After the fall of Troy, Queen Hecuba discovers that her youngest son has been murdered by the man entrusted with his protection.

You've heard the story. Now hear the case.

In this episode of Folklore Forensics, we reopen one of the most disturbing cases in Greek mythology. We investigate the murder of Prince Polydorus, reconstruct the betrayal that followed the fall of Troy, and examine the violent revenge that transformed a grieving mother into a suspect herself.

The facts seem straightforward. A trusted guardian betrays his oath. A prince is killed. A mother strikes back.

But the deeper investigators looked, the more complicated the case became.

Was Hecuba seeking justice?

Or did one crime simply create another?

Drawing on the ancient tradition surrounding Queen Hecuba, King Polymestor, and the aftermath of the Trojan War, this episode explores why audiences have argued over the case for more than two thousand years.

Because some stories survive not because they provide answers.

They survive because the question never goes away.

Folklore Forensics reopens myths, legends, and folklore as historical criminal cases. Listener discretion is advised.

Written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com

What if Greek mythology remembered Medusa as a monster because it forgot what happened to her first?

You've heard the story. Now hear the case.

Medusa is one of the most recognizable figures in Greek mythology: a monster with snakes for hair whose gaze could turn men to stone. But the oldest versions of the myth tell a very different story.

Before she became a monster, Medusa was a priestess serving in Athena's temple. According to later sources, she was assaulted by Poseidon in a place that should have been sacred and safe. Yet the consequences did not fall on the perpetrator. They fell on her.

In this episode of Folklore Forensics, we reopen the Medusa case and examine the surviving evidence from Greek mythology, classical literature, ancient history, and artistic tradition. We investigate the transformation that made Medusa a monster, the hero narrative that elevated Perseus, and the questions that artists and storytellers have continued asking for nearly three thousand years.

Was Medusa truly the villain of the story? Or did Greek mythology preserve a very different kind of crime beneath the monster tale we inherited?

Because sometimes the most enduring monsters begin as victims.

Folklore Forensics reopens myths, legends, and folklore as historical criminal cases. Listener discretion is advised.

Written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com

You've heard the story. Now hear the case.

Season 2 of Folklore Forensics investigates the crimes hidden inside Greek mythology. From murders and disappearances to betrayals, conspiracies, and acts of revenge, we reopen the ancient cases that became myths, legends, and folklore.

This season, we'll examine the stories of Medusa, Cassandra, Persephone, Philomela, Hecuba, Orestes, Lamia, and other figures whose cases have shaped Western storytelling for thousands of years.

What happened? Why did these stories survive? And what do they still reveal about us today?

New episodes weekly.

Folklore Forensics reopens myths, legends, and folklore as historical criminal cases. Listener discretion is advised.

Written and hosted by Danielle Christmas and produced by Audio Ellis.

Follow / subscribe for weekly storytelling investigations.

Follow the show on Instagram @folkloreforensics

Case suggestions and research inquiries: folkloreforensicspod@gmail.com