Mythos & Maya Book Club: February 2024 Recap + March 2024 Announcement!

The incomparable Jennifer Saint filled us in on all things "Elektra," and this month, we're venturing into my metaphorical (+ literal) Roman Empire...

Hello, my most wonderful friends! I hope this email finds you well, and that your Marches have been going swimmingly so far. I also wanted to take a moment to wish you all a belated happy International Women’s Day! I am beyond blessed to be surrounded by incredible women that truly make my world turn, a community that includes, of course, many of you amazing readers.

And speaking of inspiring women—what an honor it was to be joined for our Mythos & Maya February 2024 discussion by the author of “Elektra” herself, Jennifer Saint! We talked about her motivation to pursue a career as an author, her approach on when to interpret and when to add in classical retellings, the fundamental differences (and surprising similarities) between protagonists Clytemnestra and Elektra, the timelessness of Euripides, our shared feelings on the ending of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, and, of course, the applicability of Taylor Swift’s discography to Greek mythos. If you are interested in watching our discussion, you can do so here.

With that, let us swiftly (pun very much intended) move to the next topic at hand: our March 2024 Mythos & Maya book selection! March is momentous month for me, as it is both Women’s History Month and the month we delve into all things “Gladiators.” For those who might not know, my upcoming single “Gladiators" tells the fictional story of modern female gladiators seeking to overthrow their power-hungry leader. The single is accompanied by a music video (made by an entirely female creative team!) starring some of my favorite creators and friends:

Talya Sindel and Tyra Thompson as female gladiators.

Jorge Rivera-Herrans as our resident villain.

To celebrate the upcoming release, I am happy to share that this month, we will be reading “Lavinia,” a phenomenal feminist novel inspired by Roman mythology.

“Lavinia” retells and rewrites Princess Lavinia’s story from Virgil’s Aeneid, an epic poem often considered the founding myth of ancient Rome. Written by the late speculative fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin, this book breathes new life into a minor character often dismissed in discussions of Rome’s mythological origins. This novel takes a wildly different literary approach to retellings than some of the other works we have read for Mythos & Maya, and I am so excited to get to discuss it with you all later this month!

I leave you all with an invitation. In ancient Rome, the Ides of March (corresponding to March 15th) marked the first full moon of the new year, and was frequently fêted with a week of gladiator matches at the Coliseum. This year, I am dropping an announcement related to the release of “Gladiators” on the Ides of March, and am hosting a fan meet-up near the L.A. Memorial Coliseum to celebrate! I would love to see you there. If you are in L.A. and available the morning of Saturday, March 16th, feel free to RSVP here for more information on how to attend the event:

More information on the “Gladiators” Ides of March Fan Meet-Up!

Thank you all as always for your support—I never take it for granted how fortunate I am to have this amazing community of readers and listeners. As always, if you’re in the market for a forum to discuss all things mythology, music, and books, you are cordially invited to join the J. Maya discord, available here.

Lots of love and maya,

J. Maya <3

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Mythos & Maya

March 2024

To Read:

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

Selected excerpts from Aeneid Summaries published by Duke University, available here:

• Book 1: Summary of Lines 1-296

• Book 2: Summary of Lines 1-804

• Book 3: Summary of Lines 1-134

• Book 4: Summary of Lines 1-705

• Book 6: Summary of Lines 264-901

• Book 7: Summary of Lines 1-817

• Book 8: Summary of Lines 184-731

• Book 12: Summary of Lines 113-952

Selected excerpts from Virgil’s Aeneid (translated by J. W. Mackail), available in English here:

• Book 1: Lines 1-756

• Book 4: Lines 1-705

• Book 6: Lines 23-901

• Book 7: Lines 1-817

• Book 12: Lines 1-952

To Do:

Join us for an Instagram live & book discussion with some special surprise guests on March 29th at 5:30pm PST on the @j.maya Instagram account!