Episode 95: Jennifer Saint (Atalanta)

The Worm Hole Podcast

Charlie and Jennifer Saint (Atalanta) discuss the forgotten story of the female member of the Argonauts - Jennifer's use of and changes to the various versions of the mythological story, including her usage of motherhood as a theme, Homer's thoughts on his women characters, the assault of Callisto, and the fact that Jason isn't much of a hero.

Please note there are mentions of sexual assault in this episode.

Episode 60 of this podcast is my interview with Jennifer about Elektra Jennifer's Elektra Jennifer's Ariadne The Argonautica Sarah Clegg's Women's Lore Cicero said, in the Tusculan Disputations, Book I, On The Contempt Of Death, section XXXIX: "If a child dies young, one should console himself easily. If he dies in the cradle, one doesn't even pay attention." Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad

Where to find Jennifer online

Website || Twitter || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online

Website || Twitter || Instagram

Discussions

01:42 Why Atalanta, what drew you to her? 03:19 Why the first person in particular and how did you create Atalanta's voice? 06:31 The relevance of Atalanta's story to our present day, especially compared to Elektra 08:49 The unimportance of Jason (of the Argonauts) 10:07 Atalanta's growth as a person and her relative genderlessness 12:49 How and why Jennifer included motherhood in the way that she does (and how there are bad parents in Greek mythology) 17:54 Depending on the version of the story, Atalanta doesn't always meet Artemis - Jennifer talks about this and her choices for her story. We then move on to Callisto's story and the different versions of it 24:25 Jennifer talks about how Homer seems to have empathy for the women in his stories as part of a wider discussion as to the reception of the female characters in Ancient Greek society 27:49 How Jennifer approached writing the male characters, who revolve around Atalanta rather than the other way around 34:57 The ending - becoming lions would've been seen as a punishment in Ancient Greece, so how did Jennifer change this for her story? 38:02 Artemis' and Aphrodite's relationship 41:16 What's next - Jennifer's book on Hera 42:23 Might Jennifer ever write a 'regular' high fantasy novel?