Famous myths and legends. Ancient myths and legends of the peoples of the world

Ancient Greek geographers called Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) the flat area between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The self-name of this area is Shinar. Development Center ancient civilization was in Babylonia...

Myths of Babylon, surviving legends, tales of gods and heroes

The Hittite religion, like the entire Hittite culture, developed through the interaction of cultures of different peoples. During the unification of the disparate city-states of Anatolia into a single kingdom local traditions and cults, apparently, persisted ...

The main monuments that reflected the mythological ideas of the Egyptians are a variety of religious texts: hymns and prayers to the gods, records of funeral rites on the walls of tombs...

About the Phoenician myths, we know only what the ancient authors tell us, especially Philo. In their retellings, the original basis is distorted to one degree or another...

The earliest mentions of Ugarit were found in Egyptian documents of the 2nd millennium BC. Two huge royal palaces were excavated, striking contemporaries with their luxury, temples of the gods Balu, Dagan and, possibly, Ilu, houses, workshops, a necropolis. An archive of the 14th century was also found. BC, which includes magical and religious texts...

myths Ancient Greece- their essence becomes clear only when taking into account the peculiarities of the primitive communal system of the Greeks, who perceived the world as the life of one huge tribal community and in myth generalized all the diversity of human relations and natural phenomena ...

Judge about ancient period Roman mythology is extremely difficult, since the sources date back to a later time and often contain false etymologies of the names of the gods and interpretations of their functions...

The Celts once occupied a vast territory modern France, Belgium, Switzerland, parts of Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Hungary and Bulgaria...

Northern mythology represents an independent and richly developed branch of Germanic mythology, which, in turn, in its main features goes back to the most ancient Proto-Indo-European history...

Vedic mythology - a set of mythological representations of the Vedic Aryans; Usually, Vedic mythology is understood as the mythological representations of the Aryans of the period of the creation of the Vedas, and sometimes the period of the creation of the Brahmins ...

CHINESE MYTHOLOGY, a set of mythological systems: ancient Chinese, Taoist, Buddhist and late folk mythology ...

JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY, a set of ancient Japanese (Shinto), Buddhist and late folk mythological systems that arose on their basis (with the inclusion of elements of Taoism) ...

Buddhist mythology, complex mythological images, characters, symbols associated with the religious and philosophical system of Buddhism, which arose in the 6th-5th centuries. BC. in India, during the period of the centralized state, and widely spread in South, Southeast and Central Asia and the Far East ...

Unlike ancient mythology, well known from fiction and works of art, as well as the mythologies of the countries of the East, the texts of the myths of the Slavs have not reached our time, because at that distant time when myths were created, they did not yet know writing ...

Myths, legends and tales of the Saami, Nenets, Khanty, Mansi, Komi, Yakuts, Chukchi, Koryaks, Eskimos

Altai epics, Tuvian legends, Khakass epic, Evenk legends, Buryat legends, Nanai folklore, Udege legends;

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. But it seems that people gravitate more towards myths and mysteries than towards truth. Legends amaze and fascinate, especially when it comes to famous places or personalities. This article will tell you about ten popular attractions and the amazing stories associated with them.

Sphinx

The experts agreed on only a few facts about the Great Sphinx of Giza: it is one of the largest and most ancient statues in the world, as well as a creature with a lion's body and the head of a man similar to the Egyptian pharaoh. The rest comes down to conjecture and belief.

The legend of the prince of Egypt Thutmose, the grandson of Thutmose III, a descendant of Queen Hatshepsut, is a favorite story of the admirers of the Sphinx. The young man was the joy of his father, which caused the jealousy of his relatives. Someone even plotted to kill him.

Due to family troubles, Thutmose spent more and more time away from home - in Upper Egypt and the desert. He was a strong and agile fellow and amused himself by hunting and archery. Once, while spending his leisure time as usual, hunting down a wild beast, the prince left behind his two servants, languishing from the heat, and went to pray to the pyramids.

He stopped in front of the Sphinx, known in those days as Harmachis, the god of the rising sun. The massive stone statue up to the shoulders was covered with sand. Thutmose looked at the Sphinx, begging to save him from all problems. Suddenly, the huge statue came to life, and a thunderous voice was heard from its mouth.

The Sphinx asked Thutmose to free him from the sand that was dragging him down. The eyes of the mythical creature burned so brightly that, looking into them, the prince fell unconscious. When he woke up, the day was drawing to a close. Thutmose slowly rose to his feet before the Sphinx and swore an oath to him. He promised that he would clean the statue of the sand that covered it and immortalize the memory of this incident in stone if he became the next pharaoh. And the young man kept his word.

A fairy tale with a good ending or a true story - Thutmose actually became the next ruler of Egypt, and his problems were left far behind. The story gained popularity only 150 years ago, when archaeologists cleared the Sphinx of sand and discovered a stone tablet between its paws describing the legend of Prince Thutmose and the oath given by him to the Great Sphinx of Giza.

The great Wall of China

Story about tragic love is just one of the many legends of the Great Wall of China. But the story of Meng Jianniu - perhaps the saddest of them all - is capable of touching from the very first lines. It talks about the Mengs who lived next door to another couple named Jiang. Both families were happy, but childless. So, as usual, the years went by until the Maines decided to plant a pumpkin vine in their garden. The plant quickly grew and bore fruit outside the Jiang fence.

Being good friends, the neighbors agreed to share the pumpkin equally. Imagine their surprise when, having cut it open, they saw a baby inside. tiny beautiful girl. As before, the two bewildered couples decided to share the responsibility of raising the little girl, who was named Meng Jianniu.

Their daughter grew up beautiful girl. She married young man named Fan Silyan. However, the young man was hiding from the authorities, who tried to force him to join the construction of the Great Wall. And, unfortunately, he could not hide forever: just three days after their wedding, Silyan was forced to join other workers.

For a whole year, Meng waited for her husband's return without receiving any news of his health or construction progress. Once Fang appeared to her in a disturbing dream, and the girl, unable to endure the silence any longer, went in search of him. She traveled a long way, crossing rivers, hills and mountains, and reached the wall, only to hear that Silyan had died of exhaustion and was resting at its foot.

Meng could not contain her grief and cried for three days in a row, which caused part of the structure to collapse. The emperor, who heard about this, considered that the girl should be punished, but as soon as he saw her beautiful face, he immediately changed his anger to mercy and asked for her hand. She agreed, but on the condition that the ruler fulfill her three requests. Meng wished to declare mourning for Silyan (including for the emperor and his servants). The young widow asked for her husband's funeral and expressed her need to see the sea.

Meng Jianniu never remarried. After attending Fang's funeral, she committed suicide by throwing herself into the deep sea.

Another version of the legend says that the grieving girl cried until the wall collapsed and the remains of the dead workers appeared from the ground. Knowing that her husband was lying somewhere below, Meng cut her hand and watched the blood drip onto the bones of the dead. Suddenly, she began to flock around one skeleton, and Meng realized that she had found Silyan. The widow then buried him and took her own life by jumping into the ocean.

forbidden city

In the past, there was no chance for an ordinary tourist to get into the Forbidden City. And if he could penetrate the walls, he would leave their heads. Literally. It's ancient palace complex- the largest in the world and the only one of its kind. During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was closed to the public, for more than 500 years only the emperors and their entourage saw the city from the inside.

At least today, guests are allowed to explore the site and listen to the legends associated with it. One of them tells that the four watchtowers Forbidden city appeared in a dream.

Allegedly, during the Ming Dynasty, the city was surrounded only by high walls, without a hint of towers. The Yongle Emperor, ruling in the 15th century, once had a vivid dream about his residence. He dreamed of fantastic watchtowers decorating the corners of the fortress. Waking up, the ruler immediately ordered his builders to make the dream a reality.

According to legend, after the failed attempts of two groups of workers (and their subsequent execution by decapitation), the master of the third group of builders was very nervous when he got to work. But by modeling the tower on the model of a cage for grasshoppers he saw, he managed to make the lord happy.

He also tried to include the number nine - a symbol of the nobility, in the design of the structure, in order to further please the emperor. It is said that the old man who sold the cricket cages that inspired the watchtowers was Lu Ban, the mythological patron of all Chinese carpenters.

Niagara Falls

The legend of the Maiden of the Mist may have inspired the name idea for the Niagara Falls river cruise. As is the case with most legends, there are various versions of it.

The most famous - tells about an Indian girl named Lelavala, who was sacrificed to the gods. To appease them, she was thrown from Niagara Falls. The original version of the legend says that Lelavala was sailing down the river in a canoe, and she was accidentally carried away downstream.

The girl was saved from certain death by Hinum, the god of thunder, who finally taught her how to defeat the huge snake that lived in the river. Lelavala conveyed the message to her fellow tribesmen, and they declared war on the monster. Many believe that Niagara Falls took on its current form as a result of subsequent battles between humans and the monster.

Wrongly retold versions of this legend have appeared in print since XVII century, many attributed some of the errors to Robert Cavelier de La Salle, a European explorer North America. He claimed that he visited the Iroquois tribe and witnessed the sacrifice of a virgin - the daughter of the leader, and at the very last minute the unfortunate father fell victim to his own conscience and collapsed into the abyss of water after the girl. So Lelavala was called Maid of the Mist.

However, Robert's wife opposed her own husband and accused him of portraying the Iroquois people so ignorant only in order to appropriate their land.

Devil's Peak and Table Mountain

Devil's Peak is an infamous mountain slope in South Africa. He saw a lot, could tell so much: including the wonderful legend of how fog rises from the ocean and envelops the peak along with Table Mountain. Cape Towns and other residents South Africa still tell this tale to their children and grandchildren.

In the 1700s, a pirate named Jan van Hancks decided to leave his turbulent past behind him and settled in Cape Town. He got married and built a family nest at the foot of the mountain. Yang liked to smoke a pipe, but his wife hated this habit and drove him out of the house whenever he took up tobacco.

Van Hanks got into the habit of going to the mountains to smoke in peace in nature. One very ordinary day, he climbed the slope as always, only to find a stranger in his favorite place. Jan did not see the man's face, as he was covered by wide brim hats, and he was dressed in all black.

Before the ex-navigator could say anything, a strange man greeted him by name. Van Hunks sat down next to him and started a conversation that moved smoothly to the topic of smoking. Yang often boasted about how much tobacco he could handle, and this conversation was no exception after the stranger asked the pirate for a cigarette.

He told Van Hanks that he could easily smoke more than him, and they immediately decided to test it - to compete.

Huge clouds of smoke surrounded the men, swallowed the mountains - suddenly the stranger went into a cough. The hat fell off his head and Jan gasped. Before him was Satan himself. Angry that a mere mortal had unmasked him, the devil was transported along with van Hanks in an unknown direction, flashing like a flash of lightning.

Now, every time the fog covers Devil's Peak and Table Mountain, people say it's Van Hanks and the Prince of Darkness again taking their places on the slope and competing in smoking.

Mount Etna

Etna - located on the east coast of Sicily, one of the highest active volcanoes in Europe. The first recorded awakening occurred in 1500 BC. e., and since then he has spat fire at least 200 times. During the 1669 eruption, which lasted for four whole months, lava covered 12 villages and destroyed the surrounding areas.

According to Greek legend, the source of volcanic activity is none other than a 100-headed monster (looks like a dragon) that spits out pillars of flame from one of its mouths when angry. Apparently, this huge monster is Typhon, the son of Gaia, the goddess of the Earth. He was a rather naughty child, and Zeus sent him to live under Mount Etna. Therefore, from time to time, Typhon's wrath takes the form of boiling magma shooting straight into the heavens.

Another version tells of the terrible one-eyed giant Cyclops, who lived inside the mountain. One day, Odysseus arrived at its foot to fight a powerful creature. The Cyclops tried to pacify the king of Ithaca by throwing him from the top with huge boulders, but the cunning hero managed to get to the giant and win by thrusting a spear into his only eye. The defeated big man disappeared into the bowels of the mountain. Further, the legend says that the crater of Etna is in fact the wounded eye of the Cyclops, and the lava splashing from it is drops of the giant's blood.

Alley of baobabs

The island of Madagascar resonates with many people around the world, and it's not just the lemurs. The main local attraction is the delightful Avenue of the Baobabs, located on the west coast. "Mother of the Forest" - 25 huge trees lined up on both sides of a dirt road. That's where exactly the indigenous inhabitants of the island, in all meanings, and the largest representatives of your kind! Naturally, their amazing location gave rise to many legends and myths.

One of them says that the baobabs tried to escape while God was creating them, so he decided to plant the plants upside down. This could explain their root-like branches. Others tell a completely different story. Allegedly, initially the trees were unusually beautiful. But they became proud and began to boast of their superiority, for which God immediately turned them upside down so that only their roots became visible. It is said that this is the reason why baobabs bloom and release leaves only for a few weeks of the year.

Myth or not, six varieties of these plants are found only in Madagascar. However, deforestation poses a serious threat even against the background of all the activities carried out there and the efforts made to protect and restore forest areas. Unless more is done to protect them, the protagonists of these legends may disappear, most likely forever.

Giant's path

The unintentional creation of the Giant's Road, located in Northern Ireland, is what can happen if you get into a fight with a giant. At least that's what the legend tells us. While scientists believe the hexagonal basalt pillars are a 60-million-year-old accumulation of lava, the legend of Benandonner, the Scottish giant, sounds a little more intriguing.

It tells about the Irish giant Finn McCool and his long-standing feud with the Scottish big man Benandonner. One fine day, two giants started another squabble across the North Strait - Finn got so angry that he grabbed a handful of earth and threw it at his hated neighbor. The lump of mud landed in the water and is now known as the Isle of Man, and the place where McCool lies is called Lough Neagh.

The war flared up, and Finn McCool decided to build a bridge for Benandonner (the Scottish giant could not swim). That way they could meet and fight, settle the old dispute over who was the bigger giant. After the construction of the pavement, the tired Finn fell into a deep sleep.

While he was sleeping, his wife heard a deafening roar and realized that it was the sound of Benandonner approaching. When he arrived at the couple's house, Finn's wife was horrified - her husband's death came, because he turned out to be much smaller than his neighbor. Being a resourceful woman, she quickly wrapped a large blanket around McCool and put the biggest cap she could find on his head. Then she opened the front door.

Benandonner yelled inside the house for Finn to come out, but the woman hissed and said he would wake her "baby". The legend says that when the Scot saw the size of the "child", he did not wait for the appearance of his father. The giant immediately ran back home, destroying the passage through the strait along the way so that no one could follow him.

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is a huge volcano in Japan. It is not only a major attraction, but also an important part Japanese culture- the theme of many songs, movies and, of course, myths and legends. The story of the first eruption is considered the most ancient legend of the country.

An elderly bamboo gatherer was doing his daily task when he stumbled upon something very unusual. A tiny baby the size of a thumb looked out at him from the trunk of a plant he had just cut. Struck by the beauty of the baby, the old man took her home to raise her with his wife as his own daughter.

Soon after the incident, Taketori (that was the name of the collector) began to make other amazing discoveries during work. Every time he cut a bamboo stalk, he found a gold nugget inside. His family got rich very quickly. The little girl has grown into a young woman of stunning beauty. Adoptive parents over time, they learned that her name was Kaguya-hime and she was sent to Earth from the moon to protect herself from the war raging there.

Because of her beauty, the girl received several marriage proposals, including from the emperor himself, but rejected them all, as she longed to return home to the moon. When her people finally arrived for her, the ruler of Japan was so unhappy due to the imminent parting that he sent his army to fight with native family Kaguya. However bright Moonlight blinded them.

As a parting gift, Kaguya-hime (meaning "moon princess") sent the emperor a letter and an elixir of immortality, which he did not accept. In turn, he wrote her a letter and ordered his servants to climb the highest mountain peak in Japan and burn it along with the elixir, in the hope that they would reach the moon.

However, the only thing that happened during the fulfillment of the order of the master on Fujiyama was a fire that could not be extinguished. So, according to legend, Mount Fuji became a volcano.

Yosemite

Half Dome in national park USA Yosemite is a real challenge when we are talking about the climb, but at the same time the place is considered a favorite among hikers and rock climbers. When the Native Americans lived here, they called it Split Mountain. At some point, as a result of repeated glaciation and thawing of the rock, most of the rock separated from it - this is how it acquired its current appearance.

The origin of the Half Dome became the subject of a marvelous legend still passed down by word of mouth, all of which are referred to as "Tales of Tees-sa-ak". The legend also explains the unusual silhouette in the shape of a face, which is visible on one side of the mountain.

The legend tells of an elderly Indian woman and her wife who traveled to the Auani Valley. Throughout the journey, the lady carried a heavy wicker cane basket while her husband simply waved the cane. Such was the custom in those days, and no one would think it strange that a man was in no hurry to help his wife.

By the time they reached the mountain lake, a woman named Tis-sa-ak was thirsty, tired of a heavy burden and a scorching sun. Therefore, without wasting a second, she rushed to the water to get drunk.

When her husband came there, he was horrified to find that his wife had drained the whole lake. But then everything only got worse: due to lack of water, drought hit the area, and all the greenery withered. The man was so angry that he swung his cane at his wife.

Tis-sa-ak burst into tears and rushed to run with a basket in her hands. At some point, she turned around to throw a basket at her husband who was chasing her. And when their eyes met great spirit who lived in the valley turned them both into stone.

Today the couple are known as Half Dome and Washington Column. They say that if you carefully look at the side of the mountain, you can see the face of a woman, on which tears silently flow.

According to statistics from the British Royal Society of Ghosts, on average, at least 3 ghosts live on every square meter of the inhabited surface of the Earth. We managed to photograph some of them, and even talked to some of them. We present the most famous myths and legends.

10th place: Argonauts. The myth of the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece is very old. The very first recorded version of this myth is already its processing, very far from the original story. Argonauts (lit. "sailing on the Argo") - participants in the voyage on the ship "Argo" for the Golden Fleece to the country of Colchis. The journey of the Argonauts is described in most detail in the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes "Argonautica".

9th place: Beowulf. The only existing manuscript of Beowulf dates from around 1000. But the epic itself belongs, according to most experts, to the end of the 7th or the first third of the 8th century. Beowulf, a young knight from the people of the Gauts, having learned about the attack of the monster Grendel on the king of the Danes Hygelak, goes to the aid of the king.

8th place: The legend of the fern flower. According to ancient folk legend who found a fern flower on the night of Ivan Kupala will find happiness. By the way, this myth exists not only in Russia. The legend of the fern flower was also believed in Lithuania and Estonia.

7th place: Legend of King Arthur. Italian researcher Mario Moiragi claims that legendary sword King Arthur really exists and is located in a rock in the Abbey of San Galgano in Italy. By the way, in his book, Moiragi states that the legend of King Arthur is Italian, although it was traditionally assumed that King Arthur and the Holy Grail were invented in northern Europe or in France.

6th place: Poltergeist. Some argue that the poltergeist ("noisy spirit" in German) terrorized our ancestors for thousands of years. In the case of a poltergeist, objects can appear and disappear from nowhere, for example, a fire can pour or start fire directly “out of thin air”, pipes burst, corks burn out, dishes break, etc. Events of this kind usually last about 2-3 months, and only sometimes for several years.

5th place: Loch Ness monster. The first mention of Nessie begins in 565. A monster is described that looks like a giant toad, "only it was not a toad." In the Latin chronicles of Nessie of the seventh century, the appearance of the dragon "cum agenti fremitu", which means "strongly shaking", was noted.

4th place: Bigfoot hasn't really been seen yet either, but the Nepalese hill tribes still believe in the existence of the fearsome Mi-Go or "Abominable Bigfoot" lurking in the midst of ice and mountain spiers.

3rd place: Flying Dutchmen. Legend has it that the Dutch captain Van der Decken once lived. He was a drunkard and a blasphemer. And then one day near the cape Good Hope his ship was caught in a violent storm. The navigator advised him to take refuge in one of the bays, but instead of heeding the advice, Van der Decken shot the navigator. This act angered God, and since then Van der Decken's ship has been wandering the seas. With a rotten hull, it nevertheless holds up well on the waves. The damned captain recruits his team from the drowned, and the more vile and vile their deeds in life were, the better.

2nd place: Bermuda Triangle. In the literature on the Bermuda Triangle, 50 cases of disappearances of ships and aircraft are described in detail. In almost all cases, ships and planes disappeared without a trace, along with their crews. By the way, about 140 thousand people were still rescued from the crash of ships in the Bermuda Triangle area by the US security service.

1 place: Aliens. On this moment V different organizations recorded about 1-0 thousand evidence of UFO sightings and communication with aliens. The myth of aliens is especially widespread throughout the world: aliens from outer space who visited the earth a long time ago. To aliens, some include the ancient Egyptians and Maya Indians. By the way, the image of a green man with big eyes and in silver clothes was recognized as the most common representation of aliens on Earth. The drawing of the "green man" was soldered into one of the "time capsules", which should be opened in three thousand years.

English lore warns travelers against traveling alone in mountainous areas at dusk. If you believe, then the surroundings of Cornwall, which is considered the birthplace of King Arthur, Celtic traditions and ... giants, are especially dangerous!

In the middle of the 18th century, the inhabitants of the Cornish peninsula were seriously afraid of meeting with giant neighbors. Many ancient myths and legends tell about the sad fate of those who had a chance to face the giants.

There is a legend about a simple woman named Emma May, the wife of the farmer Richard May. One day, not waiting for her husband for dinner at the usual time, she decided to go in search of him, left the house and found herself in a dense fog. Since then, she has not been seen again, and although the villagers have repeatedly gone looking for her, Emma Mae seemed to have sunk into the ground. The peasants believed that she was kidnapped by giants, who, according to rumors, lived in the surrounding caves and killed late travelers or took them into slavery.

What secrets are kept by the seas and oceans

Many ancient myths and legends are composed about the sad fate of sailors who were swallowed up by the deep sea. Almost everyone has heard chilling stories about sirens calling ships to the reefs. The wild imagination of sailors gave rise to many superstitions, which eventually transformed into indestructible customs. In countries South-East Asia sailors still bring gifts to the gods in order to safely return from a journey. However, there was one captain (his name, alas, history has not preserved), who neglected the sacred traditions ...

... The elements raged, the crew of the ship was tired of fighting the elements, and nothing foreshadowed a successful outcome. Standing near the helm, through the veil of rain, the captain saw a black figure appearing on his right hand. The stranger asked what the captain was willing to give him in exchange for his salvation? The captain replied that he was ready to give all his gold, just to be in the port again. The black man laughed and said: “You did not want to bring gifts to the gods, but you are ready to give everything to the demon. You will be saved, but you will bear a terrible curse as long as you live.

The legend tells that the captain returned safely from the voyage. But as soon as he crossed the threshold of his house, his wife died, who had been in bed with her for two months. serious illness. The captain went to his friends, and a day later their house burned to the ground. Wherever the captain appeared, death pursued him everywhere. Tired of such a life, a year later he put a bullet in his forehead.

The dark underworld of Hades

Since we are talking about otherworldly demons dooming a stumbled person to eternal torment, one cannot help but recall Hades, the ruler of the underworld of darkness and horror. The River Styx flows through the bottomless abyss, taking the souls of the dead deeper and deeper into the earth, and Hades looks at all this from his golden throne.

Hades is not alone in his underworld, the gods of dreams live there, sending people both terrible nightmares and joyful dreams. In ancient myths and legends, it is said that the monstrous Lamia, a ghost with donkey legs, wanders in the kingdom of Hades. Lamia kidnaps newborns so that if the house in which the mother and the baby lives is cursed by an unholy person.

At the throne of Hades stands the young and beautiful god of sleep, Hypnos, whose power no one can resist. On his wings, he silently hovers above the ground and pours his sleeping pill from a golden horn. Hypnos can send sweet visions, but it can also send you into eternal sleep.

The pharaoh who violated the will of the gods

As ancient myths and legends tell, Egypt underwent disasters during the reign of the pharaohs Khafre and Khufu - slaves worked day and night, all temples were closed, free citizens were also persecuted. But here they were replaced by the pharaoh Menkaura and he decided to free the exhausted people. The inhabitants of Egypt began to work in their fields, the temples began to work again, the living conditions of the people improved. Everyone glorified the good and just pharaoh.

Time passed, and Menkaure was struck by terrible blows of fate - his beloved daughter died and the lord was predicted that he had only seven years left to live. Pharaoh was perplexed - why did his grandfather and father, who oppressed the people and did not honor the gods, live to a ripe old age, and he must die? Finally, the pharaoh decided to send a messenger to the famous oracle. ancient myth- the legend of Pharaoh Menkaure - tells about the answer given to the ruler.

“The life of Pharaoh Menkaure was shortened only because he did not understand his destiny. One hundred and fifty years Egypt was destined to suffer disasters, Khafre and Khufu understood this, but Menkaure did not. And the gods kept their word, on the appointed day the pharaoh left the sublunar world.

Almost all ancient myths and legends (however, like many legends new formation) contain a rational grain. An inquisitive mind will always be able to penetrate the veil of allegories and discern the meaning hidden in seemingly fantastic stories. And how to use the acquired knowledge is already a personal matter for everyone.

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We are sure that many of you still believe in unicorns. It seems wonderful to imagine that they still exist somewhere, and we just haven't found them yet. However, even the myth of such a magical creature has a very prosaic and even somewhat frightening explanation.

If it seems to you that website is very skeptical and no longer believes in magic, then at the end of the article a real miracle awaits you!

great flood

Scientists believe that the legend of the Great Flood was based on the memory of major flood, the epicenter of which was Mesopotamia. At the beginning of the last century, during the excavations of the tombs of Ur, a layer of clay was found that separated two cultural layers. Only a catastrophic flood of the Tigris and Euphrates could lead to the appearance of such a phenomenon.

According to other estimates, for 10-15 thousand years BC. e. an incredible flood happened in the Caspian, which spilled over an area of ​​​​about 1 million square meters. km. The version was confirmed after the discovery by scientists on the territory Western Siberia sea ​​shells, the nearest distribution area of ​​which is in the zone of the Caspian Sea. This flood was so powerful that there was a huge waterfall in the place of the Bosphorus, through which approximately 40 cubic meters were poured per day. km of water (200 times the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls). The flow of such power was at least for 300 days.

This version seems insane, but in this case, it is by no means possible to accuse the ancient people of exaggerating events!

Giants

In modern Ireland, legends are still told about gigantic people who can create an island by simply throwing a handful of earth into the sea. Endocrinologist Marta Korbonitz came up with the idea that ancient legends might have a scientific basis. Incredibly, the researchers found what they were looking for. Huge number of Irish people have mutations in the AIP gene. It was these mutations that caused the development of acromegaly and gigantism. If in the UK the carrier of the mutation is 1 per 2,000 people, then in the province of Mid-Ulster - every 150th.

One of the famous Irish giants was Charles Byrne (1761-1783), his height was over 230 cm.

Legends, of course, endow the giants with great power, but in reality, not everything is so rosy. People suffering from acromegaly and gigantism often suffer from cardiovascular diseases, they have vision problems and frequent joint pain. Without treatment, many giants may not live past the age of 30.

Werewolves

The legend of werewolves has several origins. Firstly, The life of people has always been connected with the forest. From the deepest antiquity have come down to us rock art hybrids of humans and animals. People wanted to be stronger, they chose a totem animal and wore its skin. On the basis of these beliefs, narcotic drugs also worked, which the soldiers took before the battle and imagined themselves as invincible wolves.

Secondly, belief in the existence of werewolves was also supported by the presence in people of such a genetic disease as hypertrichosis- profuse growth of hair on the body and face, which was called the "werewolf syndrome". Only in 1963 did the doctor Lee Illis give the disease a medical justification. In addition to the genetic disease, there was also a mental disease, known as lycanthropy, during the attacks of which people lose their minds and lose human qualities believing themselves to be wolves. In addition, there is an exacerbation of the disease in certain lunar phases.

By the way, the wolf from the world famous Little Red Riding Hood, according to, was none other than a werewolf. And he didn’t eat his grandmother, but fed his granddaughter.

Vampires

As for the scientific substantiation of these myths, in 1914 the paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested that the finds in antiquity of the skulls of pygmy elephants caused the birth of the myth of the Cyclopes, since the central nasal opening is easily mistaken for a giant eye socket. It is curious that these elephants were found precisely on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete.

Sodom and Gomorrah

We don't know about you, but we always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah is a very large-scale myth and more like a personification of vicious cities. However, this is quite a historical fact.

Excavations have been underway at Tell el-Hammam in Jordan for over a decade. ancient city. Archaeologists are sure they have found the biblical Sodom. The approximate location of the city has always been known - the Bible described the "Sodom pentagon" in the Jordan Valley. However, its exact location has always raised questions.

In 2006, excavations began, and scientists found a large ancient settlement surrounded by a powerful rampart. According to researchers, people lived here between 3500 and 1540 BC. e. There is no other option for the name of the city, otherwise the mention of such a large settlement would have remained in written sources.

kraken

Kraken - legendary mythical sea ​​monster gigantic cephalopod, known from the descriptions of sailors. The first extensive description was made by Eric Pontoppidan - he wrote that the kraken is an animal "the size of a floating island." According to him, the monster is able to grab a large ship with its tentacles and drag it to the bottom, but the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the bottom is much more dangerous. It turns out that a sad end is inevitable - both in the case when the monster attacks, and when it runs away from you. Really creepy!

The rationale for the myth of the "creepy monster" is simple: giant squids still exist today and reach 16 meters in length. They really represent an impressive spectacle - in addition to suckers, some species also have claws-teeth on tentacles, but they can threaten someone only by crushing it from above. Even if modern man, having met such a creature, he is very frightened, to say nothing of medieval fishermen - for them the giant squid was definitely a mythical monster.

Unicorn

When it comes to unicorns, we are immediately presented with a graceful creature with a rainbow horn in its forehead. Interestingly, they are found in the legends and myths of many cultures. The very first images were found in India and are over 4,000 years old. Later, the myth spread across the continent and reached ancient rome where they were considered absolutely real animals.

Chindo in South Korea. Here the waters between the islands part for an hour, revealing a wide and long road ! Scientists explain this miracle by the difference in the time of ebb and flow.

Of course, many tourists come there - in addition to simple walks, they have the opportunity to see the marine inhabitants who remained on the open land. The amazing thing about Moses' Path is that it leads from the mainland to the island.