We grow up with stories of Greek, Egyptian, and Roman gods, as well as those of many other cultures. These myths and stories give us human conflicts and dilemmas, a sense of moral purpose, and more than a healthy dose of cautionary tales. Children love and fear a gruesome fairy tale, and those feelings of delight and dread stay with us. Ancient stories and local lore are the stuff of drama and song, and tools for living in many cases. Lynn and John dive into some of these stories and look for the truths buried there as well as outrage and amazement. Along the way, we see that human fears, desires for power and beauty, and the seven deadly sins have been around for millennia. The more things change, as they say, the more they stay the same. Enjoy. And ponder.
Song 1: “Day Never Comes,” composed and performed by David R. Merrill.
Poem 1: “Leda and the Swan” by Nobel prize-winning poet W. B. Yeats, composed in 1923 and first printed in 1924.
Fiction: “The Secret Pool,” by Lynn C. Miller, excerpted from her first novel The Fool’s Journey, 2002 (Winedale Press). In press is the novel The Surrogate for 2026. www.lynncmiller.com
Feed the Cat Break: “The Legend of the Myth” by John V. Modaff
Poem 2: “Another Story” by poet Hilda Raz, from a story that inspired Yeats and many others about the beautiful Leda and the god-turned-swan Zeus. In New and Collected Poems, Letter from a Place I’ve Never Been, from University of Nebraska Press, 2022.
Song 2: “The Old Monsters Rest Home,” by John V. Modaff.
Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Show theme and incidental music by John V. Modaff , BMI
The Unruly Muse is Recorded in Albuquerque, NM and Morehead, KY and produced at The Creek Studio
NEXT UP: Episode 48, “Beauty and the Beast”