Speaker 1: Hi, Hello, Welcome. This is Let's talk about myths baby,
Speaker 1: and I'm live your host and fellow nerd. Well, we're
Speaker 1: back to it this week. Friends, We're back to Argos
Speaker 1: or Mycena, whichever you want to call it, because they
Speaker 1: are basically interchangeable. We're back there to find out just
Speaker 1: what happens after you've plodded with your lover to kill
Speaker 1: your husband as well as the concubine he brought home
Speaker 1: from war. Spoilers though it's not good. I'll go deeper
Speaker 1: into my sources for this episode at the end, but
Speaker 1: let me just say now, I would highly highly recommend
Speaker 1: you read Euripides is Elektra in full, because well you'll see,
Speaker 1: this is episode for Electra and Orestes, angryest best named
Speaker 1: children of Greek mythology The Aristia Part two Clytemnestra, with
Speaker 1: the help of her lover Agese this has just killed
Speaker 1: her husband Agamemnon, as well as Cassandra, the woman he
Speaker 1: brought home from Troy to be his slave. But how
Speaker 1: did we get here? There's a curse on the house
Speaker 1: of Atrius, as I mentioned last week. You can hear
Speaker 1: detailed telling of this curse in episode but let's run
Speaker 1: down real quick just how many awful things this family
Speaker 1: has done and had done to them. The House of
Speaker 1: Atrius begins with Tantalus. Tantalus, you'll recall, wanted to test
Speaker 1: the so called omniscience of the gods, and so he
Speaker 1: invited them to dinner, and unbeknownst to them, served them
Speaker 1: his own son. Most of the gods realized the trick
Speaker 1: before they had taken a bite, except for poor Demeter,
Speaker 1: who was distracted. She missed Persephone, who was down with
Speaker 1: Hades in the underworld, and so she had a bite.
Speaker 1: The gods restored tantalus son Pelops to life, but he
Speaker 1: was left missing a chunk of his shoulder, which they
Speaker 1: replaced with ivory. Of course, they also cursed the family
Speaker 1: of Tantalus for what he'd done. Later in life, Pelops
Speaker 1: wanted to marry a woman, Hippodamia, so badly that he
Speaker 1: arranged for her father to be killed in a chariot race.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying the name of her father because I
Speaker 1: had enough trouble pronouncing it in the aforementioned episode, Just
Speaker 1: so many vowels, you, guys. Pelops tricked a man named
Speaker 1: martial Us into arranging this before them throwing Myrtalus to
Speaker 1: his death. As Myrtalus fell, he too cursed the family
Speaker 1: of Pelops. Pelops and Hippodamia's sons are Atreus and Thyastes.
Speaker 1: And here's where things get real dramatic. The oracle that
Speaker 1: damn oracle says that one of Pelops's sons will be king,
Speaker 1: and so the competition begins again. Go back to episode
Speaker 1: for details, but essentially there are children being killed and
Speaker 1: served to their fathers as food, and there's Thyestes, who
Speaker 1: also at the behest of the oracle, rapes his daughter,
Speaker 1: who gives birth to a son named Geese This. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Atreus two has two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus. A geese
Speaker 1: This kills Atreus and not his own rape father, which
Speaker 1: is a huge mistake, and he in Thyestes exile Agamemnon
Speaker 1: and Menelaus, and they rule over Mycenae for a while. Eventually,
Speaker 1: Menelaus becomes king of Sparta after his marriage to Helen
Speaker 1: and uses that power to get rid of a Geese
Speaker 1: This and Thyestes and install Agamemnon as king of Mycenae.
Speaker 1: As king, he and his wife cride Amnestra, sister of Helen,
Speaker 1: have three children, if Agenia, Orestes, and Electra. But a
Speaker 1: curse is a curse, and this family has its share
Speaker 1: of curses against it. Agamemnon's final act of sucking up
Speaker 1: his own life and his family comes as he prepares
Speaker 1: to lead the Greeks to Troy to wage war in
Speaker 1: the name of Helen, Agamemnon's sister in law. The Greeks
Speaker 1: convene at Alice, and this is where they plan their
Speaker 1: war and where they prepare to leave in their ships altogether.
Speaker 1: But just as they want to leave, the wind disappears.
Speaker 1: For days, there is no wind to bring them to
Speaker 1: their much sought after war. Agamemnon learns how he's expected
Speaker 1: to fix this. He must be willing to sacrifice his
Speaker 1: daughter Ifigenia, and he does happily. Clytemnestra, though doesn't appreciate
Speaker 1: the urgency Agamemnon feels, and she doesn't forgive him for
Speaker 1: what he's done. And while he's away, not only does
Speaker 1: she find solace in a new lover, her husband's greatest enemy, Ageistus,
Speaker 1: but they plot how exactly they'll both take revenge on
Speaker 1: this man who's taken so much from them, and so
Speaker 1: upon Agamemnon's return after ten years of waging war in Troy, Clydemnestra,
Speaker 1: with the help of her lover get this, kills her
Speaker 1: husband as well as Cassandra, the woman he brought back
Speaker 1: from Troy to be his slave. After when it's over,
Speaker 1: Cindemnestra relishes, and what she's done. How she tempts him
Speaker 1: with a hot, cleansing bath after so many years away
Speaker 1: from such homely comforts. How she comforts him by preparing
Speaker 1: such a luxury, How she showers him in affection, how
Speaker 1: she's missed him. Clydemnestra relishes, and how Agamemnon, finishing his bath,
Speaker 1: stands up dripping wet. How she takes red tapestries and
Speaker 1: wraps him tightly in the fabric. How she stabs him
Speaker 1: again and again as he screams in agony. How the
Speaker 1: blood pours, soaking the fabric, how it spurts and covers
Speaker 1: her in the hot, sticky liquid. And with that it's done.
Speaker 1: If a genia is avenge and a weight is lifted
Speaker 1: from Clydemnestra, the curse, though the curse on the house
Speaker 1: of Atreus only grows. Clydemnestra and Geese have killed the
Speaker 1: king Agamemnon. They don't try to hide it either. After
Speaker 1: the deaths of battle ensues between Agamemnon's guards and the
Speaker 1: many supporters of Geese this has cultivated over his years
Speaker 1: and Argos. But the battle is over quickly, and a
Speaker 1: Geese this is the victor. The people of Argos learn
Speaker 1: what's been done. But the pair holds all the cards.
Speaker 1: Clydemmeestra is still queen, and now Geese this is king.
Speaker 1: He is, after all, of the House of Atreus, and
Speaker 1: he's already been king once. He's simply taking back the mantle. Now.
Speaker 1: This whole time, there's only been one child of Clydemnestra
Speaker 1: and Agamemnon living in the palace where the murder took place.
Speaker 1: Electra arrestes, the only son of Agamemnon and Clydemnestra, and
Speaker 1: so the rightful heir to the throne of Argos has
Speaker 1: been sent away. In some versions, he's sent away by
Speaker 1: Clydemnestra in an effort to save him from her new
Speaker 1: lover age. This In others, Clydemnestra is powerless, or rather
Speaker 1: is so consumed in her anger with Agamemnon that she
Speaker 1: doesn't even consider what might happen to Arrestes once his
Speaker 1: father has been killed. In those versions, Arrestes has smuggled
Speaker 1: out of the palace and brought to the land of Focus,
Speaker 1: where he lives for years, because that's the amount of
Speaker 1: time that passes after the death of Agamemnon and before
Speaker 1: any further drama begins. Years years of Electra being the
Speaker 1: only child, or rather now a young woman left behind
Speaker 1: in the palace, her sister sacrificed, her father murdered, and
Speaker 1: her brother hidden away in another land to protect his
Speaker 1: own life. In those years after their father is murdered
Speaker 1: by their mother and her new lover, now the new
Speaker 1: King of Argos, Electra grows up. She becomes a woman,
Speaker 1: and in becoming a woman and the Princess of Argos,
Speaker 1: she's in high demand, you know, property being property, and
Speaker 1: so all the men around are after her. They want
Speaker 1: to marry the funk out of her to get both
Speaker 1: a hot wife and the power that comes with being
Speaker 1: married to the princess. Of course, we're not told how
Speaker 1: Electra feels about this, but it doesn't matter anyway, because
Speaker 1: Geese This isn't having it. Kindemnestra might have been in
Speaker 1: charge when they applotted to kill her husband, and she
Speaker 1: might have been the main person holding the dagger that
Speaker 1: plunged into Agamemnon's chest repeatedly. But once he's dead, it's
Speaker 1: a Geese This who takes charge. They is what he's
Speaker 1: wanted the entire time. He was once king of Argos,
Speaker 1: and he wanted it back, and finally he has it.
Speaker 1: Clydemnestra I like to believe it's just so caught up
Speaker 1: in her anger and her grief over Ifigenia, that she
Speaker 1: becomes a bit of a robot, just letting a Geese
Speaker 1: this do whatever the funk he wants. To an extent,
Speaker 1: we're told in Euripides is telling of the story that
Speaker 1: a Geese This did want to take this one step further.
Speaker 1: He had every intention of killing Electra, but that one
Speaker 1: moment is where Clytemnestra puts her foot down. He can
Speaker 1: punish Electra endlessly, and he can keep her from having
Speaker 1: any sort of life, but he can't kill her. That
Speaker 1: would be going too far. So Geese This does everything,
Speaker 1: but he means to secure his authority in whatever means
Speaker 1: possible outside of murder. This includes preventing Electra from truly
Speaker 1: growing up or going out on her own in any way.
Speaker 1: The Geese this doesn't let any of the men of
Speaker 1: Argos pursue her. He doesn't let her leave the palace
Speaker 1: even for a moment, and so Electra waits her life
Speaker 1: on hold. What she's been left with and Argos doesn't
Speaker 1: mean anything anymore anyway, though, But the return of Arrestes
Speaker 1: that could mean everything. Electra too hated her father for
Speaker 1: what he did to Ifigenia, but her mother acrossed the
Speaker 1: line when she murdered him and revenge, and so this
Speaker 1: is what Electra thinks about all this time, what she
Speaker 1: and Arrestes could do to their mother. And a Geese this,
Speaker 1: if only Arrestes would return home to Arghos. Time continues on, though,
Speaker 1: and a Geese this reaches a point where he knows
Speaker 1: he can't just keep Electra locked up in the palace
Speaker 1: any longer. He's in constant fear of her marrying some
Speaker 1: nobleman and having a child that will again remove him
Speaker 1: from the throne. He's finally gotten back, so he comes
Speaker 1: up with a more permanent solution to the problem of
Speaker 1: Electra ageist. This marries her off to a poor farmer,
Speaker 1: and this is where Euripides is play. Electra begins. The
Speaker 1: farmer is of noble lineage, but his family line has
Speaker 1: fallen very far, and now he's poor and no longer
Speaker 1: feels he has any nobility left in him. He's gifted
Speaker 1: with Electra property as property, you know. But this is Euripides,
Speaker 1: and Euripides thought women were actual people. Can you believe it?
Speaker 1: I love Eurippides. You see, this farmer has given Electra
Speaker 1: as his wife, and you know what he tells us
Speaker 1: in the first pages of this play. Electra was a
Speaker 1: virgin when he married her, and she's a virgin now.
Speaker 1: He doesn't feel he has any right to force her.
Speaker 1: He references this is due to her nobility. But I'm
Speaker 1: just going to go ahead and call him a decent guy. Anyway.
Speaker 1: Choosing not to rape is quite the rare feat in
Speaker 1: ancient Greek mythology. The farmer husband of Electra, tells us
Speaker 1: that any man who calls him a fool for not
Speaker 1: raping her is measuring self control by quote his own
Speaker 1: flawed standards, and that he is the real fool. Anyway,
Speaker 1: I love Euripides, and then we meet Electra, who is
Speaker 1: a queen and a badass. She's working her ass off
Speaker 1: carrying water to the farm, and when her farmer husband,
Speaker 1: who doesn't have a name in the play, by the way,
Speaker 1: I'm not just not saying it, he tells her to
Speaker 1: take a break, that she does enough, that she is
Speaker 1: a princess after all, But she tells him that she
Speaker 1: wants to do her part, that he's such a good
Speaker 1: friend and such a comfort in her bullshit life that
Speaker 1: she wants to do everything she can to help out
Speaker 1: at the farm. Honestly, they have a lovely relationship. It's
Speaker 1: just warm and friendly and clearly based in mutual respect. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it's where as Funk and I love it. But we
Speaker 1: only hear of so much normalcy in this couple's lives
Speaker 1: because in this moment, two strangers appear by the house.
Speaker 1: Orestes and his friend Pilodies, who has traveled with him
Speaker 1: from Focus, are nearby before they meet a lecture and
Speaker 1: her husband, though Orestes lays out why he's there. And
Speaker 1: if you thought that Clydemnestra would not be the villain
Speaker 1: here because I'm me and she's a woman, well, he
Speaker 1: thought wrong. Clydemnestra might have had some righteous fury in
Speaker 1: her reasoning for killing her husband, but her children do
Speaker 1: not take her side in this. They may have been
Speaker 1: angry with their father, but they're smart enough to know
Speaker 1: the solution was not to kill him. Sadly, as Arrestes
Speaker 1: lays out here, he is not smart enough to know
Speaker 1: that the answer to murder shouldn't be well murder. He
Speaker 1: explains to Pilodies, and in doing so the audience that
Speaker 1: he's arrived back in Argos to plot the murder of
Speaker 1: his murderous mother and her murderous lover and new husband,
Speaker 1: a geese. This Arrestes wants Electra's help. Then he's in
Speaker 1: these parts to seek her out to convince her of
Speaker 1: his plan. Arrestes sees Electra too, but he doesn't recognize her.
Speaker 1: He believes her to be a servant, and so he hides,
Speaker 1: waiting to decide whether he'll ask her about his own sister.
Speaker 1: Lucky for Arrestes, Electra begins a bit of a soliloquy,
Speaker 1: though he is there to hear it, explaining how she
Speaker 1: is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clydemnestra and sister of Orestes,
Speaker 1: so you know, he finds out the truth pretty quickly
Speaker 1: before Orestes speaks with his sister. Though we also learned
Speaker 1: that there is to be a festival in honor of
Speaker 1: hera and all the women of the city are invited.
Speaker 1: Electra laments this, though her situation in her appearance are
Speaker 1: not something she wants advertised to the people of the city. Finally,
Speaker 1: Arrestes announces himself, scaring the living ship out of Elektra,
Speaker 1: who is absolutely sure this rando guy hiding behind a
Speaker 1: bush with a sword right by her house is definitely
Speaker 1: there to kill her, but he convinces her otherwise, not
Speaker 1: telling her that he's her brother, but that he knows
Speaker 1: her brother and he's there to chicken on her. On
Speaker 1: behalf of Arrestes, Electra is thrilled. She hasn't heard from
Speaker 1: him since he was smuggled off to Focus and had
Speaker 1: no idea whether he was alive or dead. She tells Arrestes,
Speaker 1: who's not telling her that he's Arrestes, all about her life,
Speaker 1: but her husband, the farmer, who's just a farmer, but
Speaker 1: thankfully as a super nice guy who hasn't even tried
Speaker 1: to rape her once Honestly, the way they talk about
Speaker 1: how weird it is that he hasn't tried to rape
Speaker 1: her is one of the most troubling things. But they're
Speaker 1: both very glad he hasn't, so that's nice. An Electra
Speaker 1: straight up tells Arrestes that her husband quote knows better
Speaker 1: than to take advantage of a woman. Have I mentioned
Speaker 1: I love Euripides? The siblings talk, though Electra still doesn't
Speaker 1: know she's speaking with her long lost brother. They speak
Speaker 1: about what's happened since how Clydemnestra has all but abandoned
Speaker 1: her children in favor of her new lover Geese. This,
Speaker 1: how they've even had their own children together, making Electra
Speaker 1: and Orestes even more obsolete than they already were after
Speaker 1: the death of Agamemnon. Before long, Orestes gets to the
Speaker 1: point he asks Electra, hypothetically, if your brother Orestes were
Speaker 1: to return to arghost wanting to kill your mother and
Speaker 1: a Geese this for what they did to your father,
Speaker 1: how would you feel. Electra tells him she's absolutely down
Speaker 1: for that idea, and Orestes continues, if that were to occur,
Speaker 1: would you be interested in helping Arrestes kill your mother?
Speaker 1: You're damn right. Electra tells him she'll be happy even
Speaker 1: if she loses her own life, provided she gets to
Speaker 1: slit her own mother's throat. Eventually, Electra's farmer husband arrives
Speaker 1: back at the house and invites the Rustes and Pilodes in,
Speaker 1: which causes Electra to be a bit of a bit Honestly.
Speaker 1: She points out how unimpressive their home is and Arthi's
Speaker 1: been too good to be here anywhere. For all she
Speaker 1: knows about the respectfulness of her husband and not being
Speaker 1: a rapist, she treats him like garbage in this moment. Finally,
Speaker 1: she just sends him off to go find the man
Speaker 1: who smuggled the rusties out of Argos to begin with,
Speaker 1: to come meet these men and learn himself that Arrestes
Speaker 1: has survived after all this time. The old Man arrives,
Speaker 1: the one who smuggled Rusties from the palace and focus
Speaker 1: those many years ago. He speaks with Electra outside the
Speaker 1: house Orestes, pretending to be somebody who knows Arrestes and
Speaker 1: Pilodes are both inside. The old Man has been to
Speaker 1: see Agamemnon's tomb and is seeing what someone left behind.
Speaker 1: Someone's been there recently and they both know that no
Speaker 1: one of Argos would dare go there, not when the
Speaker 1: man who killed the king sits in his throne own.
Speaker 1: The old man has seen a sheep sacrificed outside the tomb,
Speaker 1: and a lock of hair left behind by whoever was there,
Speaker 1: and a footprint so much evidence that he proposes was
Speaker 1: left behind by Arrestes himself. Electra, though, is a Debbie
Speaker 1: downer and has so many reasons not to believe what
Speaker 1: this old man thinks he's seen. I won't go into
Speaker 1: the details, but there's a lot of debate about comparing
Speaker 1: the hair of siblings and the footprints, and maybe clothes
Speaker 1: Electra might have made for Arrestes those many years ago.
Speaker 1: I'll admit eyside with Electra on the logic of those things,
Speaker 1: but she's still being a bit stubborn and not willing
Speaker 1: to believe that her brother could possibly have been the
Speaker 1: one who left those things behind. Before long, Arrestes and
Speaker 1: Piloties make their way outside the house to speak with
Speaker 1: Electra and the old man, who again doesn't have a name.
Speaker 1: I'm not just ignoring it. Who is this man, Arrestes,
Speaker 1: asks Electra, who tells him that, of course this is
Speaker 1: the man who saved Arrestes all those years ago. Why
Speaker 1: is he looking at me that way? Arrestes, who's pretending
Speaker 1: not to be Arrestes, asks Electra. I was wondering the
Speaker 1: same thing, she replies, Why is he walking around me
Speaker 1: in a circle looking incredibly curious? Arrestes? Who's pretending not
Speaker 1: to be Arrestes? Asks Electra. But before she can respond,
Speaker 1: the old man exclaims that obviously this is arresties. If
Speaker 1: your brother a big hug, he tells Electra, and why
Speaker 1: Arrestes would vocalize the questioning look this man is giving
Speaker 1: him when he knows full well that he is indeed,
Speaker 1: Rusties is beyond me? Like at this point, who do
Speaker 1: you think you're fooling? Dude? In any event, the ruse
Speaker 1: is up, Electra is reunited with her brother, and the
Speaker 1: pair hug mercilessly. Arrestes is back. Now that the cats
Speaker 1: out of the bag, he quickly begins to plot how
Speaker 1: he'll kill both ageist This and his own mother, Clydemnestra. Honestly,
Speaker 1: any reason to say the name Clydemnestra. Arrestes and the
Speaker 1: old man discuss how he might go about it. The
Speaker 1: old man tells Arrestes that he's seen a geese this
Speaker 1: on his way just to meet them today, that he
Speaker 1: was preparing to sacrifice an ox with only slave servants nearby.
Speaker 1: He tells Arrestes that this is perfect. Slaves will immediately
Speaker 1: turn to Arrestes side as soon as it's clear their
Speaker 1: master is no longer their master but a weird and
Speaker 1: gross way to interact with human beings. But I digress.
Speaker 1: The logistics are planned between Arrestes and his new consultant
Speaker 1: in the matter, this old man. But when the murder
Speaker 1: of Clydemnestra has put on the table, finally Electra speaks up.
Speaker 1: She wants to kill their mother. But how will she
Speaker 1: manage it? Arrestes asks his sister, You, she calls to
Speaker 1: the old man. You will go to her and tell
Speaker 1: her I've just had a child a boy way, and
Speaker 1: that I wish to see her after I've recovered from
Speaker 1: the childbirth. And then what Arrestes asks? Then she dies?
Speaker 1: Electra says bluntly, it's not a short distance from here
Speaker 1: to Hades is underworld? Have I mentioned I love Euripides?
Speaker 1: And so the plan is planned. Everyone knows where there
Speaker 1: to go and what's to go down, Arrestes and Pilotes,
Speaker 1: with the help of the Old Man, will locate a
Speaker 1: geest this where he's mostly alone, only with servants who
Speaker 1: aren't particularly loyal to him save for being required to be.
Speaker 1: They'll find him there and they'll finish him a lecture. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: we'll wait for her mother to visit. Believing she's just
Speaker 1: given her to a boy. She finishes off their planning
Speaker 1: by saying that she'll be their sword in hand. Never
Speaker 1: will she give in to their enemies, and never will
Speaker 1: she let herself be walked over because she is a badass.
Speaker 1: With everything planned, Arrestes, Pilotes, and the Old Man leave Electra.
Speaker 1: They're headed to fulfill their ends. She remains behind to
Speaker 1: wait for news. Before long, the chorus, who's been with
Speaker 1: her all along, a group of Greek women on her side,
Speaker 1: call out to where she is inside of the house,
Speaker 1: saying they hear shouts as if someone far off is dying. Electra,
Speaker 1: jaded by her year years of disappointment, is at first
Speaker 1: sure that Orestes has failed and that it's her beloved
Speaker 1: brother who's dying, But the chorus convinces her not to
Speaker 1: jump to conclusions, to wait to hear the truth. She does,
Speaker 1: and moments later a messenger rushes in to tell her
Speaker 1: that Orestes has succeeded a geese. This has been killed. Well, friends,
Speaker 1: were deep into one of the darker and more famous
Speaker 1: stories from the ancient people we love so dearly. Most
Speaker 1: of today's episode comes from Euripides as Electra. My version
Speaker 1: is translated by John Davy. The beginning of the episode
Speaker 1: is from a collection of sources I'll name in a moment,
Speaker 1: but first I have to tell you more about Euripides.
Speaker 1: I know I've mentioned my love for him countless times,
Speaker 1: but today's episode is a great example of why. Both
Speaker 1: Easchlis and Sophocles wrote about this portion of the story
Speaker 1: of the children of Agamemnon and how they handle his murder.
Speaker 1: But neither of those stories feature Electra as a true
Speaker 1: lead character. She's just there being a woman. But in Euripides,
Speaker 1: his play is about Electra. I wrote a good half
Speaker 1: of this episode based on other sources one day because
Speaker 1: I'd realized that somehow I didn't have a copy of
Speaker 1: Euripides as Electra. I had Eeschylis's libation bearers, and I
Speaker 1: have Sophocles as Electra. But neither were the version I
Speaker 1: wanted to tell, or I should say, the version that's
Speaker 1: meant to be told. In this particular podcast, Euripides is
Speaker 1: focused on women in an entirely different way from the
Speaker 1: other tragedians, and where I can choose to you his version,
Speaker 1: I will. So My delayed finishing the outline for the
Speaker 1: episode and went downtown first thing to scour three different
Speaker 1: bookstores in order to find this version of Electra Love You, Euripides.
Speaker 1: I wish we could have been friends. Another of the
Speaker 1: sources for this episode are my often used the Greek
Speaker 1: myths by Robin Waterfield. However, I've just noticed that while
Speaker 1: the book only includes that author on the cover and
Speaker 1: the spine, there's one page on the inside that has
Speaker 1: it written by Robin Waterfield and Katherine Waterfield. I wish
Speaker 1: I'd noticed this earlier and given credit. But there's a
Speaker 1: nature of men versus women in this world. The references
Speaker 1: to a female author on the book aren't nearly as
Speaker 1: obvious as the references to the male author. Anyway, it's
Speaker 1: a fine source most of the time, but it's also
Speaker 1: the source that often has troubling language with regards to
Speaker 1: the female characters. So it's infinitely imperfect as it is.
Speaker 1: Of course, I also refer to Edith Hamilton's mythology Timeless
Speaker 1: Tales of Gods and Heroes, and if only vaguely, Sophocles
Speaker 1: is Electra translated by David Rayburn. I also want to
Speaker 1: tell you about a book that came out in the
Speaker 1: last few years that retails the story beautifully. It's called
Speaker 1: House of Names by Colm Toiben, and let me tell
Speaker 1: you this is not an ad. It's just one book
Speaker 1: lover to another. You might know Colm Toiben as the
Speaker 1: author of Brooklyn, amongst countless others, but this is one
Speaker 1: of his most recent and it's quite different from his
Speaker 1: usual style. It retails the story of the sacrifice of Virginia,
Speaker 1: as well as the intervening years between that event and
Speaker 1: Agamemnon's return home and as murdered by Clydemnastra. It focuses
Speaker 1: on the events after as well those we've delved into
Speaker 1: in this episode and that will continue to cover next episode.
Speaker 1: It does this by telling parts of the story in
Speaker 1: the point of view of Clydemnastra, Electra and Arrestes, which
Speaker 1: makes for a very intriguing telling. I personally loved it
Speaker 1: and couldn't recommend it more as a novelization of this story. Finally,
Speaker 1: and this is just a vun anecdote, I used to
Speaker 1: work for Paying in Random House, Canada, which published that
Speaker 1: book in Canada under its McLennan Stewart imprint, and it
Speaker 1: came through my department in my last month or two
Speaker 1: of working there, and I nearly lost it in excitement. Thankfully,
Speaker 1: a friend there was eager to send me a copy
Speaker 1: when it came out. Paying It Forward here, So please
Speaker 1: pick up a copy, especially if you live in Canada,
Speaker 1: because you'll get an min s copy and help my
Speaker 1: old friends at paying a Random House Canada. This leads
Speaker 1: me to I think I'm gonna plan a bonus episode
Speaker 1: sometime in the near future where I talk about some
Speaker 1: of the books I love that are related to mythology.
Speaker 1: I need to read a few more on my list
Speaker 1: before we go into detail, but due to popular demand,
Speaker 1: that's definitely in the works. Thank you all for listening.
Speaker 1: You're wonderful. Please go on over to iTunes and give
Speaker 1: me a five star review, maybe offset some of those
Speaker 1: dinks who don't like the feminism and can't be bothered
Speaker 1: to just find literally any other mythology podcast. But I digress.
Speaker 1: You're all the best, and the reviews you give me
Speaker 1: fuel my soul. I'mlive, and I absolutely love this ship,
Speaker 1: especially this particular ship we're covering right now. Oh this ship.