Myth Madness
Episodes
79 episodes
Rostam’s Youth & The Family of Gudarz
In this episode (79) I introduce Rostam, one of the most significant heroes in Persian legends and who is often compared to the Greek Heracles. The Shahnameh covers the story of his birth but for other stories of his youth, we have to look at o...
The Romance of Zal and Rudabeh
This episode (78) covers the romance of the Persian hero Zal (Zaal) and the beautiful princess Rudabeh. While a foreigner, Rudabeh represents the ideal Persian woman - virtuous, beautiful, dutiful, and intelligent. Their romance as presented in...
Sam and the Simorgh – The Birth of Zal
The first part of the Shahnameh focuses on several generations of legendary kings and their conflict with the forces of evil. But during the reign of the king Manuchehr, its heroes - the king’s various commanders - leave the background, begin t...
Manuchehr the Avenger
Fereydun’s rule ushered in another Golden Age but trouble brewed when his three sons were well into adulthood. The two eldest, Salm and Tur, coveted what Ferdydun granted the youngest, Iraj, to rule. They murdered him and Fereydun hoped his gre...
Fereydun & His Sons Salm, Tur, and Iraj
King Fereydun was mentioned a few times in previous episodes. The first half of this episode recaps Fereydun’s birth and how he grew up to save the world from the monstrous tyrant Zahhak. The second half focuses on Fereydun’s sons, how they fou...
Garshasp Goes to China
Throughout the Garshaspnama, the tyrant Zahhak repeatedly sends Garshasp on various adventures. But its a new world, Zahhak is gone and Fereydun is now king. Naturally, Garshasp embarks on a new quest, to go east and affirm Fereydun’s ...
Garshasp Accepts a Quest from Zahhak (Again)
Over last few episodes, I covered parts of the Garshaspnama, a Persian epic poem composed around 1066 AD. In those episodes Garshasp fought a dragon and went to India to defeat a rebellious prince. He performed these deeds following th...
Garshasp and the Princess of Rum
This episode (72) continues my retelling of the Garshaspnama epic poem. After returning home from India, Garshasp visits his overlord, the tyrant Zahhak, to present the numerous riches he acquired on his journey East. He then travels w...
Garshasp's Indian Cruise
In this section of the Garshaspnama, Garshasp and his Iranian troops embark on a naval voyage of “India”. This India is an exotic magical place. A place of strange people, marvellous sights, and miracles as imagined by the medieval Per...
Garshasp Goes To India
This episode (70) continues with the next part of the Garshaspnama. Previously, Garshasp faced a dragon which blocked passage to India. With the dragon slain, and the path to India clear, it is only natural that Garshasp’s next adventu...
Garshasp the Dragon-Slayer
This episode (69) introduces my retelling of the Garshaspnama, a Persian epic poem completed around 1066 AD. This work was likely inspired by the earlier Shahnameh but focuses on a completely different story. The Garshaspnama ...
Jamshid's Fate in the Garshaspnama
The last two episodes featured Jamshid, a legendary king of the world in Persian mythology. According to the Shahnameh, for many years Jamshid enjoyed the favour of the Creator and invented many aspects of civilization for the first people. How...
Zahhak - The Serpent-Shouldered
After Jamshid was pushed from the throne, the monstrous Zahhak rose to power and the accursed tyrant ushered in a Dark Age. It was a backwards world where virtue was shunned and cruelty celebrated. However, hope was never far away. This episode...
Jamshid
One of the best sources for Persian myths is the Shahnameh or “Book of Kings”. This epic poem was composed in 1010 AD and is one of the most important examples of Iranian literature. It tells a legendary history of Persia, startin...
Hushang & Tahmuras – Persian Mythology's Demon-Slayer Kings
The struggle between Good and Evil is a central theme of Persian mythology. This is not just a human struggle. Persian myths and legends often feature divs, creatures who work mischief on behalf of the evil spirit Ahriman. In this episode (65) ...
The Origin of Humans in Zoroastrianism
In this episode (64) I cover the creation of humans according to ancient Zoroastrian religious texts. I talk about the role of Gayomart (aka Keyumars), the prototypical First Man, and how he fought against the supreme evil spirit Ahriman. To un...
Persian Mythology - The Creation of the World in Zoroastrianism
Welcome back to Myth Madness! This season of the podcast covers Persian mythology. The Persian or Iranian civilization’s roots go back over 3000 years ago, and this episode (63) gives a summary of that history from antiquity to the middle ages....
Atreus & Thyestes – Cursed Brothers of Greek Mythology
(62) Greek mythology is full of terrible tales, and the story of the brothers Atreus and Thyestes includes murder, adultery, incest and cannibalism. These two cursed sons of Pelops were exiled from their homeland. Later, they fought against eac...
The Epigoni - Sons of the Seven
(61) When the Seven Against Thebes were killed, they left behind children - Epigoni/Epigonoi. Athena assigned these Sons of the Seven the task of destroying Thebes and avenging their fathers.Some, like Thersander, Aegialeus, and Diomedes...
Antigone - What Happened to Oedipus’s Daughters
The battle between Eteocles and Polynices is over and the sons of Oedipus are dead. The fate of Oedipus’s daughters – Antigone and Ismene – is a less epic more personal tragedy story and is told in a handful of plays by the Greek playwright Sop...
Eteocles vs. Polynices - The Seven Against Thebes
(59) Eteocles and Polynices were the sons of Oedipus and like their father they were cursed. In their case, they were doomed to kill each other. Eteocles and Polynices fought over their father’s throne and Polynices was eventually exiled from T...
Oedipus - Not The Only Cursed Theban King
Oedipus is probably the one Greek hero who has broken free from Greek mythology and become something else entirely. That of course is all thanks to psychologist Sigmund Freud. Many people today are familiar with the hero, who is cursed with kil...
Castor & Pollux - Divine Twins of Greek Mythology
(57) The great hero twins Castor and Polydeukes (Roman Pollux) were known as the Dioscuri / Dioskouroi ‘ which means Sons of Zeus”. Considered by the ancient Greeks to be two of the greatest heroes, there are surprisingly not a whole lot of sto...
Pirithous and the Centaur War
In Greek mythology, centaurs were dangerous. Numerous heroes got into fights with them and there was even a centaur war. In it, the half-horse creatures fought against an equally fierce human tribe called the Lapiths, led by a hero named ...
Theseus 2 - The Minotaur's Labyrinth
(55) Theseus was one of the heroic monster-slayers of ancient Greece. This episode covers his most famous deed – the slaying of the Minotaur. As a punishment for the Athenian king’s involvement in the murder of his son, Minos of Crete demanded ...