A post on one of my go-to sites led me to 10 Brilliant Retellings of Classical Myths by Female Writers. A convenient coincidence. Henstra’s introductory paragraph makes a couple of great points – one about how myths are multilayered, revealing new meaning upon re-reading, and another about their primal nature: “myths hit us somewhere below the brain, at some irrational, dreamlike level that somehow feels truer than ordinary stories.” If I had time I’d like to look into some of the books she lists, but as it is I just looked into the one recording, Hadestown, conveniently available on Youtube. Concept albums and musicals are iffy to me, but this holds together well. There is a timelessness to the sound, on one hand sounding like old-time vaudeville in form yet thoroughly modern in production. It was largely written in 2006 and finally recorded in 2010, but some themes speak to our current moment. That’s the strength, or one strength of these stories – the flexibility and adaptability means they can function across time and place, and through various media.
