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How many lost continents are in Mythology?
A majority of people will know of Atlantis. It is a Greek, fictional island, misregarded as oral history. Atlantis is mentioned in Plato's works Timaeus and Critias and is placed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Then, I recently learned of Mu. Mu was thought…
Andrew Johnson
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Is it possible that the Heracles myths are a compilation of stories from multiple cultures?
About two years ago, I found this Greek Mythology documentary called, "Clash of the Gods." It is a three disk series with ten episodes.
They feature Heracles by his Roman name, Hercules, in the second episode. As it was a while ago, I don't remember…
Andrew Johnson
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Why did the Trojans accept Paris back?
I just learned that Paris was exposed as a baby (left outside to die).
How did he survive? If he was exposed, why did the Trojans accept him back as their prince?
Andrew Johnson
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What is the earliest known instance of the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built"?
What is the earliest known instance of the popular nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built", which has verses of increasing length?
user1618
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How old is the legend that the insulting "V" sign was first used at or with reference to the Battle of Agincourt?
There is a legend that since bowmen captured by French forces sometimes had their bow-drawing fingers cut off, the English and Welsh longbowmen at the Battle of Agincourt, which an English army won in 1415, employed the now insulting "V" sign to…
user1618
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When did Zeus get the aegis?
Every version I have read has Perseus given a shield by Athena. He uses the shield to see Medusa's reflection to cut her head off. Some time later, he gave the shield and the head to Athena. Athena then put the head in the shield.
If the shield is…
Andrew Johnson
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The interruption of the duel in the Iliad
I remember there is a point in the Iliad where they try to put an end to the war. They have two men, one from each side, fight each other to see who gets to keep Helen and her riches. The Achaean champion was big Ajax, and the Trojan champion was…
Andrew Johnson
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Could Japanese Oni integrate into human civilization?
Is there a case in Japanese mythology of an Oni (Big Ogre from a desolate place) willingly helping people or being a inhabitant of a village? If not why can they not integrate into human society? What forces them to live far from civilization?
TL;DR…
Nuloen The Seeker
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Who was Scathach and Aoife?
Back in September, I was reading a series called, "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel," by Michael Scott. One of the main characters was The Warrior Maiden, Scathach. In this series, she had a twin sister, Aofie, and an unnamed brother.
Who…
Andrew Johnson
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Historic-geographic spread and variations of the children's rhyme "My friend Billy had a 10-foot willy"
Around the turn of the 1970s a rhyme was sung by small children in southern England:
My friend Billy had a 10-foot willy.
He showed it to the girl next door (or: He put it through the neighbour's door).
She thought it was a snake,
Hit it with…
user1618
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What type of god is Semargl?
I’ve read he’s a god of grains and a god of fire but I’m not exactly sure which is from genuine Slavic myths. Much of the information I found is from new age religion sites.
TeachMe
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Why did Hades let Heracles rescue Theseus?
Why would Hades allow Heracles to rescue Theseus after he and Pirithous came down to kidnap Persephone?
Andrew Johnson
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Why was Nekhbet depicted as a vulture?
Nekhbet, a predynastic goddess that eventually became the patron of Upper Egypt, was commonly depicted in art as a vulture.
Why is that? The vulture seems - at least to me - like an odd choice for one of the holiest of deities in the Egyptian…
yannis
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Are the Memphis and Heliopolis cosmogonies competing or reconciliatory?
The Heliopolitan cosmogony attributes creation to Atum, the first god who created himself from the primordial waters.
The Memphis creation myth, however, places Ptah, god of craftsmen and architects, to the role of the demiurge. According to this…
yannis
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What is the original version of "Little Red Riding Hood"?
There is a certain version of "Little Red Riding Hood" that some authors claim to be "the original" version. For example in the Sandman comic:
Or from the movie Jin Roh.
A quick search on Wikipedia seems to dispell those claims, but I still wish…
Xyzk
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