As most readers of rogueclassicism are aware, all those wonderful stories which are embraced under the category of ‘myth’ were often told in poem — or more accurately — song form. With Myth Songs, the multi-talented Nick Humez has put together a CD version of songs  he originally wrote to be sung to his myth class at Montclair State University. While the vast majority of the seventeen tracks relate to Greek Myth, there are nods to others such as Norse (Sleipnir), Egyptian (Akhnaten’s Gavotte), Sumerian (Fraglied, Inanna’s Waltz), Canaanite (Ba’al and Mot), ‘Proto-IndoEuropean’ (The Triple Goddess), and Irish (Hibernica). In this review, we’ll be focusing on the Greek ones, of course.

The opening track — Perseus — is a lengthy and witty retelling of the tale which is performed in the Irish/Scottish folk song manner which is reflected in most of the songs. It’s very complicated from a metrical point of view — again, as are many of the songs — but is not inaccessible. The theme (and style) is revisited in Three Monster-Slayers in Search of a Single Malt. One could imagine one or both of these being used to introduce students to the Perseus story or even Clash of the Titans (original or remake). By contrast, the Wilusiad and The House of Atreus both feature dulcimers, which give the songs themselves a Renaissance-like sound (for want of a better term) and establish a suitably tragic mood for the subject matter. The Oracles (which includes a bit of Roman content, inter alia, with the story of Tarquinius) is mostly a piano piece which has reminiscences of Tom Lehrer.

There is much to delight in this CD, especially if one is following along with the lyrics provided in the liner notes. A taste of the wit which characterizes many of the tracks can be seen in this excerpt from The Olympian Dozen (All 14 of ’em):

Now Rhea was dim, and did not prevent him
From ingesting her children, one, two, three, four, five;
But the sixth she concealed, and in place of a meal
Of a boy, gave a boulder, preserving alive
Little Zeus, who (much quicker), when Cronus with liquor
Was drunk, an emetic did slip him, and there
Made his dad for to chunder (the first Jovian thunder)
And up came five siblings, no worse for the wear.

All in all, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable CD and one which would fit into any university-level myth or Classical Civilization course in some manner. It could also be used profitably, I think, at the High School/Middle School with motivated students (as long as they had access to the lyrics). Some of the songs would readily lend themselves to school projects involving a video/animation creation (with appropriate permissions, of course) and if you’re going to be hosting a Roman-style banquet, many of the songs would fit in well as an alternative or supplement to ‘traditional’ lyric poetry/epic performances.

More information (including a full list of tracks) on Mythsongs can be gleaned from official website (although the email address there may be out of date).