) (Accessed 18/01/2024).
Author unknown, Theoi (date unknown), HESIONE PRONOEA (Pronoia)- Oceanid Nymph of Greek Mythology (online) (Accessed 18/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ahmose I (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Clymene (mythology) (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Cranaus (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Deucalion (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Hesione (Oceanid) (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), List of kings of Macedonia (online) (Accessed 15/01/2024).

14- Pandora's Box Feb 04, 2024

Hello! In today's episode we are exploring a quite well-known myth, but some facts may surprise you.....Enjoy!

Sources for this episode:

The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Pandora (online) (Accessed 29/01/2024).
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume II). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
Ranston, H. (1918), Ecclesiastes and Theognis. The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 34(2): 99-122.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Anesidora (online) (Accessed 29/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pandora (online) (Accessed 29/01/2024).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pandora's box (online) (Accessed 29/01/2024).

13- 100% Off Liver Jan 28, 2024

We’ve made it to the story of Prometheus! Expect trickery, fennel stalks filled with fire and a bird of uncertain taxonomy which seems to like liver a whole lot more than it should…

Sources for this episode:

Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Potter, R. (1886), The Plays of Æschylus. London: George Routledge and Son.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Author unknown (1888), The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the original tongues: and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty’s special command. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

12- A Mythological Custody Battle Jan 21, 2024

Persephone. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. And the deity behind an example of of either Stockholm syndrome or a custody battle (albeit between her husband and her mother) in Greek mythology...

Sources for this episode:

Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Mehdi, M., Moen, U. and Touqeer, F. (2022), Social Norms, Submission and Stockholm Syndrome Critical Analysis of Louise Gluck's Two Mythological Poems: A Myth of Innocence and a Myth of Devotion. Pakistan Journal of Society, Education and Language 8(2): 141-150.
Rindfleisch, A. (2015), Considering Rape in Ancient Rome and Greece. Submitted to UCLA.
Rouse, W. H. D. (1940), Nonnos Dionysiaca. London : William Heinemann Ltd.
Namnyak, M., Tufton, N., Szekely, R., Toal, M., Warboys, S. and Sampson, E. L. (2008), 'Stockholm syndrome': psychatric diagnosis or urban myth? Act Psychiatrica Scandinavia 117: 4-11.
Wheelwright, C. A. (1844), Pindar. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pirithous (online) (Accessed 24/12/2023).

11- Zeus Jr. Jan 14, 2024

Zeus may have dodged one usurpation, but there's another heir to the sky god's throne we need to discuss. This heir is the predecessor of a very unassuming god- Dionysus, the god of wine.

Our Dionysus, known as Lysios when he was born, can be called Dionysus II. Dionysus I, or Zagreus, has a much more violent story...

Sources for this episode:

Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. London, UK and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Rouse, W. H. D. (1940), Nonnos Dionysiaca. London : William Heinemann Ltd.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Dionysus (online) (Accessed 21/12/2023).

10- Roman Emperor: How Dangerous Can That Be? Dec 31, 2023

We've reached double digits! To celebrate, we're going to look ahead at the 159 people calling themselves Roman emperors. What was your fate likely to be?

Sources for this episode:

Bernard, J. (1693), Lives of the Roman Emperors from Suetonius to the Fall of the Empire. London: Flower de Luce.
Bury, J. B. (1889), A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.) (Vol. II). London: Macmillan and Co.
Bury, J. B. (1889), A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.) (Vol. II). London: Macmillan and Co.
Bury, J. B. (1913), A History of the Roman Empire From its Foundation to the Death of Marcus Aurelius (27 B.C.- 180 A.D.). London: John Murray.
Bury, J. B. (1958), History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian (Volume I). New York: Dover Publications Inc.
Bury, J. B. (1958), History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian (Volume II). New York: Dover Publications Inc.
Coughlan, S., BBC (2022), Queen’s cause of death given as ‘old age’ on death certificate (online) (Accessed 10/12/2023).
Cussans, T. (2017), Kings & Queens of the British Isles. Marlborough: Times Books Ltd.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Gallus (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
The Editors (2023), John VI Cantacuzenus (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
Finlay, G. (date unknown), History of the Byzantine Empire 717-1453. Quintessential Classics (eBook).
Forester, T. (1853), The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon. London: Henry G. Bohn.
Foss, C. (2005), Emperors named Constantine. Revue Numismatique 161: 93-102.
Gibbon, E. (2015), The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (All 6 Volumes). e-artnow (eBook).
Giles, J. A. (1914), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. London: G. Bell and Sons.
Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Guide: History of France. London: Rough Guides Ltd.
Machts, R., Hunold, A., Rock, M., Leu, C. and Haueisen, J. (2019), Simulation of Lightning Current Distributions in a realistic Human Head Model. 2019 International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks.
Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing.
Sarris, P. (2023), Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint. London: Basic Books Ltd.
Ševcenko, I. (2011), Theophanis Continuati Liber V Vita Basilii Imperatoris. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Snow, P. and Macmillan, A. (2022), Kings & Queens: The Real Lives of the English Monarchs. London: Welbeck.
Suetonius (2007), The Twelve Caesars. London: The Penguin Group.
Treadgold, W. (2001), A Concise History of Byzantium. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Turtledove, H. (1982), The Chronicle of Theophanes: An English translation of anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602 813), with introduction and notes. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Venning, T. (ed.), A Chronology of the Roman Empire. London: Continuum.
Venning, T. (ed.) (2006), A Chronology of the Byzantine Empire. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Author unknown, Kunst Historisches Museum Wien (2019-2020), Evil Emperors.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Clodius Albinus (online) (Accessed 09/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Henri, Count of Chambord (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Napoleon II (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Pescennius Niger (online) (Accessed 09/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Prince Philippe, Count of Paris (online) (Accessed 04/12/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Year of the Five Emperors (online) (Accessed 09/12/2023).

9- The Lost Continent Dec 24, 2023

In a holdover from when the gods divided the world, we're going to explore a story supposedly set in the 9600s BCE or earlier, with Poseidon's descendants ruling over the mythical island of Atlantis! A story made all the more intriguing by the fact that some people believe it to be true, despite Plato's imagining it for his Dialogues...

Slight correction- we mention Spence's work as published in 1827, but it's 1927- slip of the tongue! The 'missing' reference we allude to is Lord Arundell's 1885 work referenced below.

Also, vote on our poll! Either on our YouTube community tab or a Spotify poll open until January 24th, 2024.

Sources for this episode:

Lord Arundell of Wardour (1885), The Secret of Plato's Atlantis. London: Burns and Oates.
Babcock, W. H. (1919), The Island of the Seven Cities. Geographical Review 7(2): 98-106.
Babcock, W. H. (1920), Antillia and the Antilles. Geographical Review 9(2): 109-124.
Crone, G. R. (1938), The Origin of the Name Antillia. The Geographical Journal 91(3): 260-262.
Donnelly, I. (1882), Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. New York: Harper & Brothers.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2020), Hanno (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Atlantis (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), continental drift (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
Jowett, B. (1892), The Dialogues of Plato, translated into English with Analyses and Introductions (Vol III.) (3rd edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Merrill, E. D. (1936), Scuttling Atlantis and Mu. Spring 5(2): 142-148.
Sowada, K., Newman, R., Albarede, F., Davis, G., Derrick, M. R., Murphy, T. D. and Gore, D. B. (2023), Analyses of queen Hetepheres’ bracelets from her celebrated tomb in Giza reveals new information on silver, metallurgy and trade in Old Kingdom Egypt, c. 2600 BC. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 49: 103978.
Spence, L. (date unknown), The History of Atlantis. London: Rider & Co.
Vitalino, D. B. (1971), Atlantis: A Review Essay. Journal of the Folklore Institute 8(1): 66-76.
Wang, M., Hu, C., Barnes, B. B., Mitchum, G., Lapointe, B. and Montoya, J. P. (2019), The great Atlantic Sargassum belt. Science 365(6448): 83-87.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antillia (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Azilian (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lemuria (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Lewis Spence (online) (Accessed 17/11/2023).

8- Dodging a Bullet Dec 10, 2023

After our trio of astronomy-themed episodes, we return to the squabbles and troubles of the Olympians. This week, we will see a reprehensible act from Zeus, a cameo from the poet Sappho, and Gaia getting up to her old prophecy-spouting tricks...

Sources and extra information for this episode:

Adler, E. (2008), Late Victorian and Edwardian Views of Rome and the Nature of “Defensive Imperialism”. International Journal of the Classical Tradition 15(2): 187-216.
Casson, L. (1993), Ptolemy II and the Hunting of African Elephants. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014) 123: 247-260.
Coleridge, E. P. (1889), “The Argonautica” of Apollonius Rhodius. London: George Bell and Sons.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
Cyrino, M. S. (2012), Aphrodite. London: Routledge.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Friedman, A. P. (1972), The Headache in History, Literature and Legend. Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 48(4): 661-681.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Gowers, W. (1947), The African Elephant in Warfare. African Affairs 46(182): 42-49.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Haupt, P. (1922), Manna, Nectar and Ambrosia. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 61(3): 227-236.
Marcovich, M. (1996), From Ishtar to Aphrodite. The Journal of Aesthetic Education 30(2): 43-59.
Roberts, A. and Donaldson, J. (1872), Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Vol. XXIII: Origen Contra Celsum. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
Wharton, H. T. (1895), Sappho: Memoir, Text, Selected Readings and a Literal Translation. London: John Lane.

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Metis (online) (Accessed 13/11/2023).

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Porus (mythology) (online) (Accessed 13/11/2023).

Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Sappho (mythology) (online) (Accessed 13/11/2023).

7- Stories from the Universe Nov 14, 2023

In our final instalment of space-themed episodes, we wrap up with some other constellation stories! Orion, Draco, Callisto and the Pleiades take centre stage in the stories today. Along the way, we will have cameos from Gaia, prophecies, Artemis and our first reference to a Minos of Crete! Unfortunately, we'll also see Orion take a page out of Zeus' reprehensible book...

Sources for this episode:

Cohen, K.M., Finney, S.C., Gibbard, P.L. & Fan, J.-X. (2013; updated) The ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart. Episodes 36: 199-204.
D’Huy, J. (2016), The Evolution of Myths. Scientific America 315(6): 62-69.
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Fricke, D. G. (1970), Tennyson’s “The Hesperides”: East of Eden and Variations on the Theme. Tennyson Research Bulletin 1(4): 99-103.
Geballe, T. R. (1979), The Central Parsec of the Galaxy. Scientific American 241(1): 60-71.
Norris, R., Phys.org (2020), The world’s oldest story? Astronomers say global myths about ‘seven sisters’ may reach back 100,000 years (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Norris, R. P. and Norris, B. R. M. (pre-print, date unknown), Why are there Seven Sisters?
Overly Sarcastic Productions, YouTube (2023), Legends Summarized: The Epic of Gilgamesh (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Postgate, J. (2003), The ultimate survivors. Nature Medicine 9(6): 639.
Worthen, T. D. (1995), The Pleiades and Hesperides: Finding Parity with an Astronomical Key. Vistas in Astronomy 39: 539-545.
Author unknown (1888), The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues: And With the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised, By His Majesty's Special Command. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

6- Inventing the Horoscope Nov 05, 2023

The zodiac is the topic of today's episode! As we make our way through the myths of the twelve familiar star signs, we will have opportunity for plenty of tangents. Get ready for intrigue, retribution, Sumer and Akkad, and far more ideas for future episodes than anyone could have thought necessary. That and a new motto for Greek mythology- don't make Aphrodite jealous...

Sources for this episode:

The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Sumer (online) [Accessed c.03/11/2023].
Falkner, D. E. (2020), The Mythology of the Night Sky: Greek, Roman, and Other Celestial Lore (2nd edition). Blaine, Maine, USA: Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Gadd, C. J. (1921), The Early Dynasties of Sumer and Akkad. London: Luzac & Co.
Gurshtein, A. A. (1993), On the Origin of the Zodiacal Constellations. Vistas in Astronomy 36 : 171-190.
Huber, P. J. (1999/2000), Astronomical Dating of Ur III and Akkad. Archiv für Orientforschung 46/47: 50-79.
Reid, M. (2007), Mythical Star Signs. Lulu.com.
Schaefer, B. E. (2006), The Origin of the Greek Constellations. Scientific American 295(5): 96-101.
Speiser, E. A. (1952), Some Factors in the Collapse of Akkad. Journal of the American Oriental Society 72(3): 97-101.
Stevenson, A. (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of English (3rd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
van der Waerden, B. L. (1952-1953), History of the Zodiac. Archiv für Orientforschung 16: 216-230.
Author unknown (1920), The Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh, With an Account of the Royal Libraries of Nineveh. British Museum.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Annunitum (online) [Accessed 03/11/2023].

5- Divine Wanderers Oct 29, 2023

With some of the foundational myths behind us, let's go on a little tour of our Solar System and see just how Greco-Roman mythology inspired the names of our planets and moons! Along the way, we have time for plenty of tangents on planetary exploration, Planet X and Indo-Europeans!

Sources for this episode:

Bond, P. (2022), Solar Surveyors: Observing the Sun from Space. Chichester: Springer in association with Praxis Publishing.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
Dietz, R. S. and Holden, J. C. (1970), The Breakup of Pangaea. Scientific American 223(4): 30-41.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Ares (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Charon (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Cosimo II (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Selene (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Fry, S. (2017, 1st edition), Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (eBook). London: Penguin Books Ltd.
Gill, N. S., ThoughtCo (updated 2019), Table of Roman Equivalents of Greek Gods (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Hind, J. R. (1852), The Solar System: A Descriptive Treatise Upon the Sun, Moon and Planets, Including An Announce of all the Recent Discoveries. New York: Geo. P. Putnam.
Howe, A. R. (2022), Cloud Continents: Terraforming Venus Efficiently by Means of a Floating Artificial Surface.
Kavelaars, J. J. and Delsemme, A. H., Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Kuiper Belt (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Konow, S. (1925), Indo-European Religious Ideas in Ancient India. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 6(2): 59-66.
Landis, G. A. (2020), Settling Venus: A City in the Clouds? ASCEND 2020: Transformative Technologies for Space Exploration II.
Lemonick, M. D. (2016), The Search for Planet X. Scientific American 314(2): 30-37.
Main, W. H. (1824), The Tusculan Disuptations of Cicero. London: W. Pickering.
Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume I). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
Murray, A. T. (1954), Homer The Iliad, with an English Translation (Volume II). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.
Norris, R. P. and Norris, B. R. M. (pre-print, date unknown), Why are there Seven Sisters?
Oldfather, C. H., LascusCurtis (date unknown), Diodorus Siculus Book IV, 59-85 (end) (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Renfrew, C. (1989), The Origins of Indo-European Languages. Scientific American 261(4): 106-115.
Szocik, K., Wójtowicz, T. and Baran, L. (2017), War or peace? The possible scenarios of colonising Mars. Space Policy 42: 31-36.
Trzaskoma, S. M. and Scott Smith, R. (2007), Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Van Helden, A. (1994), Naming the Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. H.A.D. News 32.
Veverka, J. (1977), Phobos and Deimos. Scientific American 236(2): 30-37.
Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), Moons of Our Solar System (online, plus pages springing from it) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), The Planets (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Asteroid belt, Caelus, Janus, Pleiades, Pleione, Thalassa and 10 Hygiea (online) [Accessed 24/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Earth (online) [Accessed 29/10/2023].

4- Uncle Uprising, the Sequel Oct 22, 2023

More avuncular trouble for Zeus, and this time it's the giants causing a fuss! They'll be dealt with soon enough, but in the meantime let's watch Athena get brutal and Zeus enlist the help of another character we will talk about in future- his illegitimate son Heracles!

Sources for this episode:

Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Schaff, P. and Wace, H. (1892), A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Second Series. Volume III: Theodoret, Jerome, Gennadius, Rufinus: Historical Writings, etc. New York, Oxford and London: The Christian Literature Company, Parker & Company.

Come join us on our website! We can be found at 'www.autocratpodcast.wordpress.com' and you can contact us by email at 'autocratpodcast@gmail.com'.

3- A Typhon Approaches Oct 15, 2023

After the downfall of her children, Gaia has a trick up her sleeve- Typhon, her monstrous child with Tartarus. Get ready for a story of lullabies, single combat and far too much impromptu surgery, plus confusion between the podcasters about which son of Zeus is actually which!

Sources for this episode:

Celoria, F. (1992), The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A translation with a commentary. London and New York: Routledge- Taylor and Francis Group.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
Doglioni, C., Innocenti, F. and Mariotti, G. (2001), Why Mt Etna? Terra Nova 13(1): 25-31.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Echidna (online) [Accessed 14/10/2023].
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1943), Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Kazhdan, A. P., Tablot, A.-M., Cutler, A., Gregory, T. E. and Ševčenko, N. P. (1991), The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium: Volume 1-2-3. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Rouse, W. H. D. (1940), Nonnos Dionysiaca. London : William Heinemann Ltd.
Wheelwright, C. A. (1844), Pindar. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Author unknown, The British Museum (date unknown), Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses (online) [Accessed 14/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Ceto (online) [Accessed 10/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Haemus Mons (online) [Accessed 10/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Phorcys (online) [Accessed 10/10/2023].

NOTE: As we touched upon in the episode, echidnas are spiny monotremes living in Australia which split from the platypus approximately sometime between 17 and 88.9 million years ago.

Augee, M., Gooden, B. and Musser, A. (2006), Echidna: Extraordinary egg-laying mammal. Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.
Rowe, T., Rich, T. H., Vickers-Rich, P., Springers, M. and Woodbourne, M. O. (2008), The oldest platypus and its bearing on divergence timing of the platypus and echidna clades. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105(4): 1238-1242.

2- The Fight Against Time Oct 08, 2023

Families can be complicated- especially when you're a son overthrowing his divine father. It's time for the Titanomachy, and for the cosmos to be divided among a new generation of gods. Get ready for a new order in the revolving door of regimes...

Sources for this episode:

Bellows, H. A. (1923), The Poetic Edda. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), Vanir (online) [Accessed 21/09/2023].
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Fry, S. (2017, 1st edition), Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (eBook). London: Penguin Books Ltd.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Milton, J. (2017), Paradise Lost (eBook). AmazonClassics.
Overly Sarcastic Productions, YouTube (2018), Miscellaneous Myths: The Theogony (Greek Creation Myth) (online) [Accessed 08/10/2023].
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Clymene (wife of Iapetus) (online) [Accessed 08/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Titanomachy (online) [Accessed 08/10/2023].
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Typhon (online) [Accessed 08/10/2023].

1- How the Chaos Began Oct 01, 2023

It’s our first proper episode! As we’re starting our journey through mythology and Roman history at the very beginning, let’s talk about just that- the beginning, or the creation of the cosmos and the gods. Strap in, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride full of coups, violence and intrigue…

Sources for this episode:

Bellows, H. A. (1923), The Poetic Edda. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press.
Chisholm, H. (ed.) (1911), The Encyclopædia Britannica (A-M): A Dictionary of Art, Sciences, Literature and General Information. New York: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.
Cooke. T. (1728), The Works of Hesiod, Translated from the Greek (Volume II). London: Printed by N. Blandford.
Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
Lovelock, J. (2000), Gaia: A new look at life on Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press (eBook).
Mackenzie, D. A. (c. 1913), Egyptian Myth and Legend, With Historical Narrative Notes on Race Problems, Comparative Belief, etc. London: The Gresham Publishing Company Limited.
Riley, H. T. (1889), The Metamorphoses (Ovid), Literally Translated Into English Prose, With Copious Notes and Explanations. London: George Bell & Sons.
Author unknown (2016), The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway.

Prologue Sep 24, 2023

A quick introduction to who we are and what we will be covering. Look forward to tales of insanity like Caligula, dramatic stories like Aurelian and Heraclius I, the vision of Justinian I and Augustus, and many more!

Sources for this episode:

BBC, YouTube (2023), Be honest…how often do YOU think about the Roman Empire? (online) (24/09/2023).
Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Autokrator (online) (24/09/2023).

A quick note of clarification: when we mention that the U.S. president does not answer to anyone, we are not stating the presidency is not accountable to e.g.: the people. We are simply making the point that there is no-one within the U.S. government who outranks the president. There has been some confusion over this, so we thought a little clarification might help!

Welcome to Autocrat- Trailer Sep 21, 2023

Hi! Welcome to our show. Hope you enjoy the ride!

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