Skip to content

Stories & discoveries

Stories, mysteries and mythological curiosities.

89 short reads on the myths behind your week, your words, your holidays and your favorite stories. Every one ends with a way into the full course.

Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
The Real Story of Medusa
Beyond the monster: where the myth comes from, and what it meant.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
14 Everyday Words That Come From Greek Myths
You say them all the time. Each one hides a god, a monster or a doomed hero.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Pandora’s Box Was Never a Box
It was a jar. And the story of what stayed inside is stranger than you think.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
What Icarus Really Got Wrong
Everyone remembers the sun. Almost nobody remembers the other half of his father’s warning.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Hercules Really Had to Do the Twelve Labors
It was never about glory. It was a punishment, and it started with a tragedy.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
The Oracle of Delphi: Who Spoke for Apollo?
Kings crossed seas to ask her one question. Her answers were famously hard to read.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
Was the Trojan War Real?
Troy was a real place. The horse is another matter.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Greek Myths Are Being Retold Right Now
Novels, musicals, games and series: ancient stories are having a moment.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
Persephone and the Pomegranate: The Myth Behind the Seasons
A kidnapping, a grieving mother and a few seeds that changed the calendar.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Hades Is Not the Devil
The Greek god of the dead was stern, rich and fair. Pop culture got him wrong.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Narcissus and Echo: The Myth Behind the Word
He was not just vain. He was lonely. And she was cursed to repeat.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
King Midas Was a Real Name (and His Tomb Has Been Opened)
The golden touch is a myth. The king, the tomb and the feast are not.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Sisyphus: The Myth of Doing the Same Thing Forever
A king who cheated death, a boulder that always rolls back, and a philosopher who thought he was happy.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Nike, Pandora, Versace and Starbucks: Brands Hiding Myths in Plain Sight
Logos, names and spacecraft: the ancient world is all over the shelf.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Why the Planets and Stars Have Mythological Names
The night sky is a library of myths, and some of the stories are still visible.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20266 min read
The Ancient Olympics Were a Festival for Zeus
Naked athletes, olive wreaths and a truce that let the whole Greek world travel safely.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
Sleep and Death Were Twin Brothers
Hypnos and Thanatos, the quiet pair of Greek myth that every night keeps meeting.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Hecate: The Goddess at the Crossroads
A torch-bearer, a guardian of thresholds and the reason witches ended up with a patron.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
The Three Fates Who Even Zeus Obeyed
One spins, one measures, one cuts. Greek myth’s answer to destiny.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
The Apple of Discord: How a Party Snub Started a War
A golden apple, three goddesses and a very bad judge. Also: why Pluto lost its planet status.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20264 min read
What Is Ragnarök?
The Norse end of the world, and what it really means.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20265 min read
Four Days of Your Week Are Named After Norse Gods
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday carry the names of Tyr, Odin, Thor and Frigg.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20266 min read
Is Friday the 13th Really Loki’s Fault?
A popular legend ties the unlucky day to a Norse dinner party. Here is what the sources actually say.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20265 min read
Vikings Never Wore Horned Helmets (So Where Did the Idea Come From?)
The most famous image of the Viking Age was invented in the 19th century. Mostly by costume designers.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20264 min read
Thor in Myth vs. Thor in the Movies
A red-bearded bruiser with goats. Loki is not his brother. And he once dressed as a bride.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20265 min read
The Nine Realms of Norse Mythology, Explained
Asgard, Midgard, Helheim and the rest: a guide to the world on the tree.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20265 min read
Valkyries: The Choosers of the Slain
Not just a helmet and a horse. A closer look at Odin’s warrior women.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20264 min read
Loki: The Trickster Who Changes Shape
Friend, thief, schemer, mother of a horse. Norse myth’s most unpredictable character.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20264 min read
The Journey to the Afterlife in Egyptian Mythology
From the weighing of the heart to eternal life.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20264 min read
The Curse of the Pharaohs: Where the Legend Really Began
Tutankhamun’s tomb, a mosquito bite and a very good newspaper story.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20264 min read
Isis and Osiris: The First Murder Mystery
A king killed by his brother, a queen collecting the pieces, and a son who avenged him.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20264 min read
Ra’s Night Journey and the Serpent That Wanted to Stop the Sunrise
Every night the Egyptian sun sailed through the underworld, and every night something tried to eat it.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Is Anubis a Jackal? (He May Be a Wolf)
The god of embalming took the shape of a scavenger. There was a reason, and a recent surprise.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20264 min read
Romulus and Remus
The twin brothers who founded Rome, and the wolf who raised them.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20264 min read
Aeneas: The Refugee Who Founded Rome
He fled a burning city carrying his father. Rome’s own epic begins with a displaced family.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20265 min read
The Roman Gods Behind the Months of the Year
Why September is not the ninth month, and who January really is.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20264 min read
Vesta’s Fire: The Priestesses Who Kept Rome’s Flame
Six women, thirty years of service and one fire that could never go out.
Read article
Aztec
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Did the Aztecs Believe in Five Suns?
A world created and destroyed four times, and the one we live in.
Read article
Aztec
October 2, 20264 min read
Day of the Dead and the Aztec Land of the Dead
It is not Mexican Halloween. It is a living tradition with roots that run deep.
Read article
Aztec
October 2, 20264 min read
Did Montezuma Think Cortés Was a God? Probably Not
One of history’s most famous stories may have been invented after the fact.
Read article
Maya
October 2, 20264 min read
Chocolate Was a Gift of the Gods (Literally)
Cacao was sacred, money and a drink for kings long before it became a candy bar.
Read article
Maya
October 2, 20264 min read
The Maya Calendar and the 2012 “End of the World”
It was a cycle ending, not a prophecy. Here is what the Maya actually wrote.
Read article
Maya
October 2, 20264 min read
The Hero Twins and the Lords of Xibalba
Two brothers, a ball game and a descent into the Maya underworld. A story at the heart of the Popol Vuh.
Read article
Celtic
October 2, 20265 min read
Samhain: The Celtic Roots of Halloween
A harvest festival, a thin veil and a mystery of how turnips became pumpkins.
Read article
Celtic
October 2, 20265 min read
What Is a Banshee? The Wailing Woman of Irish Folklore
A cry in the night means someone will die. But the banshee is not a villain.
Read article
Celtic
October 2, 20265 min read
How the Tuatha Dé Danann Became the Fairies
Gods who lost a war and went underground. The Irish origin of the “fair folk.”
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20265 min read
Who Was Gilgamesh?
The king at the heart of one of the oldest stories ever written.
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20265 min read
The Flood Story Before Noah
A boat, a warning and a bird that did not come back: older than the Bible by centuries.
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20264 min read
Enheduanna: The First Named Author in History
A priestess-poet from 4,300 years ago who signed her work.
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20265 min read
Ishtar’s Descent: Seven Gates to the Underworld
A goddess goes down to the land of the dead and has to give something up at every gate.
Read article
Slavic
October 2, 20265 min read
Baba Yaga: Witch, Guardian or Something Else?
The woman in the hut on chicken legs has never been just one thing.
Read article
Slavic
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Slavic Mythology Is So Hard to Pin Down
No grand epic, no single book. Here is what we actually know about the old Slavic gods.
Read article
Slavic
October 2, 20265 min read
Koschei the Deathless: A Russian Villain Who Hid His Life in an Egg
An oak on an island, a chest, a hare, a duck, an egg and a needle. The most elaborate hiding place in folklore.
Read article
Slavic
October 2, 20264 min read
Rusalka: The Water Spirit Who Is Not a Mermaid
In Slavic folklore, a spirit of drowned girls rises from rivers once a year. She is far more complicated than a fairy tale.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
What Is a Yokai?
Kappa, tengu, kitsune: the strange creatures of Japanese folklore.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20264 min read
Why a Cucumber Sushi Roll Is Named After a Water Monster
Kappa-maki is real sushi. The kappa is real folklore. And the connection is a cucumber.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20264 min read
Kuchisake-onna and Hanako-san: Japan’s Urban Legends
A question you cannot answer and a ghost who lives in the third stall. The legends that scared a generation.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Kitsune: Why Japanese Foxes Have Nine Tails
Clever, magical and sometimes dangerous. Foxes are everywhere in Japanese folklore and pop culture.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Why Do Japanese Ghosts Have No Feet?
A white robe, long black hair and nothing below the knees. Where the classic yūrei look comes from.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Journey to the West: The Real Monk Behind the Monkey King
A Tang dynasty pilgrim really did walk to India. A novel turned him into an adventure with a monkey.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Chinese Dragons vs. Western Dragons
One brings rain and good fortune. The other guards gold and burns villages. They are not the same animal.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20264 min read
The Nian Monster and Why Lunar New Year Is Red and Loud
Red doors, firecrackers and lanterns. A folk tale about a beast explains the whole festival.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Chang’e: The Moon Goddess Who Gave Her Name to a Spacecraft
An elixir, an archer, a rabbit on the Moon. And China’s lunar missions carry her name.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20267 min read
Cupid and Psyche: The Story Behind the Word “Psychology”
A girl too beautiful to marry, a god who hides his face and four impossible tasks. The oldest Beauty and the Beast.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20264 min read
Lupercalia: The Wild Roman Festival Behind Valentine’s Day (Maybe)
Goat blood, leather whips and a king who refused a crown. And why the Valentine’s Day link is shakier than you think.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20265 min read
Saturnalia: The Roman Winter Party That Looks a Lot Like Christmas
Gifts, candles, masters serving slaves and a festival so loud that Pliny hid in a back room.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20264 min read
Lares and Penates: The Gods Who Lived in a Roman Kitchen
Every Roman home had a small shrine, a daily offering and a pair of dancing figurines. A tour of the original home altar.
Read article
Roman
October 2, 20265 min read
Janus: The Two-Faced God Who Opened and Closed the Year
He gave us January, the word janitor and a temple whose doors told Rome whether it was at war.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Orpheus and Eurydice: The Original “Don’t Look Back”
A musician who charmed the dead, a condition he could not keep and the story that built the first great opera.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Prometheus: The Titan Who Stole Fire (and Inspired Frankenstein)
A trickster who sided with humans, a liver that grew back and a myth that keeps getting applied to every new technology.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
The Minotaur and the Real Labyrinth of Knossos
A maze with a monster, a ball of thread and a Bronze Age palace that an Englishman partly rebuilt in concrete.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
The Amazons: Myth, Archaeology and the Women Who Rode
Greek writers described a nation of warrior women. The graves of the Eurasian steppe suggest they were not made up from nothing.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20264 min read
Penelope: The Weaver Who Outwitted 108 Suitors
Twenty years of waiting, a shroud that was never finished and a bed that could not be moved. The most underrated mind in the Odyssey.
Read article
Greek
October 2, 20265 min read
Achilles: The Hero Who Chose a Short Life (and Wept With His Enemy)
The Iliad is not about winning. It is about rage, loss and one remarkable night when two enemies sat down to eat.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20265 min read
Odin Gave an Eye for Wisdom (and Hanged Himself for the Runes)
The chief of the Norse gods was a wanderer who paid dearly for what he knew, and who once stole the mead of poetry.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20264 min read
Fenrir and the Ribbon Made of Things That Do Not Exist
A giant wolf, a promise and a magic cord made of the sound of a cat’s footstep. The trick that cost a god his hand.
Read article
Norse
October 2, 20264 min read
A Cow, a Giant and a Skull Sky: How the Norse World Began
Fire and ice, a cow licking salt and a creation made from a murdered giant’s body. The oddest creation story you probably never heard.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20264 min read
Bastet and the Cats of Ancient Egypt: Why They Were Sacred
Millions of mummified cats, a death penalty for harming one and a goddess who started as a lioness.
Read article
Egyptian
October 2, 20265 min read
Thoth and the Invention of Writing (and Why Socrates Disliked It)
A god with an ibis head gives writing to the world. A king answers that it will ruin memory. The argument is more current than ever.
Read article
Aztec
October 2, 20264 min read
Xolotl and the Xoloitzcuintli: The Dog Who Guides the Dead
An Aztec god with a dog’s head, a hairless breed 3,000 years old and a movie that made it famous.
Read article
Celtic
October 2, 20265 min read
Cú Chulainn: The Hound of Ulster Who Chose a Short Life
A boy who killed a guard dog, a warrior who twisted into a monster and a hero who died standing up, tied to a stone.
Read article
Celtic
October 2, 20265 min read
Druids: What We Actually Know (Hint: They Did Not Build Stonehenge)
White robes, golden sickles and mistletoe. Most of what you picture comes from three Roman writers and a lot of imagination.
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20265 min read
Tiamat and Marduk: The Babylonian Story of How the World Was Made
A battle between a young storm god and an ancient sea monster. The oldest creation epic read aloud at New Year.
Read article
Mesopotamian
October 2, 20264 min read
Ninkasi: The Sumerian Goddess of Beer and the World’s Oldest Recipe
A 3,800-year-old hymn is also a brewing manual. Modern brewers have tried to follow it.
Read article
Slavic
October 2, 20264 min read
Domovoi and Leshy: The Spirits Who Share a Slavic House and Forest
An old man behind the stove who must be fed and a forest lord who tricks travelers. Superstitions that never quite went away.
Read article
Japanese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
Oni and Setsubun: Why Japan Throws Beans at Demons
Every February, families chase a masked ogre out of the house with roasted soybeans. The reason the oni has horns and a tiger-skin kilt is geography.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20264 min read
Mulan: The 1,500-Year-Old Ballad Behind the Disney Film
A girl takes her father’s place in the army. The original poem is short, brilliant and has no dragon.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd: The Star-Crossed Lovers Behind Qixi
Two stars, a river of light and a bridge of magpies. The Chinese love story that is also the night sky.
Read article
Chinese Folklore
October 2, 20265 min read
The Legend of the White Snake: A Chinese Love Story With a Collapsed Pagoda
A snake spirit, a pharmacist, a meddling monk and a tower that really fell down in 1924.
Read article