Myths & Monsters

The strange Slavic story of Ivan and Koschei the Deathless; the origins of King Arthur and the wizard Merlin; Odysseus resists the song of the Sirens; Sigurd and his battle with the dragon Fafnir.

Romulus and Remus; Vikings and the Valkyries who ushered them to the next world; the Trojan War; how Homer's "The Iliad" influenced Alexander the Great; Vlad the Impaler.

The medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde; how the abandonment of Dido by Aeneas paved the way for Rome; Norse attitudes of sex and marriage in "Lay of Thrym"; Medea murders her children.

How does a community form? How does it survive and adapt to change? How the role myths and legends have played in establishing the rules of society.

The ancient Greek myth of Antigone, who defied laws to bury her dead brother; the Norse god Baldr; flood narratives found in myth; fascination with the undead; history of the vampire.