In a Time of Ancient Gods
Researching the myths, heroes and themes we meet in the Xenaverse
Join lifelong friends, researchers, and Xenites, Hayley (PhD) and Justine (MLIS) as we discuss every Xena: Warrior Princess episode while researching the legends and historical contexts within the Xenaverse!
If you are interested in mythologies, feminism, the occult, ancient history, goofy creatures and powerful female protagonists — join us as we explore our favorite topics.
We do our best to release episodes monthly
Latest Episodes
Links To Season 2 Episodes
S2E22 Ulysses Another guy asks Xena to wear his dead wife’s dress and Gabby’s misery is our misery! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research Sirens, Athena, Penelope, and the man with a plan himself, Ulysses!
S2E21 Blind Faith Gabby has a weekend at Bernie’s and WHERE in Ancient Greece is the eyewash station?? MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research the Enchiridion + what it might have been like in Xena's day to live with without eyesight!
S2 XENACON MINI EPISODE We documented our trip to Xenacon 2024 in LA! Posted exclusively to our Patreon page, but free for anyone to listen :) Spoiler alert: WE MEET LUCY & RENEE & TED!!!
S2E20 The Execution Xena meets Gabby's other hero crush! Bloodthirsty villagers in the bleachers! Will we ever meet the "one-eyed guy"?! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research Meleager in mythology and the history of hourglasses!
S2E19 For Him The Bell Tolls Love Gods are in the air and Joxer causes a civil war! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley discuss love spells in the ancient world & touch on Simone de Beauvoir’s social theories!
S2E18 A Day In The Life FINALLY, we get a full day with Xena & Gabby. Xena goes fishing! Gabby talks with villagers! We all play 20 questions! MEANWHILE, Justine & Hayley research the history of kites and Zagreus!!
S2E19 A Necessary Evil Xena & Gabby battle Amazons with immortal powers! Rats for lunch!! Femme vengeance!!! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research village & rodent life in the ancient world!
S2E16 The Quest Amazon politics! Bruce Campbell! We cannot believe Xena is still dead!!!! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research Amazon wannabe queen Velasca & ancient cases of spirit possession!
S2E15 Destiny Heartbreak! Crucifixion! Julias Caesar! And the woman who started it all! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research Caesar and a lil bit about ancient Gaul!
S2E14 Here She Comes… Miss Amphipolis! We're back from our mini break! and WHAT AN EPISODE TO COME BACK TO!!! Gabby WOWS as the Contessa & Xena catches a snake! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research drag performance in ancient Greek theater & the history of Miss America pageants.
S2E13 The Xena Scrolls TIME TRAVEL! Women in STEM!! Indiana Jones?!! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research Macedonia in the 1940s, Nazis & archaeology, and ladies' roles in early archaeology!
S2E12 A Solstice Carol Xena saves a Scrooge and Gabby saves US from a trip to the glue factory! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research Solstice & Equinox celebrations from around the world, ancient Greek orphan life, and a brief history of Dickens' A Christmas Carol!
S2E11 Ten Little Warlords XenaisstillCallistoisstillXena! Can Ares help them swap their bodies back!? Will Gabby ever get her fishcakes?! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research ancient greek ships & murder mystery games!
S2E10 Intimate Stranger NOT A WORD SINCE PERD! Let's swap bodies and takedown Ares' latest plot to conquer the world! MEANWHILE Hayley's back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! H&J research the perennial questions: Can we really switch bodies?! and what IS Ares' type.... romantically???
S2E9 Sidequest Episode 3: The Planet Formerly Known as Xena Let's talk about the PLANET FORMERLY KNOWN AS XENA!!!!! That’s right! The dwarf planet Eris, the goddess of discord, identified in the early 2000s, was originally named Xena! Her moon was called Gabrielle! Freak out! In our final sidequest episode before our mini winter break and Hayley's return, we have a VERY SPECIAL GUEST! Astrologer Mary Swanson leads us through a discussion of the connections between the discovery of Eris, and the dwarf planet’s myths and psychological associations with personal and societal liberation! We end the interview with astrological birth chart readings for Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor! With a focus on what Eris is up to in their charts!
S2E8 Sidequest Episode 2: The Warrior Princess Hayley's still away, but Justine is here with some ancient warrior princess research! In this episode, we're researching Camilla of the Volsci, warrior princess of Virgil's Aeneid. In a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings, A land in turmoil cried out for a hero...She was CAMILLA! A mighty princess Devoted to Diana, Goddess of the hunt And a hero to her people and country!
S2E7 Sidequest Episode 1: The Yellow Wallpaper - Hayley's away, so it's up to Justine to entertain you! Putting a pin in the episode recaps until Hayley's back and in the meantime, we'll visit some of our favorite themes! In this episode, we're kicking off Spooky Season with a tale Justine always think of when she hears Callisto's screams; One of Hayley & Justine’s favorite madwoman in the attic short stories:The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Campy Horror! Feminist Themes! Psychological Thrills! Late 19th-century Gothic Aesthetics!
S2E6 WARRIOR…PRINCESS….TRAMP - Xena, Xena, Xena! Triplet strangers?! Joxer finds love and Gabby gets gaslit! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research the history of “tramps” and the Aegis!
S2E5 Return of Callisto - Old Flames! Funeral Pyres! Vengeance! Quicksand! The patron saint of rage is BACK back and every drop of innocent bloodshed from here on out is on Xena’s hands! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research ancient Greek wedding rituals and quicksand!
S2E4 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Xena fights an army of mysterious undead ladies, and Gabby joins a cult! MEANWHILE Justine & Hayley research Orpheus & Bacchae!PLUS a special disembodied guest star from Justine & Hayley’s past PLUS PLUS a secret surprise musical at the end of the episode from friends of the pod: The Dead Sailor Girls!
S2E3 The Giant Killer - "Do you remember the tallest man you've ever seen?"- Jonathan Frakes MEANWHILE: Justine & Hayley research David & Goliath and myths about Giants from around the world!
S2E2 Remember Nothing - ALTERNATE TIMELINE ALERT !!! Xena embraces villager life and Gabby raids Xena’s mom’s closet! MEANWHILE Hayley continues her research into slavery in ancient Greece, Justine researches the 3 Fates and we get a quick lil intro to 20th Century Neopaganism!
S2E1 Orphan of War - New Season! New Characters! New Heartbreak! SAME WARRIOR PRINCESS!! Xena comes face to face with a decision she regrets! Gabby rides a centaur without asking first! MEANWHILE Hayley & Justine research the North Wind Boreas, Father of Centaurs Ixion, and Athenian Statesman Solon!
Season 1 Episodes ALSO Available On Your Favorites Podcast Platforms!
Research Topics & Episode Links
GODDESSES & GODS
Ares God of War, Artemis Goddess of the Hunt, Asclepius God of Medicine, Athena Goddess of War, Craft, and Reason, Diana Goddess of the Moon, Eris Goddess of Discord, Hades God of the Underworld, Hera Queen of the Gods, Hestia Goddess of Hearth and Home, Morpheus God of Dreams, Prometheus the Titan who Stole Fire, Titans the pre-Olympian Gods, Thanatos God of Death, The Three Fates, Zagreus God of the Underworld
HEROES & HUMANS
Achilles the Greatest of All greek Warriors, Amazons the women warriors, Autolycus the King of Thieves, Camilla of the Volsci, Cycnus Son of Ares, Julius Caesar Emperor of Rome, Deiphobos Prince of troy, Diomedes hero of the Trojan War, Euripides the Playwright, Galen ancient Greek Physician, Helen of Troy, Hippocrates Ancient Greek Physician, Homer the Poet, the Meleager host of the Calydonian Boar Hunt, Menelaus King of Sparta, Mizentius the Despiser of the Gods, Oedipus King of Thebes, Oracles of Ancient Greece, The Oracle of Delphi, Orion the Giant Huntsman, Orpheus the musician poet & prophet, Patroclus Greek warrior and Achilles’ Lover, Paris Prince of Troy, Penelope the Queen of Ithaca, Penthesilea the Amazon Queen, Phantes the Egyptian prince, Polyxena Princess of Troy, Salmoneus impious king and brother of Sisyphus, Solon the Athenian Statesman, Toxeus a bowman at the Calydonian Boar Hunt, Ulysses the king of Ithaca and hero of The Odyssey, Velasca the Bohemian Rebel, Xerxes the Persian King
MYTHS & MAGICAL CREATURES
Bacchae the female followers of Bacchus, Baucis & Philemon a cautionary tale of guest friendship, Boreas the North Wind, Callisto the Nymph, Centaurs, Cherubs, Cyclopes the One-Eyed Giant, Charon the Ferryman of the Underworld, David & Goliath the underdog vs Giant fight, Giants throughout history, Gryphons, The House of Atreus the cursed family line, Ibraham & Isaac a myth of sacrifice and faith, Ixion father of Centaurs, The Labors of Hercules, Pandora’s Box, Panope the Nereid, Pyramus & Thisbe the Star Crossed Lovers, Sisyphus & the meaninglessness of repetition, Talus the Giant Bronze Automaton
OBJECTS & ANIMALS
The Aegis Athena’s Shield, Ambrosia the Nectar of the Gods, The Ark of the Covenant religious relic of the Israelites, Currency in Ancient Greece, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, The Enchiridion, The Henbane Plant,The HourGlass, Kites, Masks throughout History, Murder Mystery Games, Passenger Pigeons throughout History, Quicksand, Rodents in the Ancient World, Ships of Ancient Greece, Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, Ululation & Xena’s Battlecry
PLACES & EVENTS
1940s Macedonia, Ancient Gaul, Birth Practices of Ancient Greece, Drag Performance in Ancient Greece, The Eleusinian Mysteries, The Elysian Fields and paradise in the underworld, The Feast of Zeus, Funerary Practices in Ancient Greece, Healing Waters and Sacred Wells, The Platonic Academy, prisons in Ancient Greece, Solstice & Equinox Celebrations around the World, Tartarus the underworld dungeon, The Trojan War, Saturnalia and Winter Holiday Festivals from the Ancient World, Sumer, Wedding Rituals in Ancient Greece, Village Life in the Ancient World
THEMES
Astrology, Blindness in Ancient Greece, Body Swapping, Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece, Love Spells, Lucid Dreaming, Miss America Pageants, Nazis and Archaeology, Neopaganism, Orphan Life in Ancient Greece, Simone de Beauvoir Social Theories, Slavery in Ancient Greece and MORE Slavery in Ancient Greece, Spirit Possession, History of ’Tramps’, Twin Strangers, Women in Early Archaeology, Xenia the ancient greek concept of hospitality
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