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!

This episode features that enigma wrapped in a mystery, the Sphinx. We'll discuss her famous riddle and examine how the Greek Sphinx is different from the one you see in Egyptian statues. We'll also look at some of her feline relations across not just Greece but also Persia, Assyria, medieval Europe, and China.

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 S3E4

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:

• More on Apotropaic Devices:
  • Medusa in Ancient Greek Art
  • Medusa at the Getty Museum
  • The full story of Perseus at Mythopedia
• More on the Sphinx:
  • From Mythopedia
  • Quotes about the Sphinx from ancient literature
  • Lots of different Sphinxes at World History Encyclopedia
  • The Sphinx in Mythology: Myths, Legends, and Powers
• More on the Chimera:
  • At Mythopedia
  • The Chimera of Arezzo
  • What is chimerism in science?
  • What is an African Violet chimera?
• More on Lamassu:
  • From Ancient Near East to Dungeons and Dragons: Lamassu, The Mesopotamian Gatekeeper
  • Lamassu at the British Museum and the Louvre
• More on the Pixiu:
  • From Cultural China
  • Legend of Pixiu from Visit Beijing
  • The Basic Principles of Feng Shui
  • Pixiu Meaning in Feng Shui

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

This episode explores one of the cleverest monsters on our list: the Nine-Tailed Fox of East Asian mythology! But how do you tell a kitsune from a huli jing from a gumiho? We'll try to sort it all out! The fox's reputation as a trickster is world-wide, though, so we'll also look at foxes in Aesop's Fables, medieval stories from France, and the folklore of Eastern Europe.

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 S3E3

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:

• More on Kitsune:
  • The Enigmatic Fox of Japanese Folklore
  • From Yokai.com
  • Legend of the Fox
  • The Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox
• More on Huli Jing:
  • The Supernatural Fox Sisters
  • Tale of the Huli Jing: A Feminist Story from Chinese Myth
• More on Gumiho:
  • From Gods and Monsters
  • From MythLok
• Other Asian Fox-Spirits
• Aesop's Fables about Foxes
• Reynard:
  • The Fox, the Trickster, the Peasant Hero
  • Reynard the Fox, Or Why the Best Robin Hood is a Fox

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

In this episode, we talk about monstrous and mythical forms a much-maligned animal: the wolf. We’ll begin with the biggest and most dangerous of them all: the Great Wolf Fenrir from Norse mythology, prophesied to destroy the world by swallowing the sun. We also look at fairy tale wolves, the raijū of Japanese folklore, and the crucial role that wolves play in many stories of indigenous North American cultures.

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 S3E2

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:

• More on Fenrir:
  • On Norse Mythology
  • Tyr and Fenrir on Mythopedia
  • The Binding of Fenrir
  • Fenrir on World History Encyclopedia
• Fairy Tale Wolves:
  • Fairy Tales with Wolves: A Falsely Maligned Villain?
  • Wolves in Aesop's Fables
  • Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault
  • The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
  • Versions of The Three Little Pigs
• Wolves of Indigenous North American Cultures
  • The Pawnee Creation Legend
  • Native American Wolf Mythology

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

Welcome to Season 3 of Myths & Muses! This season, we're focusing on monsters -- and, for better or worse, we've had some help in targeting which monsters to focus on from... Medusa. Because she's invited a bunch of them to our camps for our "Misunderstood Monsters" theme. You can see her first letter to us and the "tour poster" for the monsters on the World of Mythik theory board.

We're starting with Polyphemus, the one-eyed monster best known for getting blinded by Odysseus. Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant best known for the role he plays in the story of the Greek hero Odysseus. And because we're not sure we quite trust Medusa to have shown us her whole hand, we'll talk about some other giants from across the world, too!

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 S3E1

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:

• Polyphemus and Cyclopes:
  • Book 9 of The Odyssey
  • The Gigantomachy
  • The Laestrygonians
• • Jotnar:
    • Yggdrasil
    • Story of The Theft of Thor’s Hammer
    • Thyrsi and Skadi
  • Aztec giants:
    • The Quinametzin
    • More on the Quinametzin
    • Help with Nahuatl pronunciation

Stuff to Watch: See our curated playlist for this episode!

Season 3: Misunderstood Monsters starts on March 13th!

Medusa has thrown down a challenge: The Gauntlet of the Gorgon. She's invited twelve different monsters to visit Mythik Camps this summer! The Muses are super-excited about the potential for mayhem and the great stories that will come out of it. Since Medusa's given us a hint about which monsters will be coming, each episode of Season 3 will focus on one of them! ...And we're also going to cover a few more, just to be on the safe side.

With these stories, we hope demigods everywhere will be ready to face down monsters of all kinds, whether you’ve found your way to a camp or not. So if you are at Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, Daring Girls, or Camp Mythik this summer, you’ll need this information to prepare for the Quests of Medusa's Gauntlet – and if you’re not at camp, you need it even more since you’re out there as a solo hero. Who knows where those monsters might end up?

So make sure you’re subscribed! Episode One will be available to stream or download in two weeks, on March 13th, 2025!

Until then, stay brave, demigods!

In this episode of Myths & Muses, in honor of the holiday season, we explore monsters who prowl the snow and ice from the Himalayas to Austria, from the Great Lakes to Japan. From chilling terrors to mischievous troublemakers, we’ll tell you what to watch out for this winter!

Plus: Find out what has the Muses a little too excited about next summer’s potential adventures…

Visit the World of Mythik website to learn more!

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 2024 Holiday Bonus Episode

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!).

Stuff to Read:

• The letter from Medusa
• Book club sign-up link
• More on the Yeti
  • At How Stuff Works
  • The hunt for the Abominable Snowman: what's the history of the Yeti legend?
  • From Go to Tibet
  • PBS Storied: Monstrum
• Yuki-Onna
  • From Yokai.com
  • PBS Storied: Monstrum
  • Overly Sarcastic Productions: Fables and Folktales
• More on the Wendigo
• More on Krampus:
  • From History.org
  • Who is Krampus? National Geographic
  • PBS Storied: Monstrum
• Gryla, Yule Cat, and Yule Lads:
  • PBS Storied: Monstrum
  • Extra Mythology