Garner's Greek Mythology

... Welcome to Episode 22, SATYRS & A CYCLOPES  You’ve probably heard of satyrs , but not thought beyond their strange appearance. They are the combination of 4 or 5 animals, including humans. The big difference between satyrs and humans, though, is in their approach toward life.  In this episode, satyrs collide with a one-eyed giant called a cyclopes--as well as encountering Greece's wil...

  ... Welcome to Episode 21, Oedipus & the Sphinx ..  This episode features the story of Oedipus, an extraordinarily tragic figure in Greek mythology who tries to do his best, but is bested by the Fates .  He meets the Sphinx—not the Egyptian version but the divine sphinx that terrified the Greeks in the city of Thebes. She killed man after man by posing impossible riddles. All who failed to a...

New stories about the gods!   Homo Divinitas , by podcaster Patrick Garner, is now available on Amazon as an audible book! ... Welcome to Episode 20. We’re taking a short break from our usual episodes to hear Chapter 1 of the audible book, Homo Divinitas.   It has the same Greek gods you love, but they show up in the modern world where they meddle and maneuver as they always have.  Homo Divinitas...

  ... Welcome to Episode 19. This episode focuses on a woman who was, perhaps, the most powerful in all of Greece. The daughter of the sun god, Helios, Medea was a sorceress and the infamous wife of Jason, the hero and leader of the Argonauts … Medea was really the mastermind of all of Jason’s heroic acts. Without her he would have been nothing. With her he became one of Greece’s most famous warri...

... Welcome to Episode 18. Here we open Pandora’s Box, and inside, to our horror, we find ... the Fates and the Furies . All divine, the Three Fates and the Three Furies were daughters of the ancient being Nyx , who was herself the daughter of Chaos … The Fates presided at every birth, determining a mortal’s lifespan and occupation. The Furies were enforcers of natural laws and enacted vengeance o...

  ... Welcome to Episode 17.  In this podcast we enter the extraordinary world of nymphs . These semi-divine beings were young girls who populated and protected every waterway, spring and sacred grove. They were not deathless, but could live for centuries, and were found throughout Greece, Sicily, Crete and on all the Cycladic islands of the Aegean sea … Because they appeared as young girls, etern...

  ... Welcome to Episode 16 , where we linger on the mysterious island of Aeaea with the goddess Circe . She trafficked in herbs and magical spells, and became infamous for turning sailors who stumbled onto her beaches into wolves, and wolves into swine, and swine into snakes … Circe’s lasting fame arose during the year the wily Odysseus spent in her company. He had hoped to swiftly return home as...

  ... Welcome to Episode 15, where we travel back to Athens in our mythology time machine for one grand purpose: We seek to experience the famous Eleusinian Mysteries .  The Mysteries were a must-attend, life-or-death ritual. Those who participated successfully were assured of a pleasant afterlife. And those who did not attend were herded by Hades into a dismal place equivalent to Hell … A gift to...

... Welcome to Episode 14 where we look at the adventures — and the strangely modern travails — of the wine-god, Dionysos , whom the Romans called Bacchus. An ancient being, he was the exotic god of ecstasy and dance. The inventor of theater and wine, he was alternately celebrated and feared. Whereas many of the Olympic gods exploited women, he was their liberator. And his marriage to the princess...

... Welcome to Episode 13. How many of us know the god Hephaistos? You may think of him as Vulcan… but that's the Roman rebranding of the god who was known by the ancient Greeks as the fire-god. He was the god who turned his disability into a genius that wowed the gods and men alike. His seemingly endless creations were almost unimaginable. Robots called automatons roamed his workshops &...

... Welcome to Episode 12. We start with everybody's friend, the winged-foot god Hermes ... He's the god of fertility and guide to the underworld… the patron god of thieves and dreams. Then we shift to the queen of the heavens, Hera , who was married to Zeus and takes the crown as the most vindictive wife in history...  and to her counterpart, Hestia , the goddess of home and hearth who...

... Welcome to Episode11. Listen as we wander in the shadows of ancient crossroads with the goddess Hekate , the patron of today’s witches. She was as close a friend to Hades as she was to the divine huntress, Artemis. We finish the second half of the episode in the company of the god of war, the remorseless Ares . Hekate easily slipped between the world of the living and the dead. And whereas Hek...

... In our 10th episode we meet  The Pythia, perhaps Greece's most astonishing figure .  She served as Apollo's voice of prophesy.  And unsurprisingly, she was never wrong. You may have heard her referred to as the Delphic Oracle, because she lived in Delphi, which the Greeks considered the center of the world The Pythia was considered infallible, and indeed, for a period exceeding 1,000...

... In our best  installment yet (and our 9th episode) , we meet  Aphrodite. You might think of her as Venus, but the Greeks knew her as Aphrodite, the eternal Goddess of Love. Her origins are amazing, and her decision to devote herself to the arts of love are an amazing decision, as you will see. What happened to this seductress? Reassuringly, nothing. Of all the gods and goddesses, Aphrodite rem...

... In the 8th episode of Garner's Greek Mythology , we meet  Zeus' two brothers, Poseidon and Hades . The first was the Lord of the Sea, and the second? The dark Lord of the Underworld. Poseidon , known to the Romans as Neptune, ruled all waters. When crossed he could create earthquakes and rake shorelines with mighty tsunamis. Sailors sacrificed to him to ensure calm seas and safe pass...

... This is episode 7 of Garner's Greek Mythology.   Apollo was the god of prophesy and healing. Known as the sun-god, he founded the famous temple in Delphi from which the Pythia issued warnings and prophesies for more than 1200 years. Apollo also established centers for healing throughout Greece. Yet like his sister Artemis, he was a god of contradictions. For instance, if infuriated he cou...

... This is episode 6 of Garner's Greek Mythology.  What a journey! Here we discuss Artemis , the protector of girls, women and all things that suckle--yet, we learn that she was also a skilled hunter.  Like Athene and the gods, this goddess was riddled with contradictions. The Romans in their infuriating way renamed her Diane ... She was a proud virgin goddess. Whereas Aphrodite--the goddess...

... This is episode 5 of Garner's Greek Mythology.  Here we discuss Athene, the so-called rational goddess of war. Was she? Hardly. Like all the gods she was complex and riddled with contradictions. Her stories are frequently those of passion and outrage. Reason was often set aside by this goddess who was considered the most intelligent of all the Olympic gods. Her sternness masked her fierce...

... In this episode 4 of Garner's Greek Mythology, we look at Zeus, the greatest Olympic god. He's best revealed through his many stories--and the episode is filled with them. Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series. The series views these divine beings as if they were anything but mythical.....

... You‘ve heard of Zeus, Apollo and Aphrodite. In  episode 3 we explore the Greek creation story and learn of a divinity who has made the world and has the power to kill gods at her whim. Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series. The series views these divine beings as if they were anything but mythica...

... Episode two  examines what really happened to the revered Greek gods and where they are today. Historians treat them as fantasies, as "myths." Here we suspend our disbelief and explore why the gods were never myths ;  here, too, we follow them as they slowly retreat during the collapse of the Roman empire--and wander into other pursuits as a new religion slowly subverts the old. Narr...

In Garner's Greek Mythology , we discover that the Greek gods never left! They’re here, now and operating in our modern world. It’s a wildly entertaining exploration that makes today’s world come alive. Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series as the podcasts view these divine beings as if they wer...