Alex Andreou’s Podyssey

The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.

Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new! 

… 

Persephone has been assigned the story of a victim, but bears none of the hallmarks. Why has this magnificent Queen been reduced to a Page 3 girl?

Written and presented by Alex Andreou

Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith

Exec. Producers Naomi Smith & Kenny Campbell

Music by Marianna Sangita

Artwork by Simona Kanellou

For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global

NOTES

MUSIC 

Podyssey Theme - “To Margoudi ki o Alexandris” Marianna Sangita - YOUTUBE.

“Kori” (Acoustic) Marianna Sangita - YOUTUBE

“Kori” (Album Version) ON - YOUTUBE

Camille Saint-Saëns “Danse Macabre”, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra - ARCHIVE 

Claudio Monteverdi “Addio Roma” from L’Incoronazione di Poppea - ARCHIVE 

Antonio Vivaldi “Autumn” from The four Seasons - ARCHIVE 

Heitor Villa Lobos “Bachianas Brasileiras No.5”, Bidu Sayao - ARCHIVE 

Giacomo Puccini “Flower Duet” from Madama Butterfly, Renata Tebaldi/Nell Ranking - ARCHIVE 

Francesco Sacrati “E dove t’aggirli” from Proserpina, Victoria de los Angeles - YOUTUBE 

“Sobbin’ Women” from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Howard Keel - ARCHIVE

Francesco Cilea “Esser madre e un inferno” from L’Arlesiana, Ebe Stignani - ARCHIVE  

“Am I blue” Ethel Waters - YOUTUBE

Amilcare Ponchielli “Oh Madre Mia” Act I finale from La Gioconda, Maria Callas/Maria Amadini - ARCHIVE

WA Mozart “Lacrimosa” from Requiem, Eugen Jochum - ARCHIVE 

Kurt Weill “September Song”, Sarah Vaughan - ARCHIVE 

FILM

“The Goddess of Spring” (1934) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zvnAypUSJs

Children of Men (2006) 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/ 

Lady Bird (2017)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/ 

Terms of Endearment (1983) 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086425/ 

Steel Magnolias (1989) 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098384/ 

ARTWORK 

Two examples of a Melian amphoras, with Kore figure, c. 6thC BCE here and here.  

“Hades Abducting Persephone” fresco Vergina 4C BCE 

“Statue of Isis-Persephone holding a sistrum” marble statue Gortyn 180-190 CE

“Head of Persephone” earthenware Centuripae, c.420 BCE

“Bronze statuette of a female votary with pomegranate” 4th–3rd century BCE

“Persephone and Hades” red-figure kylix Vulci, c. 440-430 BCE

“The abduction of Persephone by Hades” terracotta hydria c. 340–330 BCE

“Persephone on the Throne” terracotta tablet Locri, 470 BCE

“Enthroned Deity” (probably Persephone) Taranto, c. 480-470 BCE

Bernini Gian Lorenzo “Rape of Proserpine” 

Peter Paul Rubens “The Rape of Proserpine” 

Luca Giordano “The Abduction of Proserpina” 

Maxfield Parrish “Proserpina and the Sea Nymphs”

Hiram Powers “Proserpine”

Dante Gabriel Rossetti eighth and final version of “Proserpine”

READING

Taffy Brodesser-Akner “Let’s Go to Jerusalem for Soup Again” 

Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, Marian Villancico 

Edna St Vincent Millay “Prayer to Persephone”

Rita Dove “Canary”  

Rita Dove “The Bistro Styx”

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The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.

Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new! 

… 

When was it - and why? - that the cautionary tale of King Midas, a myth about the absurdity of excess, the consequences of greed and spectacularly bad judgment, magically transformed into an aspirational example of success? When did we elevate him from lowly figure of fun to a gold penthouse and the Oval Office?

Written and presented by Alex Andreou

Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith

Exec. Producers Naomi Smith & Kenny Campbell

Music by Marianna Sangita

Artwork by Simona Kanellou

For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global

NOTES

MUSIC 

MOZART - A Musical Joke - Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

GRIEG - Peer Gynt Suite No.1 “In the Hall of the Mountain King” - Eugene Ormandy - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

BERLIN - After you get what you want you don’t want it - Marilyn Monroe - YOUTUBE 

ROSSINI - Il Barbiere di Siviglia “Largo al factotum” - Rolando Panerai - YOUTUBE  

BORODIN/WRIGHT - Kismet “Baubles, Bangles, and Beeds” - Ann Blyth - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

BERLIN - Call Me Madam “The Money Song” - Dinah Shore - YOUTUBE 

MENOTTI - Amahl And The Night Visitors “All that gold” - Rosemary Kuhlmann - PRIVATE COLLECTION

STRAUSS - Die Liebe der Danae - 1952 Broadcast - PRIVATE COLLECTION  

PUCCINI - Manon Lescaut “In quelle trine” - Renata Tebaldi - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

BERNSTEIN - Candide “Glitter and be gay” - Roberta Peters - YOUTUBE 

BACH - "Geschwinde, Geschwinde, Ihr Wirbelnden Winde", BWV 201 - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

GOUNOD - Faust “Le veau d’or” - Nicolai Ghiaurov - Public Television - YOUTUBE 

All that glitters is not gold - Mildred Bailey - YOUTUBE 

FILM

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672218/ 

Wall Street (1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/  

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/   

Goodfellas (1990) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/   

Scarface (1983) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/  

Big (1988) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/  

Trading Places (1983) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086465/ 

Limitless (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219289/ 

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154756/  

Goldfinger (1964) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058150/ 

ARTWORK 

Silenus riding a donkey 

The Judgment of Midas by Nicolas Mignard, 1667. 

King Midas Judging the Musical Contest between Apollo and Pan, by Filippo Lauri, c1650-1694 

LIFE magazine Goldfinger cover. 

Images of Ancient Gordion 

Midas Gate in Anatolia 

Map of Ancient Anatolia 

Electrum coins 

Gold Croeseid 

Andy Warhol - Dollar Signs 

“Siren” by Marc Quinn (2008) 

“America” by Maurizio Cattelan (2016) 

“Madonna and child” by Sandro Boticelli (1480-81)

“Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” by Gustav Klimt (1907) 

Ceiling Paintings by Gustav Klimt (1894) 

Gold Death Mask (Tomb V, Mycenae) 

Meowdas (fortnite) 

READING

Proust “Mensonges” dedication 

“King Midas” by Howard Moss 

“Mrs. Midas” by Carol Ann Duffy 

Essay on Gold and Melancholy 

John Lyly’s "King Midas"  

“The Reading Mother” by Strickland Gillilan 

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The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.

Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new! 

… 

Orpheus and his lyre. Orpheus and Euridice. Orpheus and the Argonauts. Orpheus in the Underworld. Orpheus and his lament. Orpheus and his pain. Orpheus, Orpheus, Orpheus. The quintessential suffering artist. The shining example of love’s triumph over even death. 

Or maybe just a performative, entitled, 'singer-songwriter' nepo-baby .

Written and presented by Alex Andreou

Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith

Exec. Producers Naomi Smith & Kenny Campbell

Music by Marianna Sangita

Artwork by Simona Kanellou

For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global

NOTES

MUSIC 

Roy Henderson - Orpheus with his lute - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

Reinhold Glière - Harp Concerto In B Flat Major, Op. 4, Larghetto - on YOUTUBE 

Salli Terri & Laurindo Almeida - Black is the color - on SPOTIFY 

Oluf Dimitri Røe - Sabouna of Mykonos - on SPOTIFY 

Elena Polonska - Ciaccona - on YOUTUBE 

Monteverdi - L’Orfeo “Tu sei morta” Enrico de Franceschi (Orfeo) - PRIVATE COLLECTION 

Glück - Orfeo e Euridice “Ché faró senza Euridice” Nan Merriman (Orfeo) - Telephone Hour TV ARCHIVE 

Pedro Infante - Soy Infeliz - on SPOTIFY 

Marianna Sangita & Oluf Dimitri Røe - Lafina (The Doe) - on SPOTIFY

Korngold - Die Tote Stadt “Glück das mir verblieb” Ilona Steingruber & Anton Dermota - on YOUTUBE

Billie Holiday - “I’ll be seeing you” - on SPOTIFY

FILM

Coco (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380307/  

Orphée (1950) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/ 

Orfeu Negru (1959) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053146/  

Inception (2010) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/  

The English Patient (1996) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116209/  

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101452/  

Chinatown (1974) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/ 

Apocalypse Now (1979) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/ 

Contact (1997) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/ 

What Dreams May Come (1998) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/ 

Pet Sematary (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837563/ 

Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098627/ 

Death becomes her (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104070/ 

Vertigo (1958) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/ 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8613070/ 

Fitzcarraldo (1982) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/ 

ARTWORK 

Orpheus embracing his lyre by Unknown 

Red figure vase depicting the head of Orpheus by Unknown here and here.

More about red-figure pottery 

Examples of Orpheus charming the animals here, here, here, here, here, and here.

An example of Orphic Christ

“Nymphs finding the head of Orpheus” by Waterhouse 

“Thracian Girl carrying the Head of Orpheus on his Lyre” by Moreau

“Euridice dying” by Lebœf

“Orpheus leading Euridice from the Underworld” by Cortot 

Vergil’s version of the Orpheus myth 

More about the Derveni Papyrus 

Reiner Maria Rilke’s “Sonnets to Orpheus”

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The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.

Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new! 

… 

Most of what you think you know about the story of Narcissus, is wrong. This isn’t a story of conceit or vanity. It isn’t even the story of one person. It is a story of unrequited love and pain, of the corruption of innocence, of losing oneself. 

Written and presented by Alex Andreou

Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith

Exec. Producers Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell

Music by Marianna Sangita

Artwork by Simona Kanellou

For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global

NOTES

MUSIC 

Carly Simon - “You’re so vain” - LIVE on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZmCJUSC6g 

Marianna Sangita - “Glaros” - LIVE on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIGrYHF7jLA 

The Clerks of Christ Church - “Slow, slow fresh fount” - on SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/track/61kkAfQYSZQIhw46FDLe49 

Joan Sutherland - Gounod FAUST “Jewel Song” - on SPOTIFY 

https://open.spotify.com/track/348lGUh1TA8t0T2Kpe0Qkm 

Maria Callas - Meyerbeer DINORAH “Shadow Song” - on SPOTIFY 

https://open.spotify.com/track/1QhZtlXHBuFUwn4splxosj 

Joni Mitchell - “Both sides now” - on SPOTIFY 

https://open.spotify.com/track/1pjATX7sbd6Y4jMVqIvzHk 

Clara Rockmore - Saint-Saëns “The Swan” - LIVE on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFSU8sn3mo 

Róisín Murphy - “Narcissus” - OFFICIAL on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88p6AwgZNaw 

Ann Blyth & Lorenzo Lamas - Friml ROSE-MARIE “Indian Love Call” - on SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/track/3Fd9Ti1AFjvEyK67Sv8U7Y 

FILM

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134119/ 

Snow White (1937) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/ 

All About Eve (1950) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042192/ 

The Shape of Water (2017)  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/ 

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037988/ 

Black Swan (2010) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/ 

Ingrid Goes West (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5962210/ 

ARTWORK 

“Narcissus” by Caravaggio https://www.caravaggio.org/narcissus.jsp 

“Metamorphosis of Narcissus” by Salvador Dalí https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dali-metamorphosis-of-narcissus-t02343 

“The Nymph Echo” by Max Ernst https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79316 

Narcissus Fresco in Pompeii by Anon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_%28mythology%29#/media/File:Narcissus_on_a_Pompeian_fresco.jpg 

“Echo and Narcissus” by John William Waterhouse https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/echo-and-narcissus 

“Narcissus” by Follower of Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/follower-of-giovanni-antonio-boltraffio-narcissus 

"Mr. O'Wilde, You are not the first one that has grasped at a Shadow" by Thomas Nast 

 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/820022 

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The myths, tales, and concepts of ancient Greece echo and reach into every aspect of modern life. Often misunderstood, frequently romanticised, and sometimes deliberately twisted - to understand their origins and truth is to get a real glimpse into the universal themes that connect us to the past and each other.

Welcome to Podyssey with Alex Andreou. Each week we will take one myth, one concept, person, place, or theme from Ancient Greece, take it apart, figure out its inner workings, trace its influence, juice it for its wisdom, reimagine, update and put it back together - all shiny and new!

…

This week we meet the creator of the theme tune and much of the music on Podyssey - Musician Marianna Sangita.

WATCH THIS INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE

https://youtu.be/A-xAKBPuSaQ

SUBSCRIBE TO PODYSSEY ON YOUTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo7dIXWHNar1u1rKsXUTgYnDhJebTp-eo

FULL VIDEO OF PODYSSEY THEME (To Margoudi ki O Alexandris)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-LAVj5l9Uc

MARIANNA SANGITA'S FULL MUSIC:

https://www.mariannasangita.com/

ADDITIONAL TRACKS

GLAROS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIGrYHF7jLA

ON's KORI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zegho00jHVc&list=OLAK5uy_nv3aKiRBefjqqnpo05P__0py_gwnIdDsw&index=4

Written and presented by Alex Andreou

Expert contributions by Alexandra Angeletaki-Røe, Debbie Challis, Linda Marric, and Dr Ruth Smith

Exec. Producers Naomi Smith & Kenny Campbell

Music by Marianna Sangita

Artwork by Simona Kanellou

For Cooler Heads, in collaboration with Sandstone Global

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing Podyssey with Alex Andreou

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