Woman, You Speak Like a Sensible Man! Aeschylus' Agamemnon (Part 1)

Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! | Greek Mythology & the Ancient Mediterranean

Liv Albert

Comedy, History, Arts

4.6 • 5.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's time, nerds. We're diving into tragedy of tragedies, Aeschylus' Agamemnon... Perhaps more appropriately called, The Clytemnestra Show. Pre-order Liv's Odyssey adaptation (!!!), The Odyssey: a Modern Retelling. Submit your question for the next Q&A via email or a voice note. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby. Enter our podcast guest form if you'd like to be on the show as a conversation guest!

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I try to provide direct warnings when there is reference to anything with overtly traumatic themes but be aware that Greek mythology regularly features assault, death, and many other potentially triggering events.

Sources: Agamemnon by Aeschylus, primarily using translations by Anne Carson (from An Oresteia) and Sarah Ruden (from The Greek Plays); translation and original Greek from Perseus Project; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz; Topostext.

Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.

Learn more about Liv's next group trip to GREECE, this time following along with Ariadne's escape from Theseus. Pre-order Liv's new book, The Odyssey: a Modern Retelling. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, nerds, I'm just here with a quick bit of news. So if you've ever thought of splurging on a trip to a couple of Greek islands and Athens, and you want to do it with me in October of this year, check the link in this episode's description or go to mythsbaby.com slash group trip for more information. It's happening.
0:20.0	Highlights include following in Ariadne's footsteps as she flees the dreaded Theseus.
0:25.6	Mythsbaby.com slash grouptrip.
1:07.2	Music The Oh, hi, hello there. This is Let's Talk About Myths, Baby, and I am that host of yours, the woman with all the opinions.
1:12.9	Live. I told you I wanted to go back to the mythological basics. It's been so long since I've dedicated myself to these regular scripted episodes. And I just, I wanted it to be fun
1:17.7	rather than horrifying or depressing. And as I write that, I don't necessarily think I avoided
1:22.5	those topics when picking out our next play. But I do think that we're going to have a blood
1:27.4	soaked ball with this one. And there is concerns. when picking out our next play. But I do think that we're going to have a blood-soaked ball
1:28.7	with this one. And there is considerably less trauma than elsewhere. God. Yesterday I was
1:37.4	poking around my translations of plays, because if you can believe it, I have a collection.
1:41.9	I was trying to just find some inspiration.
1:50.2	First Hippolytus came to mind, but the tragedy of that one is just, it's not the time, I think.
1:51.0	It's not the time.
1:54.7	I will cover Hippolytus eventually, but we just need to be in a better place. But then, then my eyes fell on one of the most intriguing translation editions that I have. Anne Carson's,
2:03.7	Anne Orastaya. See, the Orostia is, of course, the collective name for the series of plays
2:10.7	revolving around the Kingdom of Argos after the Trojan War. Agamemnon's return, his death,
2:16.1	and his children's vengeance against their mother.
2:18.3	But from a historical perspective, the overall concept of the Orostia, or rather, an, orostia
2:25.9	is utterly unique. See, this series of events is the only topic for which plays survive
2:32.3	from all three surviving tragedians, Escalis, Sophocles, and Euripides.
2:38.5	So it is the only story where we have the same overall narrative told by all of them.
2:48.1	Iskalus came first, and his trilogy is by far the most famous by like a lot. His
	...

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