10: Theseus & the Minotaur Theseus and the Minotaur is one
of the most famous stories in Greek mythology. For those who are unfamiliar with the tale, it starts
with King Minos of Crete. He prayed to Poseidon for a snow-white bull after winning his kingship
and exiling his brother. The bull was to be a sign of the god’s approval. He was then supposed
to sacrifice the bull when it appeared, but found it too beautiful to kill. So, he kept it.
Poseidon was so furious that he caused the King's wife to fall in love with the bull,
and she gave birth to a minotaur: a half-man,
half bull- monster. As the minotaur grew older, it became more and more
violent. Since it was neither man nor beast it began to eat people. On advice from the Oracle,
the king built a massive labyrinth beneath the palace to hide the result of his wife’s affair.
King Minos’ only human son was killed by the Athenians, so as revenge he continuously
attacked them without mercy until they agreed to send seven young men and seven young women as
tribute who would be sent down into the labyrinth as sacrifice for the minotaur.
Tired of this reign of terror, Theseus, son of King Aegeus,
volunteered to go in order to slay the creature. The daughters of King Minos fell in love with
him and decided to help him escape the deadly labyrinth. Princess Ariadne gave Prince Theseus a
ball of thread to help him find his way. He slayed the minotaur and was able to get back out, taking
the other Athenians and the princesses with him! But how much of this legend is true? The palace of
King Minos was discovered by Sir Arthur Evans in 1894. We know it today as the palace of Knossos.
What's truly spectacular is that underneath the palace, archaeologists found the ruins of an
extremely complex labyrinth. The labyrinth, before being abandoned and left to crumble,
was so elaborate that it would have been almost impossible to find your way out without a map.
Now, we don't know that Theseus was a real hero and it’s doubtful that a minotaur was ever a real
creature. But archaeologists have proven that both the palace and the labyrinth were real,
giving quite a bit of credibility to this myth. 9: The Legend of Mulan
Mulan is well known these days as a popular Disney animated film- one that was so well-loved
they recently made the live-action version as well. But what a lot of fans don't know
is that the character Mulan is actually based on a Chinese ballad. What’s even more interesting,
is that the ballad may actually be based on a real person named Mulan from Chinese history.
The earliest written evidence of Mulan being a real person dates back to the
Northern Dynasties of between 386 and 581 AD. The Ballad of Mulan is no more than 300 words,
describing the story of a girl who dresses up like a man to join the army instead of her
father. It's the exact same story as the movie. At the end of the ballad, Mulan is celebrated as
one of the best and most powerful warriors, and then she reveals herself to actually be a woman.
While there isn't any direct evidence of this happening, the ballad does give some clues.
The epic poem mentions two main locations: the Yellow River and the Yan Mountain. This
suggests that Mulan’s hometown was somewhere near these two landmarks.
The poem also suggests that Mulan was a member of the nomadic group called the Tuoba,
a clan that came from northern China and established the Northern Wei dynasty.
This is because in the poem, the emperor goes by the title “khan,” making it likely that Mulan
came from a nomadic society descended from the splintered Mongols. These people were known for
giving women a respected status in society, whereas this kind of behavior was eventually
lost in China. So, Mulan may have actually been real, remembered and passed down through poetry.
8: The Battle of Salamis The Battle of Salamis is one of the most
legendary battles in history. Fought between the Persians and the Greeks in September of 480 BC,
it was one of the most important military battles in ancient history,
and a pivotal point for Europe. If the Greeks had lost this fight,
the Persians would have successfully invaded and altered history as we know it today.
The battle took place just off the coast of Attica in Greece. While we do know that the
battle itself definitely happened, we don't know how many of the legends surrounding it are true.
It’s said that the Greek city states fought as allies, bringing 370 ships to battle. But the
Persians had over 1000 ships. King Xerxes assumed that he would annihilate the Greek fleet thanks
to his overwhelming numbers. But what apparently happened was that the Greek commander Themistocles
lured the Persian ships through the Strait of Salamis, just like in the movie 300-except on
boats. The huge fleet couldn't fit through the Strait, which led to chaos and disorganization,
and the much smaller fleet of 370 Greek ships brought them all down.
This definitely could have happened, but we don't know for sure if these numbers are true.
Perhaps it was a brilliant battle strategy, perhaps the ever-powerful and mysterious Greek
Fire gave the ships the upper hand. If the legendary accounts from the battle are true,
then it just goes to show how mighty (and good at battle tactics) the ancient Greeks really were.
7: The Lost Labyrinth of Egypt Did you know that there is a
mysterious lost wonder in Egypt that could have even surpassed the great pyramids themselves??
The great lost labyrinth of Egypt first appears in writings from the Greek historian Herodotus in
the 5th century BC. He himself claimed that he saw the building, calling it even more impressive than
the Pyramids of Giza. The Greek historian also claimed that the labyrinth was located along the
shores of a massive lake over seven days from the pyramids. There was a great temple divided into
huge sections to make up the labyrinth, which was almost inescapable. There were subterranean
passages, colossal figures, and even small pyramids entwined with the other structures.
It was a massive complex unlike anything else in the ancient world – or even since.
Legend says the labyrinth was so big that once you became lost, the only way to find
your way out was with a secret map or book. Unfortunately, this great labyrinth has never
actually been discovered by modern archaeologists. We aren’t sure if it truly existed.
There were some vague reports back in 2008 that radar specialists had uncovered an underground
labyrinth beneath a temple near Cairo, but this supposed discovery was never authenticated or
investigated further. Or at least nothing has been published yet. While it's definitely possible
that the Egyptians built a labyrinth that would make their pyramids look like children’s toys,
evidence to support this ancient legend is yet to be discovered.
6: Pele, the Volcano Goddess Pele is the goddess of Kilauea in Hawaii,
ruler of fire and volcanoes. According to Hawaiian legend, Pele arrived in Hawaii
after being kicked out of her homeland in Tahiti. She crossed the ocean in a canoe,
but her sister was in hot pursuit because Pele had messed around with her husband.
Pele’s sister nearly killed her, but Pele survived by digging giant fire pits, what we know of
today as Hawaii’s many volcanoes. Pele’s sister eventually learned she was still alive and went
back to finish the job. Through all the fighting, the great forests of Hawaii were burned down.
Pele’s sister killed her in the end, and Pele became a goddess.
There are a lot of different iterations of this story, but the foundations remain the same.
And while these goddesses never physically existed, some parts of the story may have
actually happened. Specifically, the forest being burned by volcanoes. Scientists know
today that lava flowed continuously for over 60 years in the 15th century, covering a massive
part of Hawaii in lava. The local Polynesians may have interpreted what they saw as a great
battle between gods, making up their own legends about it. Those legends persisted,
became myth, and have mostly now been forgotten. Even though Pele herself probably never existed,
this is a great example of how real events inspire stories, which can turn into legends,
and can further turn into religions. And now for an amazing creature we all
wish was still around, but first wanted to give a big shout out to Nathan Sama
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wHfRLci5snIyQWg2Nm-98pmxZTPDdcFw/view?usp=sharing and Jessica
Greening who has been around practically since the beginning!!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1621xIqnYGp6kAVllxrk3xGYlZmBR3R7N/view?usp=sharing Thanks so much
for watching and be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!
5: Unicorns Unicorns were once very
real animals. There's a reason why unicorns have been prevalent in mythologies throughout the East
and West for thousands of years. But the catch is a little creepy. Unicorns probably didn't
start out as white horses with golden horns that contained magical properties. They also
probably didn't have tears that could heal the wounded or blood that could grant immortality.
Instead, the unicorn was probably a furry rhinoceros that went extinct sometime around
29,000 years ago. National Geographic reports that the fossilized skull of a
fuzzy rhinoceros was discovered in Kazakhstan, with a single horn protruding from its head.
The beast was over 4 tons, over 12 feet long, and probably around six feet tall. It would
have been absolutely massive, and a real source of inspiration for Neolithic people.
It's highly possible that our ancestors lived alongside these mysterious rhinoceros-like
creatures for several thousand years. After they went extinct, stories about these majestic
creatures continued. This is why all over the world unicorns are seen slightly differently in
ancient legends. Sometimes the unicorn is a deer, sometimes a donkey, and sometimes
a goat. The only consistent attribute is a single horn sticking out of its forehead.
What are your thoughts on the legendary unicorn? Was it really just a fuzzy rhinoceros or was it
inspired by something else?? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget
to subscribe if you haven’t already! 4: The 12 Labors of Hercules
Hercules is arguably the most famous legendary hero that we still talk about today. And according
to historians, he was likely a real person. He probably wasn't the son of Zeus, and it's unlikely
that he ever fought a hydra or killed a chimera, but his famous 12 labors may have actually
been done by someone during the Stone Age. Hercules had many enemies before he was even born.
Zeus had an affair with a mortal and when his wife Hera found out, she set out to destroy baby
Hercules. As he grew up he married and had children but Hera cast an evil spell on him
and made him murder his own family. Hercules went to Apollo and begged for punishment and
so to atone for his sins, Apollo ordered him to perform 12 labors for the Mycenean King.
They included fighting monsters, cleaning stables, and stealing cattle from a giant.
One of his greatest enemies was the Nemean Lion, an exceptionally strong
and murderous lion. Then there was the hydra, a nine-headed venomous snake monster.
Historians say there may have been an extraordinarily strong warrior from the
Stone Age who accomplished many extraordinary feats. But instead of killing monsters,
he had probably slain a very large lion, maybe captured a bunch of snakes,
and stole cattle from a rival tribe. Through the centuries,
the story of Hercules and his 12 labors was picked up by other civilizations,
and passed on and on. Everybody loves a hero!! The original hero may have been an ordinary guy with a
club and some lion fur- and perhaps he was lucky and so people thought the gods were with him.
3: The Great Flood Scientists agree that there
was once a great flood that blanketed many parts of the world in water. This flood happened at the
dawn of modern history, devastating the region of Mesopotamia. Back during excavations in 1928,
archaeologists at a pair of ancient sites, Ur and Kish, uncovered evidence of flood deposits.
There was definitely some flooding in Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization, and the flooding had
probably affected other places as well, all around the Mediterranean. This shared experience was then
passed down from generation to generation. According to Robert Ballard, one of the
best underwater archaeologists on the planet, 12,000 years ago the world was covered in ice.
In Connecticut, the ice was about a mile high. And this went all the way up to the North Pole. So,
when all this ice started to melt at the end of the Ice Age, it caused the world’s sea levels to
rise leading to the great flooding of Mesopotamia. But now for the big question:
does all this flooding directly correlate to the story of Noah and his ark in the Bible?
Was the great biblical flood a very real thing? This is one legend with a shocking amount of
truth. While there are still archaeologists out searching for the ark that Noah built,
it’s clear that a great flood devastated the world just as humanity was getting started.
2: The Oracle The Oracle of Delphi
was one of the most important women in the ancient world of Greece. She was a priestess
at the Temple of Apollo who practiced divination, or seeing the future. One of the biggest mistakes
people have when thinking about the oracle is that she was just one person. This simply isn't true.
There were many oracles, each one a real woman selected by priests at the sanctuary of Delphi
to foretell the future at the temple. They were actually known as Pythia,
and when one died, another would take her place. Thanks to historical records and archaeological
evidence, we know there really were oracles and that the Greeks took their visions of the future
very seriously. But unlike the myths, they probably didn't actually have special powers.
Scientists believe that the Temple of Apollo where the oracle gave her proclamations was built
over a ground fissure. It was from this fissure that gases rose up from deep within the earth.
When the oracle inhaled these fumes, she went into a kind of trance. But not because the gods were
speaking to her, but because she was getting affected by the toxic fumes. What the ancient
people saw as a state of divine ecstasy has a scientific explanation but back in ancient times
science and the divine were one. Heat and gas escaping from dark caves and cracks in the ground
implied that it was the entrance to the underworld and who was to say any different?
1: King Arthur
King Arthur may have been a real person and may have even sat at a round table in Camelot.
There's been debate raging for centuries among historians as to Arthur's existence. His first
appearance in written history was around the year 1000. The Welsh historian Nennius published a list
of 12 epic battles that King Arthur had fought in. He was supposedly a Celtic hero who helped defend
Wales against the invading Saxon armies. And kind of like Hercules, his original mentions in
history were pretty boring. He was basically just a really good king who fought a lot of battles.
But by the 12th century, Arthur had a magic sword called Excalibur, a wizard named Merlin, and a
whole group of trusted knights. Somewhere along the way, somebody who may have been a real person
turned into a character from a storybook. But there are some problems with the
stories - like the fact that the 12 battles Arthur was supposedly involved in took place over
so many different times that it would have been impossible for him to participate in all of them.
Then there's the problem with Camelot, his legendary castle. While there are about
half a dozen mysterious strongholds across the Welsh/English border that could have been Camelot,
none of them have ever been authenticated. King Arthur may really have been a king – or
he may have just been a character thought up by a Welsh historian a thousand years ago.
The truth is that we just don’t know! Who’s your favorite legendary hero – and
do you think they ever existed? Let me know in the comments and thanks a lot for watching! Remember
to hit subscribe if you haven’t already and be sure to come back for more awesome videos!