The Great Myths

An episode from 5/20/24: Tonight, after a long hiatus, we return to Norse myth with the story of Sigurd’s killing of the dragon, Fafnir. Couched in a much longer narrative that contains shape-shifting, war, revenge, brief appearances by Odin and Loki, and finally Sigurd’s ability to hear the language of birds and animals, it is a brilliant and vivid example of storytelling in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. I read from the two great sources of the story, the Volsung Saga (in the Jesse Byock translation) and Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda (in the Anthony Faulkes translation). I also discuss the history of the story, and its reworking in the Nibelungenlied, and Wagnerian opera. Listen to the other Great Myths here. You can support Human Voices Wake Us here, or by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 5/15/23: What can the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Icelandic sagas, and skaldic poetry tell us about the most important god in the Norse pantheon, Odin? Tonight, I devote an entire episode to Odin’s many masks: as poet and shaman, as god of death and war, and as the perfect embodiment of the world as the Norse knew it, filled with brutality and betrayal. The episode is divided into three sections: (about 5:37) On Odin and poetry; a reading of the most famous stanzas from the Havamal, and the story of Odin’s theft of the Mead of Poetry (about 58:07) On Odin and warfare, death (about 1:22:06) What archeology, and classical and medieval historians, can tell us about Odin The nonfiction books I rely on for most of this episode are E. O. G. Turville-Petre’s Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia, Rudolf Simek’s ⁠Dictionary of Northern Mythology⁠, and John Lindow’s ⁠Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals & Beliefs⁠. The translations I read from are: ⁠⁠Andy Orchard’s translation of the Poetic Edda, ⁠Anthony Faulkes⁠’s and ⁠Jesse Byock⁠’s translations of the Prose Edda, and Lee M. Hollander’s translation of the Heimskringla. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 12/23/22: How did the Viking Norse tell a story as important as Ragnarok (the end of the world) in poetry, and then in prose? What does prose require that poetry does not, and vice-versa, especially when the accounts we have are separated by centuries of historical change, and religious conversion?  In this third episode on Norse Mythology, I read the story of Ragnarok from the Prose Edda (dating to c. 1220), and then its corresponding section in the poem Voluspa (c. 1000) in the Poetic Edda. Each section is preceded by the story of the death of Odin's son, Balder, which in many ways precipitated Ragnarok. I also read from a later poem, Balder's Dreams (c. 1300). The translation of the Poetic Edda (and Balder's Dreams) that I read from is by Andy Orchard, and the Prose Edda by Anthony Faulkes. The commentary I read from throughout the episode comes from the translation and commentary by Ursula Dronke. The essential reference books on Norse myth that I will be using for this series are John Lindow’s Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals & Beliefs, Rudolf Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology, and Andy Orchard’s Cassell Dictionary of Norse Myth & Legend. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 10/19/22: In this second episode on Norse Mythology, I read from the creation myths found in the poem, “Voluspa,” found in the Poetic Edda, and from its corresponding sections in the Prose Edda. I also read from commentaries on these sections. The translation of the Poetic Edda that I read from is by ⁠Andy Orchard⁠, and the Prose Edda by ⁠Anthony Faulkes⁠. The commentary I read from on the Poetic Edda, for the last half hour of the episode, comes from the translation and commentary by ⁠Ursula Dronke⁠. As other episodes on the Norse Myths are produced, they will all be ⁠collected here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 9/15/22: For the next year or more, my series on The Great Myths will focus on Norse mythology. Tonight I introduce the subject and read one of its foundational texts, a poem from the Poetic Edda called the “Voluspa.” The Voluspa takes its form as a prophecy spoken by a female seeress, or Völva, who tells the story of the world—from creation through Ragnarok—in an astonishingly brief, but unforgettable, poem. The translation I read is by Andy Orchard. As other episodes on the Norse Myths are produced, they will all be collected here. The two translations of the Poetic Edda that I mention are those by ⁠Andy Orchard⁠ and ⁠Carolyn Larrington⁠. The two translations of the Prose Edda that I mention are those by ⁠Anthony Faulkes⁠ and ⁠Jesse Byock⁠. The essential reference books on Norse myth that I will be using for this series are John Lindow’s ⁠Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals & Beliefs⁠, Rudolf Simek’s ⁠Dictionary of Northern Mythology⁠, and Andy Orchard’s ⁠Cassell Dictionary of Norse Myth & Legend⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 8/22/22: Tonight, we leave the Celtic myths with an overview of all the episodes devoted to it, The Great Myths #8-18 (⁠which can be listened to here⁠). Then I read one final story, of Cuchulainn’s fight with Ferdiad, from Thomas Kinsella’s translation of the Táin bo Cúailnge. As usual, heroism, the supernatural, war, pathos, friendship, and otherworldliness abound. The various books and translations used for these episodes on the Celtic Myths can be found here. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 6/19/22: We’re lucky that all things Celtic are embedded so deeply into popular culture. Yet every now and then it’s worth sweeping away the kitsch and the clip art knots and the New Age stuff to ask what a good scholarly summation of Celtic myth—the archeology and the literature—has to say. Mark Williams’s ⁠Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth⁠ does more than enough to supply an answer (the book is worth buying for its bibliography alone) and tonight I read some favorite sections from it. Previous episodes on Celtic Myth can be found here. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 3/22/22: One of my goals for The Great Myths has been to show how strange, even off-putting, the stories that we know and revere really are. I don’t know of a better example of this than the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland, The Tales of the Elders of Ireland (⁠Acallam na Senórach⁠). Using the wanderings of Saint Patrick throughout Ireland as the frame story, Patrick meets with the surviving warriors from older times, and between them more than two hundred small stories are strung together. The lore of place-names, stories of battle and the Otherworld, as well as the mournful pathos surrounding the passing of the pagan world, are related in exciting, heart-wrenching, dry, scholarly, or just bizarre ways, in poetry and prose. The translation I read from is that of ⁠Ann Dooley and Harry Roe⁠. Other episodes on Celtic mythology ⁠⁠are here⁠⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 2/14/22: One way that storytellers have always illustrated the radical nature of creativity has been to give an unusual talent to children, and set them loose in the adult world. Everything from superhero movies to The Shining has done this, and it’s not surprising to find it in the Welsh tale of ⁠Taliesin. Tonight, we see how this child became a great poet and seer, while also upending an evening at the king’s court. The story I read is found in the mid-sixteenth century ⁠Hanes Taliesin⁠. The translation I use comes from Patrick K. Ford's ⁠The Mabinogi & Other Medieval Welsh Tales⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us ⁠on Substack⁠, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: ⁠Notes from the Grid⁠, ⁠To the House of the Sun⁠, ⁠The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old⁠, and ⁠Bone Antler Stone⁠. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to ⁠humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 1/15/22: Tonight we read from perhaps the great love story from the Middle Ages, since without it there would be no romance of Tristan and Isolde. How the Irish story of Gráinne, a young woman who casts a magic spell and puts her wedding party to sleep (she has just been married to a much older man) so that she can run off with a man named Diarmuid instead–how this tale grew and changed in the hands of British and continental authors and eventually became Wagner's opera is interesting enough, but even more is the original story. — While the tale itself goes back to the tenth century, I read from a version dating to 1651, The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne (Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne). I also read from the introduction, where we learn how important the story was to its original Irish audience. For example, as the title says, the story is a pursuit–the pursuit of the eloped couple by the "wronged" husband–and it was common for local communities, attached to the story as they were, to refer to parts of their own landscape (hills, caves, dolmens, etc.) as "the beds" used by Diarmuid and Gráinne, as they made their way across Ireland. Since the climax of the story also involves that great Indo-European motif, The Boar Hunt, I also spend time talking about the mythology surrounding the boar, and point to my own essay on the topic. The translations of the story I read from is by Nessa Ní Shéaghdha, was published as volume 48 in the Irish Texts Society, Main Series. The text of other translations can be found here. A summary is on Wiki here. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 10/30/21: In this seventh episode on Celtic mythology, I review one of the greatest surviving stories in the tradition, Togail Bruidne Dá Derga, or The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel. Since it is also fairly long, I only share two small sections from the story itself: a piece from the beginning, and from the story's conclusion. You can read more about it here, or in the sources listed below. The translation I use here is by Jeffrey Gantz, in his indispensable book, Early Irish Myths & Sagas. As usual, I also make of from James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, and his Myths & Legends of the Celts. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 9/10/21: In this sixth episode on Celtic mythology, I read the famous story of the wanderings of Oisin/Oisín in the Irish Otherworld, the Tir na nÓg. As usual, I make use of from James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. The two versions of the story I read from can be found in James MacKillop's Myths & Legends of the Celts and Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. You can also read W. B. Yeats's 1888 narrative poem, The Wanderings of Oisin. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. I assume that the small amount of work  presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or  other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work  presented here can also email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com, and I  will remove the episode immediately. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 9/4/21: In this fifth episode on Celtic mythology, I read the famous "pillow talk" between Queen Medb and King Ailill of Connacht. Their dispute over who owns more riches, land, and animals leads to the start of the famous Táin Bó Cúailnge/Cattle Raid of Cooley. The text of the story is taken from Thomas Kinsella's translation of The Táin. I also read a passage about Medb from James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 8/27/21: In this fourth episode on Celtic mythology, I read the story of how the great Irish hero, Cúchulainn, got his name by replacing a guard dog at the home of the smith, Culann. In one brief episode, there are so many strands: the early deeds of a hero, the precocious child who outdoes the adults, the Irish system of fosterage, and the mythical link between characters and animals. The text of the story is taken from Thomas Kinsella's translation of The Táin. I also read a passage about Cúchulainn from James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 7/7/21: In this third episode on Celtic mythology, I read a summary of that massive work of poetry and prose that combined the efforts of generations' of medieval Irish scholars and earlier storytellers into a weird, brilliant and ungainly whole: the Lebor Gabála Érenn, otherwise known as the Book of Invasions. I also discuss why, with some of this mythological and folkloric material, reading a summary and not the original is preferable.   The summary I read comes from James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. The 5-volume English translation of the entire Lebor Gabála Érenn (published by the Irish Texts Society) can be purchased in hardcover here; however, each volume is now available for download as .pdfs, here.  Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 4/5/21: In this second episode on ⁠Celtic mythology, I read the story "The Quarrel of the Two Pig-keepers and how the Bulls were Begotten." One of the great joys of Celtic myth are stories of relay-race metamorphoses, where two humans chase each other while changing into many different animal forms. The story serves as one of many preludes to the Great Irish epic, The Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, which of course centers on the ownership of these same bulls. The translation I read from is by Thomas Kinsella. The other books referred to in this episode are by James MacKillop: the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology and Myths & Legends of the Celts.  Other episodes on Celtic mythology ⁠⁠are here⁠⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 3/8/21: Tonight on The Great Myths, we move on to Celtic mythology. To star, I read the short but representative story, "The Dream of Óengus" (Aisling Óenguso). So many aspects of the story serve as a nice introduction to the larger stories I will talk about and read from in future episodes. The translation of "The Dream of Óengus" that I use comes from Jeffrey Gantz's wonderful book, Early Irish Myths & Sagas. James MacKillop's Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology is also an indispensable reference book for Celtic myth. Other episodes on Celtic mythology ⁠are here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 2/26/21: In this last episode on Egyptian mythology, I read from Herodotus's account of Egyptian embalming and mummification practices, followed by a summing up of the Egyptian myth episodes. The translation of Herodotus used is the Landmark Herodotus; the essays I read from can be found in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, and the entries on "Mythological Texts" and "Mythology"; the grumpy Egypt-hater's remarks can be found in the introduction to his volume in the Mythology of All Races. Other episodes on Egyptian mythology ⁠are here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 2/19/21: In this third episode on Egyptian mythology, I give a brief introduction to the famous Book of the Dead, and then read from the longest chapter in the book, Chapter 125. Both come from Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2: The New Kingdom. Other episodes on Egyptian mythology ⁠are here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 2/7/21: In this second episode on Egyptian mythology, I offer an overview of the story of the god Osiris, with readings from the most complete Egyptian and Greek sources. As with so much of the surviving corpus of Egyptian religious writings, hardly any attention is paid to our idea of a coherent narrative. The focus is almost entirely on an incantatory summary of what Osiris can do, what his attributes are, and what he can offer the deceased. It is only in the Greek account that a fleshed-out story appears. The books read from in this episode are: for Plutarch's account: Isis & Osiris (electronic text of the 1936 Loeb Classical Library edition of Plutarch's Moralia) for the "Great Hymn to Osiris": Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2: The New Kingdom  Salima Ikram & Aidan Dodson, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity Douglas Brewer, Ancient Egypt: Foundations of a Civilization Richard Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt  Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One & the Many Other episodes on Egyptian mythology ⁠are here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 1/28/21: Tonight, I read from perhaps the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, the spells and prayers that were inscribed into the walls of the tombs of the pharaohs as early as 2353 BC. Collectively referred to as the Pyramid Texts, they were the basis of the later Coffin Texts, and the more famous Egyptian Book of the Dead. These texts were not meant as "literature" in any modern sense. Instead, inscribed as they were into the walls of the pharaoh's tomb, the pharaoh's spirit was supposed to recite them after death in order to travel into the sky, gain access to the Egyptian afterlife, and identify himself completely with Osiris, the god of death and resurrection. In this first episode on Egyptian mythology, we can see immediately how the spells and prayers are a great example of just how strange and off-putting ancient literature can really be. The very real theological and spiritual needs of the Egyptians, which had little use for narrative as we think of it, led them to create this incantatory and repetitive form of liturgy. There's nothing else quite like it. The books I read from in this episode include: The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, tr. James P. Allen (read the introduction here) The Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Texts, tr. Raymond O. Faulkner Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many Other episodes on Egyptian mythology are here. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 12/31/20: In this last episode on the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, I read of Gilgamesh's travels to the ends of the earth as he mourns the death of his friend, Enkidu. There, he meets with Utanapishti, who relates the Mesopotamian account of the Flood. The story ends with Gilgamesh’s failure at achieving immortality. The translations I read from are by ⁠⁠Andrew George⁠⁠ and ⁠N. K. Sandars⁠. I also read a small section from the introduction to Stephen Mitchell's version of the poem, and Nahum Sarna's commentary to the Book of Genesis. Other episodes on Mesopotamian myth ⁠can be found here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 12/30/20: In this second episode on Mesopotamian myth, we return to the story of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu's destructive adventures lead directly to the latter's death, and here I read Enkidu’s deathbed speech, and the dream he has of the Underworld. The translations I read from are by ⁠Andrew George⁠ and N. K. Sandars. Other episodes on Mesopotamian myth ⁠can be found here⁠. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support

An episode from 12/19/20: Tonight, I begin perhaps the most important series of episodes on this podcast, a deep-dive into my favorite stories from mythology and religion. I begin with the Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh. Reading from the translation by Andrew George (and an earlier one, by N. K. Sandars), I enter the story of Gilgamesh through his friendship with the typical "man of nature," Enkidu, and the "civilizing" process he undergoes. Other episodes on Mesopotamian myth can be found here. Don’t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/humanvoiceswakeus/support