As a heads up, this episode has violence, death, and sexual assault.

In case those are sensitive topics, you can find more detail in the episode post at mythpodcast.com.

This week on Myths and Legends, it's a tale about Romulus and Remus.

Two brothers with an interesting past. We'll hear all about their origin and learn why my

four-year-old is right. Sometimes a bath is not a good idea. Then, on the creature of the week,

it's the mimic dog, a friendly pup who won't stop bugging you about coming to see his improv show.

This is Myths and Legends, episode 142A. Glory.

This is a podcast where I tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly

popular stories you think you know, but with surprising origins. Of those stories that might be

new to you, but are definitely worth listening. This week, we're starting in the mythical legends

of the city of Rome. Some are around the 8th century BC, for context, we're about 400 years

after Troy, a super important event for the Romans and other mythologies in Europe.

Rome traces its origins to a guy named Aeneas, who fled Troy as it burned. We won't dive into

the story of Aeneas today, because it only tangentially relates to that of Romulus and Remus,

and it fits much better as an epic story for us to tell post-Iliad. Now, when it comes to Romulus

and Remus, you may know this story as that of two babies, nursing off a she-wolf, and yes,

two babies absolutely suckle the she-wolf, but that's only part of the story. There's also

a court intrigue, murder, revenge, and one man's slow descent from a decent ruler to a mad tyrant.

Aeneas wept, his father, the king of Albalonga, in modern day Italy, looked up at him,

struggling to mouth words. Aeneas knew the message he was trying to say. Numitor, where was Numitor,

where was his heir? The king's son swallowed hard, but he didn't answer. He didn't need to.

It was already happening. In that moment, the look in his father's eyes morphed from confusion to

...