437: Czech folklore: House of the Dragon
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What is the story of Vitasco the Victorious about?
This week on Myths and Legends, it's the story of Vitasco the Victorious, and you'll learn how to turn your child into a superhero. Turns out you have to get started very early, and you might have already disqualified them. Sorry, but if you manage to, I hope you enjoy your free, formerly dragon-infested castle. The creature this time is an ape man, who may or may not have inspired a Soviet mad scientist. This is Myths and Legends, episode 437, House of the Dragon. This is a podcast where we tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly popular tales you might think you know, but with surprising origins, and others are stories that might be new to you, but are definitely worth a listen.
Today's story comes to us from the cultures of the Slovak and Czech peoples. The area that makes up the modern-day Czech Republic and Slovakia was, at the time this story was put down to paper, part of Austria-Hungary, an empire famous for sparking World War I and then also not existing after it. After World War I, the country of Czechoslovakia was created, and then fell under Soviet control after World War II. After that empire fell, Czechoslovakia re-emerged, and after the Velvet Divorce, a bloodless dissolution, we have the modern-day nations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. That's a lot, and while I might be interested in the nuances of Slovak and Czech culture, the 1910s translation... is not.
It's possible that there could be some elements from either culture or both, but the American writer just calls everything Czech.
How did Vitasco's childhood influence his future?
Anyway, we'll jump in with Vytautas, the hero of today's story, and his very reasonable request.
"'Hey, Mom,' Vitasco the Victorious said after dinner. "'Yes, dear,' the mother said, buttoning up her shirt. "'All right, here goes. I think it's time for me to stop breastfeeding,' Vitasco said. "'What was he saying? Why? His mother didn't understand.' Well, I'm 21 years old, Vitasco replied. And it's true. His mother had been breastfeeding him for 21 years. Being her only son, Vitasco had a lot of expectations placed upon him. When she looked on her baby boy... she had reportedly whispered to herself, he shall be a hero, and his name shall be Vitasco the Victorious. The gateway to heroism was, apparently, breastfeeding. a lot of breastfeeding. One of my previous professional lives was in pediatric hospital medicine as a researcher, and breastfeeding is really good for babies.
If you choose to go that route, places like the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend breastfeeding at least until the age of two. There appear to be a lot of different opinions about what age to stop. But I think we can all agree that the age of 14 is too long. When Vitasco was 14, his mother took him out to the woods to an old beech tree and, pointing, told him to pull it up. Vitasco looked around.
What challenges does Vitasco face while seeking a new house?
He guessed he could go back to the house and get a shovel and a pickaxe. It would probably take him a little while, but sure, okay. No, his mother had said, with your bare hands. There's a quote attributed to Henry Ford that says, whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. A little-known second part to that quote goes, unless the question is whether or not you can pull up a beech tree by the roots as a 14-year-old, with your only training being a lifetime of breastfeeding, then the answer is that you definitely can't. But Henry Ford was also a Nazi sympathizer, so maybe he was wrong about this too. Vitasco, to his credit, did try. And failed. Because he was a 14-year-old trying to pull up a beech tree by its roots.
Like Puxatani Phil, seeing his shadow and subjecting the world to six more weeks of winter... Vitasko failing to pull a tree out of the ground meant seven more years of breastfeeding. "'I just feel like maybe this is not healthy,' Vitasko said. "'Most of my friends don't even remember when they stopped breastfeeding because they were so young, and yes, that is an awkward conversation to have with your friends.' I think you might be under some sort of delusion that breastfeeding is going to give me superpowers.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the story of Vitasco the Victorious about?
0:00β1:44
2
How did Vitasco's childhood influence his future?
1:44β3:32
3
What challenges does Vitasco face while seeking a new house?
3:32β15:47
4
What is the significance of the beech tree in Vitasco's journey?
15:47β43:55
5
How does Vitasco confront the dragons in the castle?
43:55β1:05:56