RE-AIR: It Began With an STI, Origins of Athenian Theatre & Euripides’ Satyr Play, Cyclops

In celebration of all things Odyssey and Odysseus, we're re-airing the two part series on the ONLY surviving Satyr play... Euripides' Cyclops, a dick-filled farce version of Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus... Part 2 re-airing soon! Liv looks at some of the more phallic origins of theatre (hint, it's very phallic) and retells the only surviving Satyr play, Euripides' Cyclops. Help keep LTAMB going by subscribing to Liv's Patreon for bonus content! http://www.patreon.com/mythsbaby CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing. Sources: Euripides' Cyclops Companion by Carl A Shaw; Euripides' Cyclops from Six Classical Greek Comedies, translated by Kenneth McLeish and J. Michael Walton; Warwick entry on the Sanctuary of Dionysus https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/intranets/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clunap/#:~:text=In%20Mythology%20practice%20is%20said,affecting%20the%20genitalia%20of%20men. Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions http://mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. Learn more about Liv's next group trips https://travelbugxlivalbert.my.canva.site/ to GREECE! Application deadline is November 30 (Subject to change due to demand). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Liv Albert?

  Hey nerds, really quick note from me. I want to tell you that we now have the applications open for the next set of listener group trips. This is us going back to the original, the trips that we have held in the past that have been so much fun, so successful, and pretty affordable in terms of wandering around Greece with a bunch of nerds. So check out the details and get your applications in at mythsbaby.com/grouptrip.

• 0:57Liv Albert?

  Well, hello there, welcome. This is Let's Talk About Myths, baby, and I am your host, Liv, here with some unofficial Euripides content. That's right, I couldn't wait until September to talk more about Euripides, and I'm not going to apologize for it. Throughout September, Mikhail and I are diving into the life and work of the man himself, at least as much as that's even possible. But during that series, I won't be retelling any of his plays in detail, because there's too much else to look at. But when Mikhail and I were brainstorming what to cover for the rest of August, and just looking at his

• 1:35Liv Albert?

  plays, well, I just couldn't resist the temptation of the only surviving Seder play, which is of course by none other than Euripides. It's called The Cyclops.

• 1:51Liv Albert?

  But before we go into the phalloi-filled antics of Odysseus and Polyphemus and yeah, you heard me, right? I have a few things to mention. Firstly, oh my gods, how much do you all love the new podcast logo? It's perfect and I'm obsessed with it. It still has the same like myths, baby vibes, but it's a little fancier, a little more character focused and of course, a little more devoted to women in myth. So I have to give an enormous thanks to Sidney, otherwise known as the Angel Incarnate, for this incredible design. If you're curious, the figure on the left is a manad, you can tell because she's holding a thyrsis and a snake and she's badass. And then the figure on the right is of course Nike.

• 2:36Liv Albert?

  Victory. Just generally, I wanted a lady with wings because they look cool. They are both based on ancient pottery because I am a dork.

• 2:47Liv Albert?

  And of course, Sidney is also the creative mind behind the new Euripides art that you will see in your feeds, under the trailer that I released yesterday. But we will talk more about all of that in September, including so many more of her designs. But until then, yes, both the logo and its new characters, the Euripides art and even more will be available as merch very soon. I have already been asked and I love you all for it. Sidney's working on one more design before I release all the new pieces on a new merch store and provided things do well enough, we will be adding more. Either way, I really hope and plan to work with the Angel Incarnate many more times because these illustrations are incredible. So that's coming soon. Euripides is coming soon.

• 3:31Liv Albert?

  News on the next group tour. An updated website and merch store coming soon. And finally, ad-free subscription options will be coming soon. First, the group tour. We're still finalizing everything, but there are going to be two group trips in the works for next year. One will be the same itinerary as the one we did this past June, which featured a couple stops in different towns, longer trips and shifting hotels. And then the other will be shorter. We won't move hotels. It'll be staying in Athens and the surrounding areas and it will therefore be less expensive. Both of these trips though, will only be able to take 12 people each. So stay tuned for how to sign up to potentially be one of those total of 24.

• 4:17Liv Albert?

  My Instagram is the best way to stay up to date on this, but I will be sharing more on the podcast as soon as I know it. You could also watch mythsbaby.com/groups, which will be updated soon. It may not function right now. I forget what I've turned off as I switch over the branding. And now, just real quick, the ad-free options that are coming. So hopefully by the end of the month, or the very beginning of September, I will have available a new subscription offering. Basically, did I already say that you will be able to subscribe to ad-free episodes of the podcast on both Apple Podcasts and Patreon? With Patreon, you can access a podcast feed that works outside of the Apple app, so there are options for whatever

• 5:01Liv Albert?

  you're looking for. There will be also varied tiers of subscriptions. So you can get just the new episodes ad-free for the base level of support, or you can support the show with a bit more money and receive like the 600-plus past episodes I've done ad-free, along with a bonus series that Michaela and I will be creating for the subscription. We're calling the whole thing the Oracle Edition, and it has like a new logo and everything. The version, it's just, you know, new and different things, and I wanted to call it the Oracle. But it includes this twice-monthly series that we're calling Hermes Historia, where Michaela will spend half

• 5:43Liv Albert?

  an hour or so telling me about a historical, and I mean, let's be honest, sometimes mythological, topic that she's been obsessing over or has just learned. And you know that I will bring in myth wherever possible, so the new episodes will be everything you want them to be. Basically, I wanted kind of conversation-level vibes with a bit more casual alongside Michaela, and also, Michaela's doing the work. And so this is also a way to support Michaela, because I'm obviously giving her a cut, because I'm not ridiculous. And so just, as soon as I know more, I will share with you. There will be more things attached to the subscriptions, all those details and whatnot. We're just ironing everything out, so just stay

• 6:27Liv Albert?

  tuned. Again, the Instagram is the fastest way I can notify everybody, but I will be mentioning it on the show. The goal is to have it by like September 3rd, provided everything works out. Knock on wood. And to tail all of them, there is a satyr play to get to.

• 6:46Liv Albert?

  And, well, Seder plays are fucking wild and absolutely jam-packed with dicks.

• 7:08Liv Albert?

  This is episode 271. It began with an STI: Origins of Athenian Theater and Euripides' Seder Play Cyclops.

• 7:33Liv Albert?

  Yeah, I really had to with this title. Did I go too far? It remains to be seen. I don't care. So in order for the very concept of a Seder play to make any sense, we have to give a little background on the festivals in which they were performed. You know, I've talked a lot about ancient tragedy and the festival, the Great Dionysia, this largest theatrical festival in ancient Greece, and where most of the plays got their debut, or certainly, you know, just the most famous festival. There were so many. But we so rarely look at the Siders, and the Siders are so entwined. But they're so entwined mostly historically, so it's a little harder

• 8:12Liv Albert?

  to tease them out. And while they don't make the ancient Greeks look like these beacons of pure, unadulterated intelligence and founders of the Western civilization, and so, you know, they don't get talked about as much. But they say it started with the plague. They say the theatrical performance, the theatrical festival that was the famed, great Dionysia, started with the plague. But we might more accurately call it a breakout of STIs. There was an ancient

• 8:52Liv Albert?

  tradition associated with the founding of this city Dionysia, this great Dionysia in Athens, the festival of Dionysus.

• 9:02Liv Albert?

  And that ancient tradition says that people from a town of Eliphtherai, which became part of Attica, offered a statue of Dionysus to the Athenians. It's a kind of thanks and acknowledgement of joining the region of Attica. The Athenians, it's said, rejected this offering and in so doing were inflicted by Dionysus with a plague. A plague which, they say, only affected men's genitals.

• 9:41Liv Albert?

  And the men of ancient mythological Athens had their STI cleared right up when they introduced the cult of Dionysus, Eliphtherius, into the city. Dionysus, the Liberator.

• 9:53Liv Albert?

  I have not been able to find an ancient source for that, but I have found it in so many places that are all very reputable, so I'm saying it anyway, but oh, my kingdom for the source that talks about this STI plague. And so that is just one of the mythological backstories behind the fact that the very real Great Dionysia, the very real theatrical festival of the ancient world that was certainly the most important, if not the first, was just absolutely jam-packed with phalloe. Just dicks on sticks, as it were. And this procession of dicks on sticks, very appropriately called the Phallophoria.

• 10:39Liv Albert?

  Say it again, Phallophoria. Paraded through the city of Athens, carrying, as one of my sources puts it, quote, "a wooden statue representing Dionysus along with various bronze and wooden phallic icons."

• 10:56Liv Albert?

  The dicks are relevant, I promise. And so seder plays are a very specific sort of play. As you probably remember, Greek tragedies written for this great Dionysia were written and produced in threes. Or technically fours. They were tetralogies, three tragedies, and a seder play. The three tragedies were performed in succession, but remember, they weren't always like a cohesive trilogy. They were probably very rarely a cohesive trilogy. Instead, they were often just interconnected in some other way. Given what survives, though, it's tough for us to say, you know, how much that actually corresponded.

• 11:36Liv Albert?

  We do know, though, that the tradition of three tragedies was always followed by a fourth, shorter play. A seder play. And these plays, we think, were usually infused with "bawdy humor, bawdy humor," both spellings, I typed that and didn't realize how similar it would sound. "Bawdy," like B-A-W-D-Y, and "boddy," like B-O-D-Y. Both types of humor. And perhaps, you know, as a way to lighten the mood after a tragedy about, oh, I don't know, a woman melting royalty and killing her children.

• 12:14Liv Albert?

  You know, naturally, that should be followed by a fart joke or two made by an actor with a foot-long erect phallus projecting from his costume. Naturally. But only one seder play survives, so while we know they were very important and very widespread and just commonplace, we only have one. We know they loved the dicks, though. They drew it on everything. But the only seder play that survives is this one, Euripides's Cyclops. But from what we know, you know, we imagine it's likely that most seder plays had similar elements.

• 12:55Liv Albert?

  They would take an important tradition or myth and add seemingly unentirely unrelated saters. And the thing about adding saters to a story is that, well, it adds both comedy and horror and dicks. It adds a lot of dicks.

• 13:15Liv Albert?

  Saturs, you see, were half-human, half-sometimes horse, they say, or goat. They stood upright, by the later traditions, unlike centaurs, you know, who were more explicitly horse. Doesn't matter. They stood upright. They were half-animal, and, I quote, "generally depicted with human feet, but could have horses' hooves, especially in early Archaic depictions, and they were traditionally portrayed with an erect, horse-sized phallus, but could also have a more human-sized member."

• 13:48Liv Albert?

  Saturs are fun. And super-sexually violent, we have to just play off the fun in this case. Like I said, they're a little like centaurs. They're also a little like centaurs in the way that they're not really known by name, save for one: Silenus. Like Chiron of the centaurs, too, he's a little different from the rest. According to some traditions, Silenus was part of raising Dionysus as a child and served as a type of father figure. He doesn't figure into too many myths that survive in detail, so I haven't mentioned him that much, but visually, he's depicted with Dionysus very often, along with saturs, broadly. Dionysus really tended to hang out with women and saturs.

• 14:32Liv Albert?

  He wasn't really a fan of men, and I mean, do we blame him? There isn't too much else we need to know before diving into this entirely unique play. No, I haven't read it before, and yes, I am so excited for a play where all I know about it is that saturs, phalloi, Odysseus, and the cyclops polyphemus. That's all I know, and that's all I need to know.

• 14:58Liv Albert?

  Oh. And that we can reasonably believe that Silenus, and the saturs, and possibly the entire cast of characters, would have definitely been sporting comically-large, erect, phalloi.

• 15:12Liv Albert?

  It's very important that you imagine everyone on this stage thrusting and knocking into one another with their huge, weird dicks. Because classical Athens invented the high art of theater, you know. You're welcome, Broadway.

• 15:45Liv Albert?

  Silenus graces the stage and he sings for Dionysus. He sings of his history with the god, how the old man has aches and pains and it's all Dionysus's fault. He raised him after the god ran off, driven mad by Hera, abandoning everyone who was meant to care for him. Silenus tells us of more times that he's shared with Dionysus, how he fought alongside the god in the war with the giants. Quote, "What a time that was. You remember? I smashed Ankellitus right through the skull with my spear. Killed him, stone dead. What do you mean I dreamt it? Wasn't a dream when I showed Dionysus the spoils."

• 16:30Liv Albert?

  And he continues, "Ugh, it was Hera again, wasn't it?" Silenus, you know, very reasonably wonders if it's that goddess who's involved, like, Dionysus, he's looking for you. "Did she have you kidnapped by Tuscan pirates?" He asks. You know, he's heard about that and he'd set sail in search of his adoptive son, kidnapped by pirates. Dionysus, quote, "There I stood at the helm, guiding the ship while my boys strained at the oars, churning the blue sea white." The visuals are intentional, yes. Silenus goes on, he speaks of how he and his boys had been searching for Dionysus, and

• 17:15Liv Albert?

  they were close too, when an east wind drove them off course and on to the shores of Etna, where the sons of Poseidon live. Quote, "The cyclops, one-eyed cave dwellers, man-eaters." Silenus explains that one of the cyclops had captured him and his men. They were now forced to be the one-eyed giants' slaves. And the cyclops's name? Polyphemus, of course. Nobody could imagine otherwise. "No more Dionysian orgies for them," Silenus says sadly. "Now they are only enslaved shepherds." Quote, "They are down there now, my lads." "No, over there, at the foot of the mountain, minding the sheep.

• 18:00Liv Albert?

  So young, poor things." My lads, that is, not the sheep.

• 18:06Liv Albert?

  Silas goes on to say that he's still up in the cave tending to the filth there, and he's waiting to welcome Polyphemus and the boys, the lads, back. "I can see them now," he says, bringing in the sheep. Then he pauses, confused. Quote, "Hey, what are they up to? What's that clapping noise? I don't believe it. They're dancing. They're dancing the sakinis." And so in comes the singing and dancing chorus of satyrs. Dicks swinging.

• 18:40Liv Albert?

  They sing to the sheep, many stanzas to the sheep. They don't love the sheep, and we don't blame them. Still, the end, there are a handful of lines in this joyfully silly translation, which seem particularly interesting when we remember that this is a chorus of satyrs with swinging dicks.

• 18:59Liv Albert?

  Quote, "So sad. No more bacchus, no more dances, no more thursus waving bacchens, no more cymbals rowdy clash, no more happy wine jars splash, no more nymphs in headlong rush where the springing fountains gush. Too bad. I call on Dionysus, I sing to Aphrodite, I hunt her amidst the barefoot bacchens. Where do you wander, my Dionysus? Where do you shake your golden hair? I serve Polyphemus, I attend the one-eyed cyclops, I slave for him, tricked out in filthy goat skin. Where do you wander, my Dionysus? Starved of your love, I would that I were there."

• 19:56Liv Albert?

  This episode is brought to you by Quince. You know the drill. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, and premium stretch denim. I have been speaking into a microphone about Quince for a while now, and I have no complaints. I have a bunch of their stuff. I've got a couple cute sweaters that, I mean, it's nearing sweater season, so those will be back in the rotation anytime now. And I have this leather bag that I absolutely love. It's like this braided leather, and I use it like basically every day. Because

• 20:37Liv Albert?

  that's the thing, they have really great basics. Like, they have really great things that you can wear with so many other things. Just the options are endless. And as the weather gets colder, like all the sweaters in my closet, Quince has everything you need to round out your wardrobe, from warm, responsibly sourced down jackets and cozy cashmere scarves and gloves, to beautiful 14-karat gold jewelry that adds the perfect finishing touch. And of course, everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality, not brand markup. And if we haven't learned anything in the last 10 years, isn't

• 21:18Liv Albert?

  it just getting rid of the middlemen, you know? Making things more affordable. So find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was me. Let's talk about myths, baby. It's the best way to support the show.

• 21:49Speaker 01

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 21:55Speaker 02

  Love the crown molding.

• 21:57Speaker 01

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 22:00Speaker 02

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet?

• 22:04Speaker 01

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 22:08Speaker 02

  No FiOS? Yeah, no, thank you.

• 22:11Speaker 01

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye-bye.

• 22:14Speaker 03

  Get Verizon FiOS, because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 22:24Speaker 01

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 22:30Speaker 02

  Love the crown molding.

• 22:31Speaker 01

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 22:35Speaker 02

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 22:39Speaker 01

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 22:43Speaker 02

  No FiOS? Yeah, no thank you.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye-bye.

• 22:49Speaker 03

  Get Verizon FiOS, because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 23:11Liv Albert?

  Silenus shushes the chorus of dick-swinging satyrs when he sees a ship on the shore in the distance. "It's Greek," he says, "and they're headed this way with their leader." "They probably have no idea where they're headed, or they wouldn't be headed this way," he says. "But let's keep quiet until we know who they are and how they ended up here in Sicily."

• 23:35Liv Albert?

  And of course, the men in the distance are none other than Odysseus and his men. You remember this moment from The Odyssey, I hope, when Odysseus gets himself into a little trouble on the island of the Cyclops? Nobody should be able to forget this moment. And now, well, Euripides is giving us a version with an infusion of satyrs. And... Okay, fine, I'm gonna cool it with the dick jokes for like, a minute. Silenus greets the men. He asks who they are and where they're from. So Odysseus replies, he says, in what I can imagine was a comedically proud tone, quote, "I am Odysseus, king of the Cephalonians. Odysseus from Ithaca."

• 24:19Liv Albert?

  You know, just in case the audience of Athenians forgot one of their most important cultural figures, he's gotta say it twice, you know? That's the joke, too. And it's one that suits Odysseus and his established personality just fine. Because Silenus's reply is to say, quote, "I've heard of you. Son of Sisyphus and a right rattle."

• 24:39Liv Albert?

  To which Odysseus basically says, "Watch yourself, old man." Silenus will not be watched, though he just asks where Odysseus was coming from before he ended up there, again, in Sicily. And when Odysseus tells him that he's come from Troy, from the Trojan War, Silenus replies, quote, "Troy? You can't be much of a navigator if you're heading for Ithaca."

• 25:04Liv Albert?

  Yeah, he's a sea too far. Can't you just picture the pout on Odysseus's face like, "Dude, you're in Sicily." "Ya came from Turkey." I imagine he grumbles here before saying that a strong wind drove him there. "Oh, well, us too," Silenus says before explaining that he and his boys were hunting the pirates who'd kidnapped Dionysus. "It's a much better reason to be there, Odysseus." And Odysseus appears to have just no opinion on this at all, which, again, is very Odysseus. He just asks, like, where they are and, "Does anyone live around here?" So Silenus explains, "This is Sicily, that mountain there is Etna, there are no people, there is no city." "The island is ruled by the cyclops," he tells Odysseus.

• 25:49Liv Albert?

  And when Odysseus asks where they live, since he doesn't see any fortifications, Silenus says, "They don't live in houses, but caves." And, quote, "They're a solitary lot. There's none of them pays no attention to nobody."

• 26:06Liv Albert?

  You see what he did there? Like, we're on the same page. It's a really easy joke, Liv.

• 26:13Liv Albert?

  Odysseus is rightfully insufferable here, and this translation, honestly, just delightful. He asks if the inhabitants are into democracy, and when he's told that they live in those caves, he tries to insult them by suggesting that they must have only a cereal crop economy.

• 26:31Liv Albert?

  I mean, Ahab, but Odysseus? I don't know. After that, and a note from Silenus that this is a terrible place with no wine. Odysseus still assumes he's likely to be given a warm welcome as a guest. To which Silenus just says, quote, "If they're juicy, they eat them." Eat them? Odysseus can't quite believe it, but Silenus confirms, quote, "Yes, they eat them. All comers." It's a lot of great wordplay here, not that we'd expect any less. Odysseus takes the threat of flesh-eating giants seriously. We're proud of him for that. And when he hears the cyclopses out on the mountain with his hunting dogs, Odysseus decides, okay, well, they'd better hurry up.

• 27:14Liv Albert?

  But he needs a favor first. He's like, "We have no supplies." So first he asks for bread, but there's only meat, cheese, and milk. "How much do you have to pay us for it?" Silenus asks. "Uh, well," Odysseus says, humming and hawing, "we don't have money per se, but we've got a special wine." This, unsurprisingly, has Silenus's attention. And when Odysseus explains that it is a wine that was a present from Dionysus's own son, Maron, Silenus is absolutely pumped. Like, they'd missed wine most of all, and Silenus happened to like care for Maron when he was a child. He was basically the kid's babysitter. Like, "Ah, it's just perfect."

• 28:00Liv Albert?

  "That wine is on your ship, then?" Silenus asks. Like, "You don't happen to have it on you?" Like, he is eager. "Oh, I guess I do," Odysseus says and offers Silenus this wine skin that he'd been holding.

• 28:14Liv Albert?

  Uh, Silenus, though, he's not excited by what he's seeing here. Like, "There's barely enough for a mouthful," he says. But Odysseus reassures him. He's like, "It's strong enough to take you down, old man." To which Silenus says, quote, "You're talking liquid pleasure."

• 28:33Liv Albert?

  So he takes a sip and, "Oh, it's good." Quote, "Oh, that takes me back. Oh, I say, oh my, what a bouquet." Silenus is very, very into this wine. I mean, he's been with Dionysus since the god of wine was just a very small child. So like, we cannot blame him. And, "Oh, is the wine good?" He's had one sip and, quote, "Yes, mm, yes. Feet, Dionysus says, you gotta dance." Da, da, dee, da, da, da.

• 29:11Liv Albert?

  That, that was all a quote. I just want to make that clear. Oh, it is so good. Silenus is just consumed by this wine. He is desperate for more. And when Odysseus offers payment in money, instead Silenus will just, will have none of it. Only the wine. Instead, he's willing to give Odysseus like basically anything he wants in exchange for just a little more of that wine. Quote, "Anything, anything. What does a cyclops matter? Just one more mouthful or I'll go crazy. You can buy the flock, the whole lot, and I'll go jump in the sea off Lucidian Rock so long as I can get tanked up to the eyeballs first.

• 29:51Liv Albert?

  Anyone who doesn't like drinking must be, must be out of his mind. With a drink inside you, you can face the world erect. Grab yourself a fistful of tit and let your hands roam free over some of those soft acres. Bit of dancing, begone dull care. Give me one more slurp at the skin and I'll tell that big dumb cyclops what he can do with his eye socket."

• 30:26Liv Albert?

  While Silenus is just going absolutely wild for that wine, like that was a full quote, just to be very clear. That was just a quote. This play is amazing. He was dreaming of fistfuls of tits, hands roaming over soft acres. And the chorus asks Odysseus about Troy.

• 30:46Liv Albert?

  Frankly though, I mean, I'd like more of this particular drunken dick-swinging satyr. But we must interact with the myth, so the chorus asks Odysseus if he- "You really take Troy? Did you really get Helen back?" "Oh yeah, we sacked Troy and took all of Priam's kingdom," Odysseus tells them. To which the chorus says, "In what I trust is a bit of, um, Euripidean commentary."

• 31:16Liv Albert?

  Quote, "And when you got her, did you all give her a bang, did you? Give her what she wanted? Bet she enjoyed it, did she? The bitch. One look at some fancy trousers and a gold medallion and bye-bye Menelaus. Poor little chap. They ought to abolish women, the whole lot of them, but leave a few for me."

• 31:39Liv Albert?

  So yeah, satyrs. They have a reputation.

• 31:44Liv Albert?

  Well, to say that? While horrifying though, like, this feels very on-brand for Euripides and his commentary and this satyr vibe. There's a lot of sexual violence associated with the satyrs. I shouldn't be laughing, I just have to. And this line, I mean, in all its horror, it's still funny. Clever in its misogyny? This is, after all, not a tragedy, but instead, quite literally, where we get the concept of satire. Satyr satire, you get it. Silenus interrupts to offer Odysseus, "Sheep, cheese, literally whatever, so long as he leaves the wine behind." But then, whoops, there's a cyclops coming now.

• 32:25Liv Albert?

  To which Odysseus says, quote, "I think we're in trouble, old chap. Where can we run to?" Silenus suggests the cave, that, you know, they can hide in there. But Odysseus, Odysseus, he's not interested in hiding. Quote, "Flee, a single man. I who faced a thousand Trojans in the field? Hide? Never. Defeated Troy would weep to see me."

• 32:49Liv Albert?

  Again, origin of the concept of satire. This Odysseus is over the top. He is the Odysseus we know in hate to love slash love to hate, but amplified. He won't hide?

• 33:03Liv Albert?

  And so, the cyclops, Polyphemus, enters his cave and speaks his first lines. Quote, "Come on, shift yourselves. What's going on? You're not on your holidays. This all looks a bit backhick, a bit Dionysiac to me. We'll have no Dionysus here, thanks very much. None of your ding-dongs and your rat-a-tat-tats. How's my little lambs in the cave? Having a proper suckle? Are they snuggling up under their mothers like they should? Is there a full complement of cheeses in the wicker? Speak up. What do you say? Quick, or it'll be the club in tears time. Head up, don't look down."

• 33:42Liv Albert?

  Polyphemus speaks with the chorus just a little while, you know, they're his slaves and so he goes through their tasks and he asks what's for breakfast? You know, if they've handled milking, the usual, I don't know, I'm not a farmer. But then, he notices the strangers at the mouth of the cave and says, quote, "Been overrun with crooks and cutthroats." I don't know why my voice is like that for Polyphemus. Uh, when he notices Silenus though, he, he also adds, quote, "And the old fellow with his meat beaten by the looks of him." And I'll say it again. "And the old fellow with his meat beaten by the looks of him." Yeah, you heard me. Remember, raging hard-ons and dick jokes are the true origin of theater.

• 34:27Liv Albert?

  Silenus, it seems, looks pretty rough, but he's ready to play it up too. He starts to complain, moan about being in pain, he says, when asked, "That it was the strangers who beat him up when he tried to stop them from stealing from Polyphemus." He explains that he even told Odysseus and the other strangers that Polyphemus was the son of a god, but, he says, quote, "Those lambs over there, there was nothing I could do. They said they'd put you in a pillory three yards high and extract your entrails through your eye socket and give your back a good flaying and tie you up to the rowing bench on their ship and sell you off as a navvy or labor over the treadmill. That sort of thing."

• 35:06Liv Albert?

  Is that right? Polyphemus replies. Surely you can hear the anger in his voice. He orders that his cleavers and knives be sharpened, that a nice big fire be fed, that he's going to, quote, "slit their throats and barbecue the best bits to take the edge off my appetite. Stew the rest, I'm fed up with mountain meat."

• 35:28Liv Albert?

  To which, Silenus adds, riling him up even more. Quote, "That's the ticket, master, be adventurous. The old menu's so boring. It's a while since we've had visitors at this establishment."

• 35:42Liv Albert?

  And that, that's when Odysseus finds it in himself to step in and say something. Silenus is fucking with him. So Odysseus tries to explain that, you know, they arrive looking for food, that they'd plan to pay for it. Sure. He says that Silenus traded the lambs in exchange for wine, that everyone was in agreement, there was no issue. Odysseus tells Polyphemus that, you know, it's Silenus who's lying. Oh, no, no, no, Silenus jumps in. He assures Polyphemus, he's not lying, he swears it. Quote, "By your father Poseidon, by Triton, by Nereus and his daughters, and by Calypso, by the sacred waves of the sea and all the little fishes. Dear handsome Cyclops, old friend, boss, what can I say? Would I sell your stuff?

• 36:27Liv Albert?

  Let my lads come to a bad end if I tell a lie. You know much how much I love them." Seder plays are fucking wild. Do I need to remind you all again that everyone on the stage has a comically large erect phallus attached to their costume?

• 36:44Liv Albert?

  I will. At this, the chorus jumps in to say that they did actually see Silenus selling things to these strangers. So...

• 36:55Liv Albert?

  No. The Cyclops trusts Silenus, he says, that is that. But he does have questions for the strangers. Where are you from? Where are you going? Ah, Odysseus replies, again, I assume haughtily, as he does. He tells Polyphemus that he and his men are from Ithaca, but they're coming from Troy. "Ohhh," he says, "I've heard of you. You're the ones who went off to Troy, all for Helen."

• 37:26Liv Albert?

  He has a lot of strong feelings about the war, uh, how, about how the whole region was destroyed all for a woman. Euripides' interest in Helen alongside the war is, I'm really fascinated by it. I don't have time to get into it in this play, but one of these days. It's the war, though, that's the focus here. Polyphemus seems to think that it was a stupid war and he has no time for it, which, like, honestly, respect. This is Odysseus he's dealing with, though, uh, and boy, does Odysseus have a lot of things to say about the war. Big surprise. He launches into a whole speech about mortals not being at fault for the war, how it was all the gods doing. Good idea, Odysseus, this is gonna go super well for you.

• 38:05Liv Albert?

  He turns to kissing Polyphemus's ass, going on and on about how, oh, he has the child of Poseidon, and, oh, Odysseus, he loves Poseidon, he respects Poseidon! He names a bunch of holy places, sanctuaries of the god, he says that he and the Greeks have protected all of them. Like, he's just so in love with Poseidon. He calls upon Cassenia, reminding Polyphemus that by the laws of gods and mortals, guests should be treated kindly. You know, uh, that guests should be given food and clothes, and, you know, um, he should really not, quote, "push an ox bit up them and kebab them for breakfast."

• 38:47Liv Albert?

  And then again, uh, Odysseus actually has the nerve to suggest that Troy, um, Troy has done enough damage to the Greeks. That, you know, they don't need a cyclops gorging on the leftovers. He asks him to choose the decent path. Not more violence, no!

• 39:07Liv Albert?

  To which Silenus, who appears to have just entirely turned on Odysseus in a deeply entertaining way, says, quote, "Take my advice, Cyclops. Don't leave a scrap of him. Swallow his tongue. Then you'll become as big a bullshitter as he is."

• 39:25Liv Albert?

  Polyphemus is pissed. Uh, he seems less interested in Silenus's opinion and more just like not into giving Odysseus any mercy. He launches into an incredible little speech about just like not caring. He's like, "I'm not afraid of Zeus." He's like, "I got all I want. Uh, if I want something, I take it. When I need something, I take it." Quote, "And if Zeus thunders at me, I wank in his face."

• 39:55Liv Albert?

  You heard me. I'm not saying it again. And no, the other translations I've referred to don't quite make it so blunt, but I'm here for this one, so...

• 40:04Liv Albert?

  Polyphemus keeps going. He lists so many reasons why Zeus does not matter to him, why he won't change anything about what he's doing. Except, quote, "Just in case there are rules of hospitality, so as to protect myself, as it were. I can offer you a fire and a cauldron of salty water to boil the flesh off your bones nicely. Now creep off in there and show a little respect to my household god. Reverence the altar of me."

• 40:35Liv Albert?

  I kind of love this version of Polyphemus. He's wild. And this Odysseus, like, he just gets whinier too. He cries out, quote, "The pains I bore at Troy and on the sea, only to be shipwrecked against the rude and inhospitable heart of this unruly creature."

• 40:55Liv Albert?

  And then he calls to Athena, begging for her help. And then to Zeus, god of hospitality, quote, "Sitting up there in the stars, take a look at this one. For if you cannot see what's going on here, you're not much of a Zeus, and that's a fact."

• 41:27Liv Albert?

  Oh nerds, what a time. Seder plays are nice and short, so this one will be only two parts. Um, I hope too to do some more digging into the cultural and historical context around this genre of play for next week when we finish off this incredible, I don't even know what to do with it, like it's just so silly. Um, the thing about Seder plays is like they're much more unknown than the traditional tragedies. For so many reasons, but you know, the fact that this is the only one that survives is a big one. And I'm, I'm kind of obsessed now with the idea of like what the other plays might have been like, like was it tradition to take a piece of myth that is so like widespread and like so culturally important and then change it like so distinctly, adding the

• 42:11Liv Albert?

  Seder character into the storyline and like playing with it, I mean, that certainly lends itself to the etymological link too, doesn't it? Like, again, this is where we get satire. I will find out more about that because I didn't look it up, I just know it. And again, so yeah, hopefully more on that next week. My days have been so utterly consumed by preparing all of these fun new things and just like having a ball on my Instagram with fun new designs, um, that I haven't had time for much else, but it'll all be worth it when in just a few short weeks, we begin to pick apart the genius and the bizarre mind of Euripides. I absolutely cannot wait. As always, let's finish off with a five star review from one of you amazing listeners. I'm also starting to post reviews on my Instagram along with photos of Greek cats.

• 42:57Liv Albert?

  Because I have, I honestly have hundreds and hundreds of photos of Greek cats. And so why the hell not to like leave a review and follow me on Instagram and then maybe you'll see yourself featured on a photo of an adorable Greek kitty.

• 43:11Liv Albert?

  This one comes from a user called DynamiteGirl13 from Mexico. Amazing, you explained the myth so well and you add your own humor and personal touches. This is definitely my favorite podcast and I have to say that I do not mind at all about your political opinions. I actually love how you made me aware of all the problems in our world and that you use your platform to make your voice heard. Thank you, that's really sweet. I'm glad that that's appreciated because I am incapable of not having political opinions. Thank you all, as always. More soon. Uh, there's just so much happening and for once I'm more excited than I am anxious. Let's Talk Up Myth, baby, is written and produced by me, Liv Albert. Michaela Smith is the Hermes to my Olympian, my assistant producer. Oh my God, she's just doing so much these days. She's rocking it. Select

• 43:54Liv Albert?

  music in this episode was by Luke Chaos. The podcast is part of the iHeart Podcast Network. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. That reminds me, I'm gonna say about this more, uh, maybe rerecord a little bit, but I'm featured on Apple Canada's creators we love. So that's pretty cool. Um, where was I? Not even gonna read the thing about Patreon. You guys are getting full back behind the scenes here because also news about the subscription. It's probably gonna adjust Patreon somehow. If you're currently a patron, stay tuned. Um.

• 44:29Liv Albert?

  And that's how a professional ends the credits. I am Liv and I love this shit. I, I mean, it's endless. Like, I'm never running out of new stuff. This thing is wild.

• 44:53Speaker 04

  Enemy of My Dreams by Jenny Williamson is a historical romance novel set in the time of the late Roman Empire, where Alaric, a brutal Gothic warlord, and Julia, a Roman princess with a love of good wine, team up to take down Rome.

• 45:11Speaker 05

  The much awaited sequel, Game of Thieves, comes out December 8th. In this sequel, Julia and Alaric must overcome centuries of conflict to work together, or the turbulent riptides of rebellion and the demons of their past will tear them apart.

• 45:24Speaker 04

  And now, for a limited time, when you preorder Game of Thieves through Burning Pages Bookstore, you'll get a signed book plate and a free art print of one of Jenny's favorite spicy scenes from across the series.

• 45:38Speaker 05

  Get this amazing artwork only from Burning Pages at burningpagesnc.com/game-of-thieves. Don't wait. Order your copy from Burning Pages today at burningpagesnc.com/game-of-thieves.