Conversing with Terry Shepherd about Myth, Women and The Odyssey

Terry Shepherd recently invited me to his podcast In Conversation with Terry Shepherd (link to Apple podcasts), and the resulting conversation is full of gems in its 24 minutes.

Talking with Terry: Myth, Women and The Odyssey

We talked about my latest Greek myth retelling, Achilles’s Wife and Nolan’s film The Odyssey, but somehow we covered a lot in the course of looking at those two works–about history, women, how to transform myth for new audiences, how the tradition treats heroes like Achilles, women like Deidamia, and a lot more. Terry is a top notch interviewer who keeps the topics flowing with that wonderful voice of his.

He also wrote an essay from our conversation, The Reclamation of Myth, on his substack Purveyor of Adventure, and I really enjoyed it. (The substack link also has the podcast link if you want a one stop shop.)

Excerpts from The Reclamation of Myth

Terry has a talent for pithy turns of phrases, and he beautifully captured essentials about Achilles’s Wife. I’ll share some of my favorite excerpts:

Somewhere in the proceedings, Deidameia becomes pregnant. Achilles eventually departs for Troy, and mythology quickly loses interest in her. This is precisely where Judith becomes interested.

She makes one audacious adjustment to the traditional account. Thetis does not merely place Achilles in women’s clothing. She transforms his body into that of a woman. What had survived as an almost comic disguise becomes instead a crisis of identity.

The alteration changes everything. Deidameia is no longer a convenient romantic footnote. She becomes Achilles’s confidante and protector…

Their relationship grows not from conquest but from mutual vulnerability.

Yet Achilles’s Wife finally belongs to Deidameia. Judith imagines her not merely as a princess awaiting whatever fate the men around her decide, but as a woman sharing responsibility for the rule of Scyros.

This is the peculiar gift of retelling myth. The old stories do not change, exactly. Our angle of vision does.

For centuries, Deidameia stood in Achilles’ shadow. Judith Starkston turns the light slightly, and suddenly the shadow has a face, a mind, and a story of her own. Greek mythology has always been populated by extraordinary women. The real question is why it took us so long to ask what they were thinking.

Full Essay and The Odyssey Discussion

For the full essay, including the part devoted to Nolan’s film, be sure to find it here. If you prefer Spotify for listening to podcast, here’s the Judith Starkston Achilles Wife conversation link on Spotify.

If you’d enjoy an extended discussion on my blog of Nolan’s The Odyssey, you may find it here.