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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