Wednesday, May 19, 2021

The Audio File: Live From Mount Olympus: Season 1

The various mythologies of the world are some of the oldest inspirations for works of art. These timeless tales of gods and heroes invite themselves to reinterpretation and reimagining. Often, these retellings allow us to examine the original tales in a new light. There's still plenty of room for innovation and putting your own mark, even when you stay faithful to the plot of the myths. Yes, this is leading into the audio drama we're reviewing today. We're taking a look at Live From Mount Olympus.


Perhaps you have heard of the Ancient Greek hero Perseus. The slayer of Medusa, the one who saved Princess Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus, the one who defeated the tyrants Polydectes and Acrisius. Before of that, however, he was just a fisherman's apprentice with big dreams. Perseus never knew or suspected that he was a son of Zeus. However, when the tyrannical King Polydectes challenges Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa, Perseus will rise to the occasion. Polydectes will marry Perseus’ mom, Danae, if Perseus doesn’t make it back. Thankfully, Perseus is not on his own. He will receive help from his siblings, the gods Hermes and Athena. One thing is for sure, Perseus is in for an adventure of Olympic proportions.

I first became aware of Live From Mount Olympus when I was scrolling through Twitter one day. Timestorm had retweeted about a new podcast that was coming soon named Live From Mount Olympus. It looked cool, and I made a not to check back on it. So, a month or so later, I checked back, and Live From Mount Olympus was putting out episodes. The whole series is now available, and so here we are. Timestorm and Live From Mount Olympus are both part of TRAX, a subsidiary of PRX, which focuses on making quality podcasts from listeners between the ages of nine and thirteen. TRAX is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whom you may have heard of if you've ever watched PBS.

Live From Mount Olympus is created by the Onassis Foundation. They’re an organization founded by Aristotle Onassis to promote arts, culture, and community. Particularly, they focus on the arts and culture as they relate to Greece. The Onassis Foundation is headquartered in Athens, but also has offices in New York City as well.

Okay, so enough preamble, let's dive into the audio drama itself. Like I said, Live From Mount Olympus is a retelling of the myth of Perseus. It is incredibly faithful to the original myth. The biggest deviation is when Perseus meets the titan Atlas after slaying Medusa. In the original myth, Perseus used Medusa's head to turn Atlas to stone for refusing him hospitality. Atlas did this because he feared Perseus might steal his golden apples. In the audio drama, Perseus offers to turn Atlas to stone to help ease his burden of holding up the sky. However, Atlas refuses, but he does offer Perseus some words of advice.

Of course, the myths are hardly consistent on this point. One of Heracles' famous twelve labors was retrieving golden apples from Atlas. In that myth, Atlas was very much not turned to stone. For reference, Heracles was Perseus' great-grandson. Though, they were both sons of Zeus, so technically they were also half-brothers, and Zeus was thus Heracles' father and great-great-grandfather at the same time. The family trees of Greek Mythology can get a bit twisted at times. The point is, even the mythology is inconsistent on this point, and it is only a minor pit stop to the main plot.

The other main difference is that Hermes has much larger role in the story. In the original myth, he gave Perseus his winged sandals...and that was pretty much it. Here, Hermes acts as the narrator of the series. The series is part of his gods podcast, a godcast, if you will. Athena still acts a Perseus' primary mentor, as in the original myth, but Hermes is along for the ride too. He also provides bits of advice to Perseus along the way.

Now, just because the plot sticks closest to the original myth doesn’t mean there isn’t room for innovation. Nor does it mean the writers can't leave their own mark. The myths tell us what Perseus and company did, but not how they'd felt, or what was going on in their heads. Live From Mount Olympus thrives by filling in these gaps. Perseus starts off full of doubt and unsure of himself. He still takes a while, even after he's revealed as a son of Zeus, to fully accept that someone like him could be the son of a god. Over the course of the series, he learns to overcome these doubts, gains confidence in himself, and becomes a hero.

I really liked what Live From Mount Olympus did with Andromeda's character. She isn't some doe-eyed damsel in distress. She willingly offered herself up as a sacrifice to Cetus for the good the sake of her people. She also helps Perseus defeat Cetus...well, sort of. She throws rocks at the sea monsters, which is like trying to shoot Godzilla with a BB-gun, but hey, it's the thought the counts. She does shout some instructions to Perseus as he's fighting Cetus. She initially scoffs at the idea of marrying Perseus, but after accompanying him on some adventures, she warms up to it.

I also really like what they did with Danae. She might not be a physical fighter, but she has a lot of emotional strength. Remember, she had to raise Perseus pretty all on her own, barring a bit of help from Dictys. She's the one who instilled in him a sense of right and wrong. She's also the one who helps him through his dark times. For example, in the original myth, after Perseus accidentally kills his grandfather Acrisius, as foretold in the prophecy, he doesn’t think much of it. In the audio drama, however, Perseus feels an immense guilt and is completely torn-ups about it. Danae, along with Andromeda, Athena, and Hermes, help him put things into perspective. They remind him it was destined by fate to happen, and it doesn't mean he's a bad person.

This moment also provides great emotional whiplash, as just before all of that, the discus toss was portrayed like a modern-day baseball game. It has announcers, music, and everything. Perseus being a wise-cracking hero, plus his close relationship with his mom, brings to mind a certain other demigod named Perseus. Of course, that guy is a son of Poseidon from New York City, not a son of Zeus from Ancient Greece.

Though the series is primarily focused on the myth of Perseus, we do get mentions of others myths as well. We get a bonus episode where Hermes recounts the story of his birth, and how he invented the lyre after stealing Apollo's cattle. The episode where Perseus first meets Athena gives us a flashback to Perseus' childhood. Danae tells him various stories about Athena, such as her birth, and her contest against Arachne. Athena is Danae's favorite goddess, so you can imagine how excited she is when she finally gets to meet Athena.

If you're wondering, yes, Perseus does slay Medusa, just as in the original myth. It happens halfway through the series, and is over surprisingly quickly. Granted, this is true to the myth, but I had to reminded myself of that. Sometimes, the best-known parts of Greek myths don't last as long as you might think. For example, the parts of The Odyssey where Odysseus fights the monsters, travels to strange lands, and deals with Circe and Calypso, only lasts about four books of the epic poem. For reference, The Odyssey is composed of twenty-four books total. Well, they're called books, but they aren't as long as you might think. Point is, the most famous parts are only a small portion of it. Most of the epic poem is focused on Odysseus trying to reclaim Ithaca from the suitors.

Now I'd like to take a moment to talk about the cast. The production team went with colorblind casting, and the cast is racially diverse. I think that this is really great. Greek Mythology is for everyone. It isn't just for Greek people, it isn't just for white people, people of all races can enjoy and utilize Greek Mythology. I also appreciate that they didn't race-flip one or two major characters and then leave the rest of the cast white. They were consistent with their diversification of the cast across the entire cast, and I appreciate that consistency.

The cast are all professional theatre actors from a group called The TEAM. They're a Brooklyn based theatre ensemble who typically make works focusing on the experience of living in America today. Most notably, we have André De Shields as Hermes. You may remember him from the musical Hadestown, where he also played Hermes. Divine Garland gives an absolutely outstanding performance as Perseus. He captures the wise-cracking and confident side of Perseus, but also his more vulnerable and contemplative side. I'll add that I liked how Live From Mount Olympus emphasized how young Perseus was. At lot of the major heroes from Greek Mythology were, by modern standards, pretty much just kids when they accomplished their great deeds.

Jillian Walker gives an excellent performance as Danae. She reminded me a bit of Carrie Compere's performance as Mrs. Jackson in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. Chalk another one up for the parallels with Percy Jackson. Just to be clear, the fact that there were elements that reminded me of Percy Jackson is not a bad thing. If anything, it is a major net positive, given how much I love Percy Jackson. And hey, if you need another reason to listen to this audio drama, Becky Riordan, wife of Rick Riordan himself, recommends it. I think it's safe to say Rick gives Live From Mount Olympus his seal of approval.

Christina Liberus did pretty well as Andromeda, though at times she sounded a bit older than Perseus, not that there's anything wrong with that. Really, the entire cast gave phenomenal performances, and I hope I hear more from The TEAM in the future.

I really hope that Live From Mount Olympus comes back for a second season. And a third, and a fourth, and...well, you get the idea. There's plenty of other stories from Greek Mythology to adapt. Though, most would probably, at best, end on a bittersweet note. Perseus is notable for being one of the only Greek heroes to get an unanimously happy ending. Hermes does hint, at the end of the last episode, that he has more stories to tell in the future. I certainly hope that this isn't the last we've heard of Live From Mount Olympus.

So, there you have it. Live From Mount Olympus retells the myth of Perseus as an adventure of Olympic proportions. It is aimed at kids, but can be enjoyed by listeners of all ages. You do not want to miss this audio drama is you love Greek Mythology, or mythology in general. Do yourself a favor and listen today. You'll be glad that you did.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

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