Another instance of a cursed family tree- this time in two stories. The first is one of a man who just wants to find a nice statue and settle down. In the second, a series of cursed events lead to someone Aphrodite can fall in love with! A handy precedent to set as we wind our way towards the Trojan War...

Sources for this episode;

• Bernstein, N. W. (2023), The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume II). London: William Heinemann.
• Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
• Ovid (1955), Metamorphoses. Translated by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin Books.
• Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Galatea (mythology) (online) (Accessed 13/08/2024).

Quick correction- we call Orthus the father of Cerberus in the episode, but it's actually Typhon! Just swap 'father' for 'brother' and everything still works.

The final and most dangerous task is here, and we've got to go down into the underworld... We've got the whole package: Heracles solving fighting-based problems; Harry Potter connections from Cassie, and Vince going down a rabbit hole about mythological chronologies!

Sources for this episode:

• Frazer, J. G. (1921), Apollodorus: The Library (Volume I). London: William Heinemann.
• Graves, R. (1981), Greek Myths: Illustrated Edition. London: Cassell Ltd.
• Guerber, H. A. (1929), The Myths of Greece & Rome: Their Stories Signification and Origin. London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd.
• Oldfather, C. H. (1989), Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes. Volume I: Books I and II, 1-34. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, UK: Harvard University Press.

Back in episode 33, we examined what the ancient authors had to say about the phoenix. Well, this time the basilisk is under scrutiny! Also, find out which snake we think it probably sprung from! That and Part II of Harry Potter references...

Sources for this episode:

• Alexander, R. McN. (1963), The Evolution of the Basilisk. Greece & Rome 10(2): 170-181.
• Rackham, H. (1967), Pliny Natural History with an English Translation in Ten Volumes. Volume III: Libri VIII-XI. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd.