Natalie Haynes: Divine Might

Wildly popular broadcaster and author sets the goddesses of Mount Olympus free from the patriarchal paradigm in which they have been understood for millennia.

Following on from her bestselling Pandora’s Jar, which redressed the imbalance of women across Greek myth, epic poetry and classic plays, Natalie continues to question the assumptions about women made in these ancient stories, this time focusing on the goddesses.

Traditionally maligned, misunderstood or cast under the shadow of the gods from which they sprung, join Natalie as she reimagines the goddesses’ tales, from the Muses to the Furies. Athene Goddess of War, who entered the world via Zeus’ brow, Aphrodite born of the foam (or some say, sperm released from Titan’s castrated testicles), Hera the long suffering-wife of the philandering Zeus and Artemis the huntress and virgin goddess of childbirth (make it make sense, Greek myth), are just a few well-known figures Natalie invites us to rediscover.

With her witty, insightful tone and the rigour of a deeply passionate classicist, Natalie joins Daniel Hahn in conversation to blow the lid off Mount Olympus.