Chapter 13: Annabeth Tries to Swim Home | The Sea of Monsters

Chapter 13: Annabeth Tries to Swim Home | The Sea of Monsters

I hope you're listening with headphones this week because Percy Jackson is facing the Siren's song as he and Annabeth journey further into the Sea of Monsters. Connor and Jack are discussing how this chapter has it all. We're breaking down the emotional moments that give this chapter depth for the characters and some solid son-of-the-sea-god action before taking on two very different myths. First, Connor is addressing some of the set dressing and talking about the volcanic island forges of Hephaestus before exploring the surprisingly intricate lore of the Sirens. This Week's Myths: * Forges of Hephaestus * Sirens The Oracle's Visions! (Links to sources) * Homer, Iliad, Book 23 * HEPHAESTUS (Hephaistos) - Greek God of Smiths & Metalworking (Roman Vulcan) [https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hephaistos.html] * HEPHAESTUS ESTATE & RETINUE - Greek Mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/HephaistosTreasures.html] * Cicero, [https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=137] Nature of the Gods [https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=137] * Lipari - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipari] * Lemnos - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemnos] * APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, ARGONAUTICA BOOK 4 - Theoi Classical Texts Library [https://www.theoi.com/Text/ApolloniusRhodius4.html] * SIRENS (Seirenes) - Half-Bird Women of Greek Mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Seirenes.html] * Homer, The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fitzgerald * Siren (mythology) - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren_(mythology)] * Ovid (43 BC–17) - The Metamorphoses: Book 5 [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorph5.php] * The Internet Classics Archive | Helen by Euripides [https://classics.mit.edu/Euripides/helen.html] * Pierides (mythology) - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierides_(mythology)] * Ovid (43 BC–17) - The Metamorphoses: Book 5 [https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorph5.php] * Hyginus, Fabulae (Hyg.+Fab.) [https://topostext.org/work/206] * Pausanias, Description of Greece [https://topostext.org/work/213] * Photius: Bibliotheca. Codices 186-222 (selected) [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm] Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-oracle/id1792459969 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NGNB8zoWnCGh6eVLMv1ah Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/80e263d0-d879-4a42-9e33-4dfc0ce4b96c/notes-from-the-oracle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromtheOracle Want to connect with us? Please direct all business inquiries to notesfromtheoraclepodcast@gmail.com

Chapter 12: We Check In to C.C.'s Spa & Resort | The Sea of Monsters

YARGHH MATEYS! Beware the Sea of Monsters, for great evils lurk within. Including... pirates? Dead men tell no tales, so it's a good thing we're alive and well to break down this chapter for you! We're covering a real variety in today's episode. The chapter starts slow and somber as Percy Jackson grapples with the presumed death of his brother before quickly descending into complete chaos on Circe's island. As such, Connor is presenting a deep dive on Odysseus's encounter with Circe on her island before we get another special history deep dive from Jack! This week, Ramblings from Cabin 6 is all about the famed pirate Blackbeard, so climb aboard as we set sail for our longest episode yet! This Week's Myths: * Circe This Week's Ramblings from Cabin 6: * Blackbeard The Oracle's Visions! (Links to sources) * Kirke (Kirke) - Greek Goddess of Sorcery, Sorceress of Aeaea [https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Kirke.html] * Kirke - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe] * Hesiod, [https://ia803408.us.archive.org/14/items/hesiods-theogony-translated-by-michael-heumann/Hesiod's%20Theogony%20-%20Translated%20by%20Michael%20Heumann.pdf]Theogony [https://ia803408.us.archive.org/14/items/hesiods-theogony-translated-by-michael-heumann/Hesiod's%20Theogony%20-%20Translated%20by%20Michael%20Heumann.pdf] * Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4C*.html#40]The Library of History [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4C*.html#40], Book IV [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4C*.html#40] * Homer, [https://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.10.x.html]Odyssey [https://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.10.x.html], Book X [https://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.10.x.html] * Moly (herb) - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moly_(herb)] * Riordan, Rick. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2). Disney Hyperion, 2006. * Perry, Dan (2006), Blackbeard: The Real Pirate of the Caribbean [https://archive.org/details/blackbeardrealpi00parr], Thunder's Mouth Press, ISBN 1560258853 * Wood, Peter H (2004), "Teach, Edward (Blackbeard) (d. 1718)" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27097], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_(identifier)]:10.1093/ref:odnb/27097 [https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F27097] * Johnson, Captain Charles (1724), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates * Woodbury, George (1951), The Great Days of Piracy [https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.507498], W. W. Norton & Company * Konstam, Angus (2007), Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate [https://books.google.com/books?id=TdTMkYgOkLYC], John Wiley & Sons, ISBN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)] 9780470128213 * Senior, Clive M. (1976). A Nation of Pirates. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7264-5 * Butler, Lindley S. (2000). Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast [https://archive.org/details/piratesprivateer00butl_0/page/11/mode/2up?q=act+of+grace]. Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)] 0-8078-2553-0. * Woodard, Colin (2007). The Republic of Pirates [https://books.google.com/books?id=W5sIuoBrFwYC]. Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 978-0-15-101302-9. * Lee, Robert E. (1974), Blackbeard the Pirate (2002 ed.), John F. Blair, ISBN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)] 0895870320 Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-oracle/id1792459969 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NGNB8zoWnCGh6eVLMv1ah Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/80e263d0-d879-4a42-9e33-4dfc0ce4b96c/notes-from-the-oracle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromtheOracle Want to connect with us? Please direct all business inquiries to notesfromtheoraclepodcast@gmail.com

Chapter 11: Clarisse Blows Up Everything | The Sea of Monsters

It's official. Here there be monsters... That's right! Percy Jackson and friends are crossing the threshold into the Sea of Monsters where they're facing down the biggest, most dangerous foes they've faced yet: the legendary Scylla and Charybdis. Connor and Jack are breaking down every moment of this chapter's heart-pounding action before exploring the depths of the mythology that these monsters have to offer. But that's not all because Jack has brought a brand new Ramblings from Cabin 6 where this time he's providing another historical deep dive into America's civil war. This time, he's covering Union hero Laura Jackson, a lesser known historical figure and sister of the famous confederate, General Stonewall Jackson, so be sure to stick around to the very end of this episode, so you don't miss a moment! This Week's Myths: * Scylla and Charybdis * The Clashing Rocks / The Sympleglades And a special new section! This Week's History Section: * Laura Jackson and General Stonewall Jackson The Oracle's Visions! (Links to sources) * Homer, The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. * Strait of Messina - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Messina] * CHARYBDIS (Kharybdis) - Whirlpool Monster of Greek Mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Kharybdis.html] * SCYLLA (Skylla) - Sea Monster of Greek mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Skylla.html] * CETO (Keto) - Greek Goddess of Sea Monsters [https://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Keto.html] * APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, ARGONAUTICA BOOK 4 - Theoi Classical Texts Library [https://www.theoi.com/Text/ApolloniusRhodius4.html] * Aeneas - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas] * Apollodorus, Library (Apollod.) [https://topostext.org/work/150] * The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Odyssey, by Homer [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1727/pg1727-images.html] * VIRGIL, AENEID BOOK 3 - Theoi Classical Texts Library [https://www.theoi.com/Text/VirgilAeneid3.html] * Symplegades - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symplegades] * Phineus - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineus] * The Argonautica, by Apollonius Rhodius [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/830/830-h/830-h.htm] * Riordan, Rick. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2). Disney Hyperion, 2006. * James I. Robertson, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend (1997). * Stonewall Jackson Genealogy. Online Resources from the VMI Archives. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110525220558/http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=4927] * Historic Beverly: The Jonathan Arnold House [https://web.archive.org/web/20090525061507/http://www.historicbeverly.org/builds/jonarnold.htm] * Laura Jackson Arnold | Civil War Women Blog [https://web.archive.org/web/20101223175507/http://www.civilwarwomenblog.com/2010/11/laura-jackson-arnold.html] * Spurgeon, Larry. “Laura Arnold: Stonewall Jackson’s Unionist Sister.” Jackson Brigade Quarterly (2020). Laura-Arnold-paper-Final-Draft.pdf [https://www.jacksonbrigade.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Laura-Arnold-paper-Final-Draft.pdf] * Forgotten sister of Stonewall Jackson defied her family and paid the price - West Virginia Explorer [https://wvexplorer.com/2025/06/16/forgotten-sister-stonewall-jackson-laura-arnold-wv/] Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-oracle/id1792459969 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NGNB8zoWnCGh6eVLMv1ah Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/80e263d0-d879-4a42-9e33-4dfc0ce4b96c/notes-from-the-oracle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromtheOracle Want to connect with us? Please direct all business inquiries to notesfromtheoraclepodcast@gmail.com

Chapter 10: We Hitch a Ride with Dead Confederates | The Sea of Monsters

An encounter with a hydra can't bog this chapter down! It's got Monster Donut in it! Percy Jackson and friends finish their escape from the Princess Andromeda, and Connor and Jack are breaking down every detail of the phenomenal character interactions they have along the way and their discussions within the demigod hideout they stop to rest in before the attack from the Hydra. That means that in this week's myth section, we're talking about one of the most memorable multi-headed monster in Greek mythology, the dreaded Hydra. And the wind bag of course! So get yourself a box of donuts and prepare to dive into this delectable chapter. This Week's Myths: * The Bag of Winds from the Odyssey * Hydras And a special new section! This Week's History Section: * The History of the Confederate Navy The Oracle's Visions! (Links to sources) * Homer, The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. * LERNAEAN HYDRA - Nine-Headed Serpent of Greek Mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonHydra.html] * Hesiod, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D304]Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D304] * Apollodorus, [https://topostext.org/work/150]Library [https://topostext.org/work/150] * Riordan, Rick. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2). Disney Hyperion, 2006. * Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/confederacy] * Still, William N. “Confederate Naval Strategy: The Ironclad.” The Journal of Southern History 27, no. 3 (1961): 330–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2205212 [https://doi.org/10.2307/2205212]. * Hill, J. Richard, Rear Admiral (2000). War at Sea in the Ironclad age [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780304352739]. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35273-X [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-304-35273-X]. * Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare 1815–1914. London: Routledge. * The First Modern War? | Virginia Museum of History & Culture [https://virginiahistory.org/learn/first-modern-war] * Surdam, David G. “THE CONFEDERATE NAVAL BUILDUP: Could More Have Been Accomplished?” Naval War College Review 54, no. 1 (2001): 107–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26391129. Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-oracle/id1792459969 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NGNB8zoWnCGh6eVLMv1ah Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/80e263d0-d879-4a42-9e33-4dfc0ce4b96c/notes-from-the-oracle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromtheOracle Want to connect with us? Please direct all business inquiries to notesfromtheoraclepodcast@gmail.com

Chapter 9: I Have the Worst Family Reunion Ever | The Sea of Monsters

I hope everyone at home is ready for a high energy episode because this one has everything! The stakes are high aboard the Princess Andromeda as we discuss our heroes encounter with Luke. A duel of wits ensues between Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan, and Jack and Connor are taking the time to analyze every detail of the confrontation. But that's not all this chapter has to offer. Tyson really shines in this chapter, so we're discussing what makes him such a valuable member of the team and part of the story and how he functions differently than Grover. And finally, we of course have a myth to discuss as we are introduced to the great-grandsons of Ares, the Bear Twins Agrius and Oreius! This Week's Myths: * Agrius and Oreius The Oracle's Visions! (Links to sources) * Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses (Ant.+Lib.) [https://topostext.org/work/216] * Agrius and Oreius (mythology) - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrius_and_Oreius_(mythology)] * AGRIUS & OREUS (Agrios & Oreios) - Thracian Bear-Giants of Greek Mythology [https://www.theoi.com/Gigante/GigantesAgriosOreios.html] * Antoninus Liberalis - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoninus_Liberalis] * Riordan, Rick. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2). Disney Hyperion, 2006. Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-oracle/id1792459969 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6NGNB8zoWnCGh6eVLMv1ah Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/80e263d0-d879-4a42-9e33-4dfc0ce4b96c/notes-from-the-oracle YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotesfromtheOracle Want to connect with us? Please direct all business inquiries to notesfromtheoraclepodcast@gmail.com