Sources
Sources & recommendations
As you all well know, Liv reads countless (endless!) sources for the podcast. Some of them are very readable and fun and entirely worth your time if you’re just a casual fan of the ancient world (looking at you, Euripides!). Some, meanwhile, are highly detailed and nuanced sources that you probably don’t want to bother with when you can just listen to the podcast instead! Below Liv has provided detailed information on each of these books so you can make up your own mind.
If there is a link provided then it will send you to Bookshop.org, a great organization working to support independent bookstores. This is a great alternative to the Big A (who are doing immense damage to the world of books!). If there’s no link, that means the book isn’t available on Bookshop.org and you must hunt it down yourself… Might we recommend a bookstore and not the Big A?
-
Homer’s Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson
The Odyssey is Liv’s favourite epic (because, Odysseus) and Emily Wilson’s translation is one of the best out there. Translations by women are becoming more and more popular and often lend a level of accuracy that is missing from older translations (because patriarchy).Homer’s Iliad translated by Caroline Alexander or Stephen Mitchell
Both of these translations are very readable, though admittedly Liv has not read the Alexander translation. Emily Wilson is working on a translation that (we hope!) will be out soon. Neither book is available from Bookshop.org at this time, but you can find a classic translation by Richard Lattimore here (it is also very good).
Homer’s Iliad, the graphic novel and Homer’s Odyssey, the graphic novel by Gareth Hinds
These are very fun graphic novel adaptations of the Iliad and Odyssey, the perfect places to start if you want to learn more but aren’t up for reading 24 books of poetry (each!). Plus, they’re beautifully done!
-
Euripides’ Bacchae translated by Emily Wilson from The Greek Plays new translations edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm
Euripides’ Bacchae and Other Plays translated by James Morwood
Euripides’ Bakkhai translated by Anne Carson HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Grief Lessons, four plays by Euripides translated by Anne Carson
Euripides’ Medea translated by John Davie (other translation here)
Euripides’ Medea translated by Rachel Kitzinger, from The Modern Library's The Greek Plays new translations edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm
Euripides’ The Trojan Women translated by Edith Hamilton (other translation here)
-
The Ovidian Heroineas Author by Laurel Fulkerson
Ovid's Fasti translated by Anne and Peter Wiseman
Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated by Stephanie McCarter HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (other translation here)
-
Virgil’s Aeneid translated by David Ferry
Virgil’s Aeneid translated by Sarah Ruden
-
Apollonios Rhodios' (Apollonios of Rhodes) Argonautica translated by Peter Green (other translations here and here)
Apuleius’ The Golden Ass translated by Sarah Ruden HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (not as good translation here)
Aristophanes’ Frogs and Other Plays translated by Stephen Halliwell
An Oresteia translated by Anne Carson
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Roberto Calasso HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Eratosthenes and Hyginus’ Constellation Myths translated by Robin Hard.
Early Greek Myths (Volume 1 and Volume 2) by Timothy Gantz
The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Andrew George
-
Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology translated by Robin Hard
Magic in the Ancient Greek World by Derek Collins
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
Heroines of Olympus by Ellie Mackin Roberts
The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor
Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds, a sourcebook by Daniel Ogden RECOMMENDED
Roman Mythology, a Traveler's Guide from Troy to Tivoli by David Stuttard
-
Here are books based in mythology that Liv has talked about on the podcast and/or just generally loves:
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes, the story children of Jocasta and Oedipus, and of their parents meeting
Circe by Madeline Miller, the story of the witch Circe
Great Goddesses by Nikita Gill
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, a version of the Iliad through the eyes of Briseis
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, the story of Achilles and Patroclus
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
Art & attributions
Want to know more about the artwork for the Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! logo or merchandise, the podcast’s musical score, or the website’s design?
-
The Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! logo/podcast image is designed by the artist The Angel Incarnate.
-
Like the podcast’s logo art, much of the art featured on the Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! merchandise is created by The Angel Incarnate.
-
Music in episodes from episode C (100) onward, and Reading episodes released after December 1, 2020 is licensed and adapted from “Athens” by MagnusMoone. Some episodes featuring clips from the past will still feature music from the below sources.
Theme music in full length episodes prior to Episode C and Reading episodes prior to November 30, 2020 is from is "Xenobiological Forest" by Komiku from It's Time for Adventure and is licensed via Creative Commons and is Public Domain. Other clips by Lee Rosevere: “More On That Later”, ”Not Alone", "How I Used to See the Stars", "Night Caves", "The Nightmare", and/or "What's Behind the Door" from Music for Podcasts. All are copyright of the artist and licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 License; music from the artist found here.
-
Liv Albert’s website is designed and developed by Be Good Design Co., a woman-owned design agency on Vancouver Island (check out their impact page to learn about their give-back model, they donate a portion of every project to charitable organizations!).