Our feature monster for this episode is that curiosity of the Caribbean – and other regions across Central America and the American Southwest – El Chupacabra. We'll explore its relatively recent identification and its potential mythological roots in Taino and Aztec stories. We'll also introduce a few other cryptids of the Americas!

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 11

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• El Chupacabra
  • American Natural History Museum: Modern Myths
  • How Stuff Works: El Chupacabra: Legend, Sightings & Facts
  • National Geographic: Chasing chupacabras? You may find something even more extraordinary here.
• Xolotl:
  • Xolotl: Aztec God for the Motion of Life
  • X is for Xolotl (Folktales of Endangered Species)
• Cryptids:
  • Cryptids of North America
  • Map of Cryptids in America
  • Squonkapalooza Festival

Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube playlist for this episode!

Images:

The Minotaur is a total icon, one of the fiercest and most well-known monsters in Greek mythology. So what’s his story? We'll explore it, plus meet some astonishing bovines from other cultures, such as the Mesopotamian Bull of Heaven and Donn Cuailnge, the bull at the center of Irish mythology's greatest battle.

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 10

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• The Minotaur
  • On Mythopedia and World History Encyclopedia
  • Quotes from original Greek and Roman sources (translated to English!)
  • Theseus and the Minotaur: More than a Myth?
  • Ashmolean Museum: Myths of the Labyrinth
  • The Labyrinth Society
• The Bull of Heaven
  • From World History Encyclopedia
  • From The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI
• The Cattle Raid of Cooley
  • An Táin Bó Cúailnge: Ireland’s National Epic
  • Irish Road Trip: The Legend of the Cattle Raid of Cooley
  • On Mythopedia: Cu Chulainn
  • English translation of "The Combat of Ferdiad and Cuchulain" from An Táin Bó Cúailnge

Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube playlist for this episode!

It's a very special bonus episode of Myths & Muses! We're interviewing Rob Rokicki, who you listeners might know from The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. He's also behind Monstersongs, a synthesis of art, music, and performance that is right in line with our summer theme of Misunderstood Monsters. Listen as he discusses the stories that inspire him, the heart that goes into his work, and his own memories of summer camp.

About Our Guest: Rob Rokicki is a New York based writer and composer/lyricist whose songs “live at that perfect intersection of musical theatre and radio rock” (Adam Gwon). Rob wrote the music, lyrics and co-orchestrated the Broadway show The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (book by Joe Tracz). The show was nominated for Lortel, Off-Broadway Alliance, and three Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical, before touring across North America. The original cast recording had the highest pre-sale in Broadway Records history and the show is licensed globally.

Our feature monster for this episode is that hairy hide-and-seek champion of the cryptids: Bigfoot. We'll also look at some of his possible origins in the tales of Indigenous North Americans, as well as the tradition of the "wild man" in China, Roman mythology, medieval Europe, and Scottish folklore. And we'll learn a little more about Enkidu, the companion of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamian mythology.

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 9

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• Bigfoot
  • How the Bigfoot Legend Began
  • Bigfoot Was Investigated by the FBI. Here’s What They Found
  • BFRO Geographical Database of Bigfoot Sightings & Reports
• Before Bigfoot:
  • BBC: The true origins of Sasquatch
  • American Museum of Natural History: Beyond Bigfoot
  • World History Encyclopedia: Tsul'kălû', The Slant-Eyed Giant
• Enkidu and Gilgamesh: World History Encyclopedia: Gilgamesh
• The Chinese Yeren
• Wild Men of the Ancient World: Legends Across the Globe Tell of a Humanoid Beast – Are They Real?
• Am Fear Liath Mor

Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube playlist for this episode!

Our feature monster this week is one whose stories are spun out of urban legends, making him a more recent addition to the monster roster. It’s time to talk about the mysterious Mothman. And while we're at it, we'll meet some other mythological figures of fate, destiny, and bad luck from Greek, Celtic, and Germanic mythologies.

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 8

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• • Mothman:
    • Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage: An Ode to a Hometown Creature: Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia
    • Paranormal West Virginia: The Legend of Mothman
    • The Mothman Festival
  • Banshee:
    • Irish Myths: What Is a Banshee? The Mythic Origins of Ireland’s Most Infamous Shrieking Spirit
    • The Irish Post: Exploring Irish Mythology: The Banshee
    • History Cooperative: The Banshee
  • Spectral Dogs:
    • 6 Folktales about Black Dogs
    • Britain’s Black Dog Legends – 7 Spooky Canines & Hellhounds
    • ‘They called them the demon dogs’- the Cwn Annwn, Welsh Hounds of Hell
  • Wild Hunt:
    • Norse Mythology: The Wild Hunt
    • History Today: The Wild Hunt of Odin
    • Monster of the Week: The Wild Hunt
  • Moros:
    • At THEOI and Olympoi

Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube Playlist for this episode!

Our feature story in this episode takes us to the Highlands of Scotland, where we’ll meet the elusive Loch Ness Monster, AKA Nessie. We'll also learn about some other Nessie-like creatures across the world, and some different water-dwelling creatures in the British Isles, Scandinavia, and western and central Africa.

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 7

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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The "Surgeon's Photograph":

Stuff to Read:

• Nessie:
  • Visit Inverness: The Loch Ness Monster
  • History Channel: The First Sighting of the Loch Ness Monster
  • NPR: 55-year-old camera set up to track the Loch Ness monster found in Scotland
  • The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register
  • The Loch Ness Centre
• Kelpies:
  • Historic UK: The Kelpie
  • Ancient Myth in Modern Art
  • Folklore of Scotland: Kelpies
• Jormungandr and the Kraken
  • Jormungandr at World History Encyclopedia
  • Jormungandr: The Midgard Serpent in Norse Mythology
  • Ancient Origins: Jörmungandr: The Misunderstood Midgard Serpent of Norse Mythology
  • Sea monsters and their inspiration: serpents, mermaids, the kraken and more
• Ninki Nanka
  • Gambian Folktales: The Ninki Nanka
  • BBC: The Hunt for Gambia's Mythical Dragon
  • CNN: Here be monsters: The search for Africa’s mythical beasts
  • Coffee and Creatures: It’s Hard to Keep Things Straight With the Ninki-Nanka
• Mokele Mbembe
  • Cryptid Archives: Mokole-Mbembe
  • Sightings Of The Legendary Mokele-Mbembe "Dinosaur" Of The Congo Are Increasing. What Is Going On?
  • How Stuff Works: Mokele-Mbembe: The Truth Behind Africa's Mythical River Monster

Stuff to Watch: Our curated YouTube Playlist for this episode!

In this episode, it's time to meet some slithering serpentine monsters! We start with the many-headed Hydra, who had the misfortune to be one of Heracles's many targets, but who got the consolation prize of becoming a constellation. Then we'll look at that constellation's story in Mesopotamian mythology and we'll meet an eight-headed serpent-dragon from Japanese mythology.

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 6

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• Hydra:
  • At Mythopedia and Perseus at Tufts
  • Original Greek literature quotes about the Hydra
• Bašmu & Ninurta:
  • More on Bašmu
  • Ninurta at World History Encyclopedia
  • Enki and Enlil
• Yamata no Orochi:
  • From yokai.com
  • The Eight-Headed Eight-Tailed Serpent

Stuff to Watch: Check out our curated Youtube playlist for this episode!

Since this episode is dropping just before Mother’s Day in the US, it seemed like the perfect time to talk about Echidna, the Mother of All Monsters. Or… at least an awful lot of the Greek ones. We'll also look at some other monstrous mothers in Mesopotamian, Norse, and Germanic mythology!

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more and to contribute your theories to our board!

All stories told on Myths & Muses are original family-friendly adaptations of ancient myths and legends. Stories from ancient mythology can also sometimes deal with complicated topics for young listeners — to the mortal parents and caretakers reading this, we encourage listening along with your young demigods to help them navigate those topics as they explore these epic tales.

Transcript for Episode 5

If you'd like to submit something creative you've done inspired by the stories in Myths & Muses, use this form (with a Mortal Guardian's permission!).

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Stuff to Read:

• Echidna
  • Summaries at Mythopedia and Ancient Origins
  • Quotes from original Greek texts at THEOI
  • Echidna: Half Woman, Half Snake of Greece
• Angrboda:
  • From Vikingr
  • Chaos, and Destruction: The Symbolism of Angrboda in Norse Mythology and Beyond
• Tiamat
  • Summary from World History Encyclopedia
  • From The Met: Mesopotamian Creation Myths
  • Dungeons & Dragons: The History Of Bahamut And Tiamat
• Grendel’s Mother:
  • Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother

Stuff To Watch: Check out our curated YouTube playlist for this episode!