Aeneas takes a break from finding Italy to find love- and then destroy it all in a life-ending tragedy that will set up the Punic Wars. Join us for recollections of the cyclopes Odysseus fought, Virgil standing up for family values and just quite how romantic spelunking was in the ancient world.

NOTE: We mention the mythical founding of Carthage being centuries apart from the supposed date of the fall of Troy in the episode. Ancient authors do not really agree with each other about the date, so we get anywhere from 50 years after Troy falls to 65 years before Rome is founded as the date.

Sources for this episode:

• Odgers, M. M. (1925), Some Appearances of the Dido Story. The Classical Weekly 18(19): 145-148.
• Virgil (1976), The Aeneid. Translated by W. F. J. Knight. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Wilkinson, P., Carroll, G., Faulkner, M., Field, J. F., Haywood, J., Kerrigan, M., Philip, N., Pumphrey, N. and Tocino-Smith, J. (2018), The Mythology Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Mount Etna (online) (Accessed 05/10/2025).

We set off from the burning rubble of Troy again- but this time instead of Odysseus, it's everyone's favourite serial kidnap victim Aeneas we are following! Join us for Carthage, Dido, very fast mural painters with very up-to-date information and Neptune advocating beaurocracy.

Sources for this episode:

• Virgil (1976), The Aeneid. Translated by W. F. J. Knight. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Odysseus. The man we accused of being a failure all throughout the Iliad and the Posthomerica. But will we like him any better during his own spin-off show? Join us for an extra long episode hosted by Vince's sister the Jingle-Jangler- who has studied the Odyssey and can help us condense it. Will Vince get increasingly frustrated at the inconsistency of Greek omens? Will Cassie have to employ increasing levels of sarcasm against Odysseus' flaws? Will the hosts become enraged at Odysseus, misogyny in the Greek world and Greek mythology in general? Find out with us!

NOTE: This episode is a bit of a longer one, so it has been split into three sections with musical interludes at 35:39 and 01:13:50 for those who need a break.

Sources for this episode:

• Homer (1983), The Odyssey. Translated by E. V. Rieu. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
• Majdic, G. (2021), Graceful Swan: A Symbol of Love. Chapter in: Soul Mate Biology: p. 93-102.

This weekend was meant to be the release date for episode 80 on the Odyssey, but that has had to be pushed back because one of the hosts currently isn't in the country! The perils of international travel and its unexpected delays... In the meantime, this is a bit of a refresher on what our schedule is going to look like (as it's changed a fair bit over the last few months) and when you can expect episode 80 to air.

Agamemnon comes home to find consequences waiting for him in Argos. This sets off a chain reaction resulting in a cycle of violence swirling around Orestes, son of Agamemnon. We get scenes of Furies chasing him from Argos to Athens where his fate will get decided by a trial- with Apollo's only contribution being an attack on all women...

Sources for this episode:

• Aeschylus (1977), The Oresteia. Translated by R. Fagles. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
• The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (date unknown) Zygote (online) (Accessed 27/08/2024).
• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
• Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
• Ovid (1968), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Erinyes (online) (Accessed 27/08/2024).

Now that the Iliad and the Posthomerica are both behind us, it is time for a recap of the craziness that has been the Trojan War! Join us for two mini quizzes, another opportunity to dunk on Achilles and a reminder that all that terrible nonsense the House of Tantalus got up to existed.

Autocrat sat down with Dean Kinzer, the President of Kinzer Coins, to discuss what coins from the Roman and ancient worlds can tell us about what it was like to live in those worlds. Join us for tales of devaluation in the third century, the lack of silver mines in the Byzantine period, and just whether Antoninus Pius was into bobbleheads.

Dominic Perry from the History of Egypt podcast joins us on the show to discuss the mythology of Egypt, its early history, and the state of Egyptian history at around about the time the fall of Troy is set in the 1180s BCE. Expect tales of conspiracies against Ramesses III, Sea Peoples, strife, and a look ahead at later Egyptian history and the last hieroglyphic inscriptions...

Thanks so much to Dominic for appearing on the show! Find his podcast here:

• YouTube: @AncientEgyptHist
• Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com
• Instagram: @egyptpodcast
• TikTok: @ancientegypthis

Sources and further reading for this episode:

• Blakemore, E., National Geographic (2024), Who killed Ramesses III? How science solved an Ancient Egyptian murder mystery (online) (Accessed 13/07/2025).
• Hawass, Z., Gad, Y. Z., Ismail, S., Khairat, R., Fathalla, D., Hasan, N., Ahmed, A., Elleithy, H., Ball, M., Gaballah, F., Wasef, S., Fateen, M., Amer, H., Gostner, P., Selim, A., Zink, A. and Pusch, C. M. (2010), Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family. JAMA 303(7): 638-647.
• Hawass, Z., Ismail, S., Selim, A., Saleem, S. N., Fathalla, D., Wasef, S., Gad, A. Z., Saad, R., Fares, S., Amer, H., Gostner, P., Gad, Y. Z., Pusch, C. M. and Zink, A. R. (2012), Revisiting the harem conspiracy and death of Ramesses III: anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic study. BMJ 345: e8268.
• Salah El Dien, M. M., Assem, R. and Joseph, A. (2023), The Harem Conspiracies of Ancient Egypt.
• Wong, J. Y. (2025), The afterlife of Hatshepsut’s statuary. Antiquity 99(405), 746-761.