Content Warning: Brief mention of death.
In this episode, I tell a modern myth entitled "What Oldest Human Didn't Know". Normally I cannot tell myths from the modern day, as they are typically inaccessible under copyright law. This story was written by myself, and thus I am able to record it. The tale tells of the Oldest Human's once-in-a-decade walk, the transformation of a boat, and the chance meeting of the Oldest Human and a young child. The themes of the story include the concepts of cyclicity, the lacking of knowledge, death, and natural transformation.
Today, I leave the analysis up to you. You can find a written copy of the myth on my website (linked below). Feel free to send me a response at theechocain@gmail.com.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
In this episode, I tell an Akkadian myth called "The Descent of Ishtar". The story is a reinterpretation of a longer Sumerian work written approximately 500-900 years prior called "The Descent of Inanna". The version of the myth that I will be telling was unearthed at the great library of Nineveh. The author of the stone cuneiform tablet remains unknown, though this myth was ubiquitous across Mesopotamia. The tale makes use of repetition to parallel an ancient, recorded ritual glorifying the change of seasons in which a statue of Ishtar/Inanna was undressed and clothed again.
We'll discuss the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy and this historical conflict's relation to the written word. We'll also seek to understand the characterization of these deities, their perceived effect on the Mesopotamian world, and how these themes were exported to other surrounding cultures.
(I am currently writing a screenplay reinterpreting this myth, so my analysis will be sparse on this episode to reflect the bias I have towards this story).
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief discussion of sex, ritual murder, colonization of indigenous peoples, genocide, slavery, kidnapping, classism, and misogyny.
In this episode, I tell a central origin myth of the Inca Empire: "Children of the Sun". The Inca, especially those in the higher social classes, saw themselves as educators working under their King, an incarnation of the myth's "Father Sun". The story was probably first told early in the foundation of the Kingdom of Cuzco, as it decrees a particular way of civilizing so-called wild peoples and mythologizes the first ruler, Manco Capac. The re-education process described in the myth would be what the Inca carried out over the 10 Million people they ruled at the height of their power in the Andean mountain range. The tale has also been recorded numerous times by different anthropologists and recounted by a multiplicity of storytellers.
We'll discuss the complicated and lengthy history of the peoples who historically inhabited the Andes, demonstrating that the development of civilization is not a unique occurrence in any capacity, nor is it always bounded by the same set of rules and worldviews. We'll also make sense of the strict gender roles in the myth, the importance of defining humanity in expansive ways, and critiquing the usage of the education narrative by Imperialists and Fascists.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief mention of colonization and death.
In this episode, I tell a short folktale from Scotland entitled "The Doomed Rider". This entertaining myth is likely quite old and functioned as a campfire-style ghost story throughout Scottish history. The tale surrounds a prophecy spoken by the Kelpie, a mythical creature associated with Celtic stories. Much of the language is in antiquated English which I have modernized for your listening pleasure. The story was initially published in 1889 by Charles John Tibbitts in one of his many collections of folktales. Little information is available concerning this editor's life despite his relatively enormous impression left on folklore studies, as he published numerous stories in multiple anthologies from across Eurasia.
We'll analyze how this story comments on fate, the indigenous connection to the land, and the dangers of "false fords". Furthermore, we'll make sense of the position of mythical creatures in etiological analysis of myth and how the trope of the "encroaching beast" remains in our entertainment today.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief mention of colonization of indigenous peoples and war.
In this episode, I tell "Maui Traps Sun", a myth from the people of Hawaii. The titular protagonist, Maui, is a culture hero present across Polynesian peoples' stories, Maori stories, and Hawaiian stories. He is best known today from his reinterpreted presentation in Disney's 2016 film, Moana. The myth's origin remains a mystery, though it is clearly ancient due to the prevalence of analogues across the vast expanse of the Pacific ocean. The tale was not recorded until the arrival of European colonizers on Hawaii's shores. The occurred almost certainly post-1820, the year that King Liholiho permitted European settlers and missionaries to permanently reside on the island.
We will be discussing the etiological importance of this myth, the non-dual nature of gender roles in story, and the position of story within modern science education.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief discussion of patriarchy and misogyny. Brief mention of colonization of indigenous peoples, genocide, war, exile, and racism.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "When Grizzlies Walked Upright", by the Modoc tribe of Northern California and Oregon. The story was first written down by Ella Clark, an untrained anthropologist, in 1953. Ella Clark's work has been criticized, though this particular myth seems to have been recorded quite well, as modern accounts of this tale from Modoc storytellers follow the same beats. The myth tells the story of how the world was formed, how all beings came about, and how humans came to be through happenstance. Similar to many origin myths across the world, creation centers on a potentially destructive hazard present where the people who constructed the story lived. In this case a volcano, Mount Shasta is the center from which all the world came down from the sky. The Modoc today are mostly assimilated into the Klamath tribe on their reservation in Oregon. In total they represent a part of the estimated 6,000 Klamath.
We'll discuss the many metaphors at play in the tale, the etiological nature of the myth, and the patriarchal worldview baked into the how creation is depicted. We'll also make sense of the non-dual nature of religion, describing the interlocked relationship of monotheism and polytheism across culture.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief discussion of war, xenophobia, misogyny, mental health, and classism.
**EDITOR'S NOTE** -- While editing I looked into the name Confucius and found that I was incorrectly calling him Lao Tzu throughout this episode! In my preliminary research, I stumbled into a list of Confucian texts and ancient Chinese philosophy. The consistency with which both Lao Tzu and Confucius wrote confused me and made me assume they were the same person. Lao Tzu was a DIFFERENT philosopher alive at the same time as Confucius and primarily wrote about Taoism. Please excuse my unfamiliarity with ancient Chinese philosophy and my continued misuse of Lao Tzu's name as interchangeable with Confucius throughout this episode and the next. Apologies folx. I will remedy this in parts 3 and 4 of The Analects.
In this episode, I tell the first five books of "The Analects". The title translates to "The Sayings of Confucius" and was likely compiled posthumously by his disciples. Within the text lies a heap of wisdom surrounding the topics of teaching, learning from others, benevolence to one's fellows, and the historical political situation of the Spring-and-Autumn period in ancient China. Unlike many other spiritual texts, the Analects are not bounded by a narrative, dialogue, or other centralizing structure. Instead, the text is composed of individual verses, almost entirely independent of each other. They appear to be grouped by vague theme, though each holds some grain of difference in topic from those around it. Confucius himself did not see himself as spiritually important, and his work today lies somewhere between philosophy and spirituality.
We'll discuss the ancient history of pre-imperial China, the relation of Confucius' beliefs to his time period, the classism inherent in the ruling class' interpretation of the working class' needs, and the meaning of benevolence. Engaged action is a consistent theme in the work, and thus we will be exploring the many ways in which attempts at doing can go well, go wrong, not be done at all, or be done for the wrong reasons.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of classism. Brief discussion of death and misogyny.
In this episode, I continue telling the Bhagavad Gita with the fourth chapter: "Transcendental Knowledge". The text was written in post-Vedic India, responding to the rising popularity of Buddhism via the Vedic scholarship of the Upanishads. This chapter focuses on the mental processes required to attain Krishna Consciousness and pitfalls to avoid in doing so. The Gita was first published in The Mahabharata. The dialogue comes from the end of this long work and has often been republished with purports. I will be telling the version with purports, so as to ascertain cultural attitudes in two different eras of Indian history: during the production of the Upanishads and the 1900s CE. These distinct periods of time represent the original myth and its dialogues respectively.
We'll discuss how the Bhagavad Gita supports metaphorical readings of Holy Texts, how my personal spiritual beliefs conflict and align with the Bhagavad Gita, and how caste systems are implemented via religious conditioning. We'll once again explore the metaphor of Sri Krishna, and thus the god concept. We'll be stripping these confusing spiritual ideas into their human elements, illuminating the ways in which organized religious dogmas reinforce certain human traits and seek to disincentivize others.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
A note on the word "oppression" within this podcast:
While editing I noticed that I reduced the meaning of the word oppression to just physical harm when speaking about religious intolerance. I did this to describe the bounds of RELIGIOUS oppression alone. The critique and even ridicule of religion is particular, in that it does not attack individual people, but rather entire systems of belief. Thus, ridicule does not hold the same oppressive characteristics as it would when used against peoples' identities. Religion is not intrinsic. Intrinsic and uncontrollable extrinsic characteristics such as: gender identity, race, class, sex, sexuality, disability, and ethnicity are readily oppressed in physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual ways. Religion itself is not.
To be clear: oppression often contains ridicule, vitriol, negligence, ignorance, and (at its most intense) physical harm when applied to a person's identity. Religion as a system is beyond a person's singular identity, thus making it incapable of receiving any oppression save the physical. You'll note that most religious oppression occurs along ethnic/racial/class lines (e.g.: pogroms against Jewish peoples in Tsarist Russia, concentration/reeducation of Uyghur peoples in Modern China, racial profiling of Muslim-Americans after 9/11, etc.). Hopefully that clears up any confusion surrounding my slightly vague use of the word in the context of religion.
Content Warning: Brief discussion of poverty, famine, orphans, and indentured servitude. Brief mention of slavery and colonization.
In this episode, I tell an archetypal myth from Haiti: "Mother of the Waters". The titular character is likely a Haitian mixture of uniquely Caribbean themes and the West African character of "Mami Wata". The story's narratology is consistent with over one hundred other myths from across the world, mostly from Africa, Europe, the Middle-East, and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. However, representative myths exist among Austroasiatic peoples, just at a less frequent rate. This particular version was originally recorded by Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, one of the first Haitian anthropologists. It is one of the few versions to contain deception by the Mother and disobedience displayed by the protagonist.
Based on the characterization of the protagonist, we'll discuss the class differences in perception of food, agency, and attitude. We'll also talk about the importance of compassion, selective breeding in agriculture, and the privileges retained by the ruling class.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization, genocide, imperialism, and usury. Brief mention of suicide.
In this episode, I tell the Vietnamese myth: "The Fly". The tale is interested in the wealth dynamics and court-administrated justice in Chinese-dominated Vietnam. The origin of the story is completely unknown. I could find no reference to the myth online and my source had no information concerning who it was written by and when. The myth itself contains a surprising clarity concerning capitalist systems and the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class. These morals surrounding money are central to the tale and were likely used to demonstrate the dangers of choosing fortune over community.
We'll discuss the early history of the Vietnamese, the interactions they had with Imperial China, and the failure of the Trưng Sisters' rebellion. We will make sense of the lack of supernatural elements in the myth, its musings on wealth acquisition, and the failure of court systems to benefit those without capital.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization, slavery, parricide, and monarchy.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Gassire's Lute". The story is supposedly the first section of an unrecorded, longer epic entitled "Dausi". The myth is attributed to the Fasa (or Soninke) people of West Africa. Our only reference for even this small section of the epic comes from a German Anthropologist named Leo Frobenius. In the modern day, oral accounts of the myths Frobenius recorded have surfaced, suggesting that he did not invent this tale, despite the lack of analogues in surrounding cultures. The story covers the first decline of Wagadou, or the Ghana Empire, of which the Fasa/Soninke ruled for longer than even the Roman empire existed.
We'll discuss the history of the Fasa/Soninke, their close relations with Islamic travelers, the failure of rulers to listen to their people, and thus the importance of avoiding self-interested rule. We will draw connections between the myths that influenced Islam and themes of parental overthrow by a son within the myth.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization, war, dictatorship, and monarchy. Brief mention of SA and slavery.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Romulus and Remus", a story of origin for Ancient Rome. The tale details the strange birth of the two brothers, their subsequent upbringing, and finally their acquisition of power. Likely a pseudohistory, the story is one of our only sources for an explanation of how Roma came to be in the region that was historically known as Latium (and inhabited by Latians, or Latins). I am telling an abbreviated form of the myth which either comes from Livy or Virgil, though the reference to Aeneas at the start of the tale suggests that this is Virgil's account of Rome's origin. The story itself is older than any written account. Our earliest recording comes from Dionysius in 200 BCE, though most scholars date the origin of the oral tale to approximately 500 BCE. The myth is also closely tied to Parilia, a Roman festival celebrating the return of Spring and the founding of Rome.
We'll discuss the history of Roman monarchy, struggles with archaeological work in Rome, the representation of indigenous peoples by an external colonizer, and the implications of Romulus' rule on the subsequent history of Rome. We'll also make sense of the "true monarch" trope and its use by dictators today.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization, slavery, racism, xenophobia, and famine.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Dream of Owen O'Mulready". An Irish folktale, this myth was likely written in the late-1800s, though the earliest reference I could ascertain was from an edition of The Boston College Stylus from 1908. The original reference is likely unavailable on the internet, though it is possible that the myth stems from Irish immigrants rather than Ireland itself. The story recounts the efforts of a native Irish farmer to dream. In so doing, he voyages across an ocean to take a message from his master to America.
We'll discuss the implications of dreaming as an oppressed person, the systems of "equal opportunity" that coerced many Irish to immigrate to America, and the associations between dreaming and the ruling class. We will be considering the gender equity enjoyed by the Irish, the wage slavery they endured (and its deep similarities to the American system of economy), and the dominant hegemony's obsession with the sky.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization, parricide, and incest.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Theogony of Dunnu". The only surviving record of this tale is a broken stone tablet from the city of Sippar. The tablet has been dated to approximately 1900 BCE, placing its writing at a pivotal time for the region of Mesopotamia. The story represents the sole literature attributed to the small city of Dunnu, which seems to have had a relatively minor role in politics and culture, save for the production of this writing and a brief "golden age" just after the first conquering of Babylon by the Assyrians. The story itself relates a series of deities killing or marrying their own close family members in order to construct an origin for the patron gods of Dunnu.
We'll discuss the multiple colonial forces acting on Dunnu related by the myth via deity-based obfuscation, the different implications of agriculture on small city-states compared to the production of empire, the diversity of story in Mesopotamia, and the alternative reading of the tale as a fable hidden within the narratological structure of a theogony.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Brief discussion of colonization of indigenous peoples, slavery, disease, political strife, classism, and exile.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Opossum Steals Fire ", from the Mazatec people. The story was related by one Pablo Guerrero, and seems to have been quite popular throughout the region of Oaxaca. The story was told by multiple groups of people, even some Christianized accounts exist. The tale follows an archetypal narratological structure unique to mythology. It relates the story of how a trickster reversed the fortune of the people against all odds. The Mazatec have a complicated history, that we will be attempting to connect to this story.
We'll discuss in detail the history of the Mazatec people of Teotitlan, Cuicatlan, Tuxtepec, and Huautla. This is, as far as I know, a first in the world of podcasting, as the only collated history of the Mazatec readily available for purchase exists in a book by an anthropologist named Benjamin Feinberg. This makes discussing the history of the Sierra Mazatec region quite difficult and confusing, as no definitive history has truly been developed. However, we will use this complexity to inform our understanding of how diverse metacultural discourses are imagined into unified cultures, and how this process can damage a people. We'll also discuss the hazards of analysis without proper context and the multiplicity of readings permitted by the myth.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of classism and xenophobia. Brief discussion of death, racism, colonization, misogyny, and mental health.
In this episode, I continue telling the Bhagavad Gita with the third chapter: "Karma Yoga". The text was written in post-Vedic India, responding to the rising popularity of Buddhism via the Vedic scholarship of the Upanishads. This chapter focuses on the particular process of attaining Krishna consciousness and is considered the true beginning of Bhagavad Gita for the devotee. The Gita was first published in The Mahabharata. The dialogue comes from the end of this long work and has often been republished with purports. I will be telling the version with purports, so as to ascertain cultural attitudes in two different eras of Indian history: during the production of the Upanishads and the 1900s CE. These distinct periods of time represent the original myth and its dialogues respectively.
I also tell the history of Vedic India at the beginning of the episode, demonstrating a number of ways in which colonization and nomadism shaped Indian history. We'll discuss how the Bhagavad Gita supports metaphorical readings of Holy Texts, how my personal spiritual beliefs conflict and align with the Bhagavad Gita, and how caste systems are implemented via religious conditioning. We'll once again explore the metaphor of Sri Krishna, and thus the god concept. We'll be stripping these confusing spiritual ideas into their human elements, illuminating the ways in which organized religious dogmas reinforce certain human traits and seek to disincentivize others.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization of indigenous peoples, genocide, war, exile, and racism.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Coyote and Salmon", created by the Klamath people. The story has no referenced origin, but is accumulated from a number of different accounts. The myth is quite short and centered on the interaction between the trickster character, Coyote, and the "Skookums" damming the river, stopping the flow of salmon. The tale is directly connected with the historical reality of ecological oppression on and around the Klamath lands and later reservation. The Klamath Tribe of the modern American state of Oregon is composed of three smaller tribes: Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin. We'll explore how the relationship between the Klamath and the Modoc was exacerbated by American imperialism, settler colonialism, and the politics of rebellion. The Klamath number an estimated 6,000 people today.
We'll discuss the ecological devastation described by the story, the American government's (and its citizens') failure to manage the land of Oregon, and the uncomfortable position of "prospering" oppressed peoples such as the Klamath. I also note the importance of reading mythology with historical relevance in mind.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Lengthy discussion of misogyny and familial death. Brief discussion of colonization and stereotypes.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "The Beduin's Gazelle" from the Arabian peninsula. The origin of the story is completely unknown, mostly due to issues in researching the tale. Frances Temple wrote a book that has been featured in the American school system by the same name, which covers all search results. The myth can be analyzed in a multitude of ways, somewhat because of this vague origin. The people of the Arabian peninsula are known for their obscure mythology and lack of a major creation myth.
We'll explore the complicated history of pre-Islamic Arabia, comparing the different systems of nomadism, sedentary agricultural society, and trading centers to uncover the many influences that affected the people of the Arabian Peninsula. Colonization events, technological advances, and religious conversion coincide to eventually bring about the religion of Islam, the rise of the Caliphate, and the unification of the peninsula. Our recorded history from the region is mostly post-Islamic, so the sources I draw from to tell the pre-Islamic history derive from external civilizations and anachronistic references, as is so often the case with ancient history.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Discussion of colonization of indigenous peoples and death. Brief discussion of racism, misogyny, and genocide.
In this episode, I tell the myth: "Woman Chooses Death" by the Niitsitapi, or Blackfoot people. The tale originates from a number of different accounts from the early 1900s CE, including an ethnology by a dubious anthropologist. The Niitsitapi have historically lived in the modern-day regions of Alberta and Montana (the Northern Laurentian Great Plain). There is contention concerning the origin of the Niitsitapi; the most accepted narrative is that the Niitsitapi migrated from the Great Lakes Region and assimilated with previously extant tribes sometime before European expansion, though the timetable is unknown. Today, their peoples are restricted to two separate reservations: one in Canada and the other in the United States. The Niitsitapi are composed of four distinct tribes: the Siksikawa, Kainai, Northern Piikani, and Southern Piikani; estimated at about 16,500 people present today.
We'll explore how the Niitsitapi navigated the complicated political world of the Buffalo Wars, the encroachment of Euro-American colonizers, and attempts to limit the practice of their customs post-reservation. We'll also discuss how the myth convergently evolved the "humans-as-clay" metaphor found throughout a number of different creation stories, the inherently misogynistic nature of the patriarchal creator god, and how the myth conceptualizes of death.
You can find all of my work through the following links:
Content Warning: Lengthy discussion of anti-semitism and the methodologies of colonization. Brief discussion of misogyny, anti-paganism, racism, and xenophobia. Brief mention of classism and fascism. Occasional narrated graphic violence.
In this episode, I finish my oration and critique of the myth: "Beowulf". This epic poem set in pre-Viking Denmark and Geatland comes to us from the hands of Christian scribes from the late 900s CE, though the original story is speculated to have first been written in the 700s CE. The section of the myth I tell in this episode covers more historicized battles, the death of Beowulf, and how Geatland continued after his passing.
We'll discuss what the monster of the Dragon could represent and how the formation of monsters in literature often demonizes specific ways of life, people, and cultures. We'll compare the masculinities and violent tendencies of heroes (Gilgamesh and Beowulf) to better understand our modern conceptualization of masculinity. At the beginning of the podcast, I tell my own personal experience of anti-semitism while in high school and relate it to the demonizations of Jewish people found throughout the epic of Beowulf. Please refer to episode 18 if you would like a refresher on the historical reality of pre-Christian Scandinavia.
I was not aware while recording, but the "mark of Cain" was defined racially in order to rationalize the pogroms and discrimination against Romani, Jews, or darker-skinned people in Europe as early as the 1300s CE (The reference is from a Norman Franciscan Friar Symon Semeonis). This solidifies my analysis concerning the characterization of Grendel and Grendel's mother as being monsters demonizing the presence of Jews, exiles, Romani, POC, and pagans in Europe as early as the late 900s.
Thank you for listening!
You can find all of my work through the following links:
