Myth: Did you mean...?

A Roman floor mosaic emblemata depicting the myth of Iphigenia and her (almost) sacrifice by Agamemnon, her father, prior to the Trojan War. From a Roman villa, Empuries, 1st century BCE. (Archaeological Museum, Empuries, Spain)

This calcite cylinder seal depicts the myth of Etana, the shepherd and the legendary king of Uruk, who was carried up to heaven by an eagle to obtain an heir. Etana's ascent is watched by the shepherd and his dog, with two markhor-type goats...

Cover of Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth by Gordon Campbell. Published by Oxford University Press.

Myths are a part of every culture in the world and are used to explain natural phenomena, where a people came from and how their civilization developed, and why things happen as they do. At their most basic level, myths comfort by giving...

Lare jar painted in red and black on beige. The paintings show animal scenes in two registers. In the lower register, two large snakes lie opposite each other. In the upper one, framed by horizontal lines and a zigzag motif on the jar's shoulder...

In our interview with Gordon Campbell, we chat all about his new book Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth. The book tells two stories. One story is that of the Norse proceeding in the 10th and 11th century from mainland Scandinavia...

Examine the myth of the Lost Cause: a campaign created by pro-Confederates after the Civil War to promote the lie that they seceded for state's rights. In the 1860’s, 11 southern states withdrew from the United States and formed the Confederacy...

A cosmogony is a creation myth, a myth that explains how the universe as we know it came into existence and is a type of story found in most, if not all, cultures that have surviving literature. Creation myths explain how the universe began...

Welcome to Cahokia. Centuries ago, this area was home to a Native American metropolis bigger than London. Cahokia had astronomers who studied the stars and builders who erected vast structures. Their designs included hundreds of man-made...

A talk about how time works in Norse mythology, whether it is linear or cyclical and some problems about relative chronology.