10 mysterious legends that may have really existed, Mulan is actually a boy? Does the Lost Labyrinth of Egypt really exist?
Theseus and the Minotaur is one of the most famous stories in Greek mythology. For those unfamiliar with the story, it begins with King Minoan of Crete. After winning the throne and exiled Poseidon's brother, Minos prayed to Poseidon for a snow-white bull. At the time, the bull was a symbol of God's approval. Then, when the bull appeared, he was supposed to sacrifice it, but found it too beautiful to kill. So, he kept the bull. In retaliation, Poseidon made the king's wife fall in love with the bull, and she gave birth to a minotaur: a half-human, half-cow monster. As the Minotaur gets older, it becomes more and more violent. Because it was neither man nor beast, it began to eat people. At the suggestion of the oracle priest, Minos built a huge labyrinth under the palace to hide the outcome of his wife's affair.
King Minoans' only human son was killed by the Athenians, and in revenge he mercilessly attacked the Athenians until the Athenians agreed to send seven men and seven women as tributes to the labyrinth as sacrifices to the Minotaur. Theseus, the son of the Athenian king Aegus, tired of this terrible reign, offered to kill the monster. But the daughters of the Minos kings fell in love with him and decided to help him escape the deadly labyrinth. Princess Ariadne gave Prince Theseus a line to help him find his way. Eventually he killed the Minotaur and escaped with the other Athenians and princesses!
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. Truly spectacular, beneath the palace, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an extremely complex labyrinth. This labyrinth, before it was abandoned and destroyed, was so complex that it was almost impossible to find your way out without a map. Now, we don't know if Theseus was a real hero or if the Minotaur really existed. But archaeologists have proven that both the palace and the labyrinth are real, which gives the myth a lot of credibility.
As a very popular Disney animated film, Mulan is now widely known – the film is loved by audiences and recently made a live-action version. But what many fans don't know is that the character of Mulan is actually based on a Chinese folk song. What's even more interesting is that the ballad may have been based on a real character named Mulan in Chinese history. The earliest written evidence of Mulan's true identity dates back to the Northern Dynasty period from 386 to 581 AD.
"Mulan Ci" is no more than 300 words, telling the story of a girl who replaces her father and dresses up as a man to join the army, exactly like the story in the movie. At the end of the folk song, Mulan is hailed as one of the best and most powerful warriors, and then she shows herself to be actually a woman. While there isn't any direct evidence that this happened, the ballad does provide some clues.
The epic mentions two main locations: the Yellow River and the Yanshan Mountains. This suggests that Mulan's hometown is near these two landmarks. The poem also implies that Mulan was a member of the Xianbei people, who came from northern China and established the Northern Wei Dynasty. This is because in this poem, the title of the emperor is "Khan", which makes it likely that Mulan came from a nomadic society after the Xiongnu split. These people are known for giving respect to women's social status, but this behavior eventually disappeared in China. Therefore, Mulan may be real, remembered and passed down through poetry.
The Battle of Salamis is one of the most legendary battles in history. In September 480 BC, the Persians fought the Greeks, one of the most important military battles in ancient history and a key point in Europe. If the Greeks had lost the war, the Persians would have succeeded in invading and changing the history as we know it today. The battle took place near the coast of Attica in Greece. While we know that the battle itself did happen, we don't know how much of the legend that surrounds it is true.
It is said that the Greek city-states fought as allies, bringing 370 ships to the war, but the Persians had more than 1,000 ships. King Ahabeu thought he could annihilate the Greek fleet with overwhelming force. However, it is clear that the Greek commander Themistokry lures Persian ships through the Strait of Salamis, as in the movie 300 Men, but only on board. The sheer size of the fleet was unable to pass through the strait, causing chaos and congestion, and the much smaller 370 Greek ships sank them all.
This is definitely possible, but we're not sure if the numbers are correct. Maybe it was the brilliant battle strategy, or maybe the eternally powerful and mysterious "Greek Fire" that gave the warships the upper hand. If the legend of this battle is true, then it proves how powerful the ancient Greeks were.
Did you know that there is a mysterious lost wonder in Egypt that can even surpass the pyramids themselves? The Lost Labyrinth of Egypt first appeared in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC. He himself claimed he saw the building, saying it was more impressive than the Pyramids of Giza. Greek historians also claim that the labyrinth is located on the shore of a huge lake, 7 days from the pyramid. It was almost inevitable that there would be a huge temple divided into huge parts that made up the labyrinth. There are underground passages, huge statues, and even small pyramids intertwined with other buildings. It was a vast synthesis, unlike anything in the ancient world, or even anything since then.
Legend has it that this maze is so big that once you get lost, the only way out is to carry a secret map or a book with you. Unfortunately, this huge labyrinth has never actually been discovered by modern archaeologists, and we're not sure if it really exists. Back in 2008, there were some vague reports that radar experts had discovered an underground labyrinth under a temple near Cairo, but this so-called discovery had never been confirmed or further investigated, or at least no article had been published. While it is very likely that the Egyptians built a labyrinth to make their pyramids look like children's toys, evidence to support this ancient legend has yet to be discovered.
Peller is the goddess of Kilauea in Hawaii and the ruler of fire and volcanoes. According to Hawaiian legend, Peller came to Hawaii after being driven out of his hometown of Tahiti. She crossed the ocean in a canoe, but her sister chased after her because Pelle and her husband were fooling around. Paylor's sister almost killed her, but Pelle survived by digging huge fire pits, many of Hawaii's volcanoes as we know them today. Pelle's sister eventually learned that she was still alive and went back to complete the mission. During their battles, Hawaii's forests were burned down. Eventually, Peller's sister killed her, and Peller became a goddess.
There are many different versions of this story, but the basis is the same. While these goddesses never really existed, some parts of the story may have actually happened. Specifically, forests are burned down by volcanoes. Scientists know today that lava flowed continuously for more than 60 years in the 15th century, and lava covered much of Hawaii. The local Polynesians may have thought it was a great war between gods and gods and made up their own legends. These legends have been passed down, turned into myths, and most of them are now forgotten. Although Pelle himself may never have existed, it is a great example of how real events can inspire a story that can turn into a legend and further into religion.
Unicorns used to be very real animals, which is why they have flourished in Eastern and Western mythology for thousands of years, but these beasts are a bit scary. Unicorns may not have started out as white horses with golden horns, nor did they have magic. They may also not have tears that heal wounds or blood that can make people immortal. Instead, the unicorn may have been a furry rhinoceros that went extinct about 29,000 years ago.
According to National Geographic, a fossilized skull of a furry rhinoceros was found in Kazakhstan with a horn protruding from the head. The beast weighed 4 tons and was over 3.6 meters long, about 1.8 meters tall. It is definitely a huge animal and a real source of inspiration for the people of the Neolithic age. It's quite possible that our ancestors lived with these mysterious rhinoceros-like creatures for thousands of years.
After their extinction, the story of these magnificent creatures continues, which is why the perception of unicorns around the world differs slightly in ancient legends. Sometimes the unicorn is a deer, sometimes a donkey, sometimes a goat, and the only consistent attribute is that it has a horn sticking out of its forehead.
Hercules is arguably the famous legendary hero we are still talking about today. According to historians, he was probably a real person. He may not have been the son of Zeus, and it is unlikely that he fought the Hydra or killed the Chimera, but the 12 things he famously did may actually have been done by someone from the Stone Age.
Hercules made many enemies before he was born. Zeus had an affair with a mortal, and when his wife Hera found out, she began to destroy the baby Hercules. Growing up, he married and had children, but Hera cast an evil spell on him, causing him to kill his own family. Hercules went to Apollo to ask for punishment to atone for his sins. Apollo ordered him to perform 12 missions for the king of Mycenae, including fighting monsters, cleaning stables, and stealing cattle from giants.
One of his greatest enemies was the Nemean lion, an unusually strong and ferocious lion. Then there is the Hydra, a poisonous snake with 9 heads. Historians say that the Stone Age may have had a very strong samurai who accomplished many extraordinary feats. But instead of killing the monster, he probably killed a very large lion, probably captured a swarm of snakes, and stole cattle from rival tribes.
Over the centuries, the story of Hercules and his Twelve Trials has been accepted by other civilizations and passed on. Because everyone loves heroes! But the original hero may have been just an ordinary man, holding a stick and some lion fur — maybe he was lucky, so people thought God was with him.
Scientists agree that there was once a major flood that inundated many parts of the world. This flood occurred early in modern history and devastated mesopotamia. During excavations in 1928, archaeologists found evidence of flood sediments at a pair of ancient sites, Ur and Kirchli. At the beginning of civilization, mesopotamia must have had floods, and floods may have affected other places, including around the Mediterranean Sea. This shared experience has thus been passed down from generation to generation in civilizations.
According to Robert Ballard, one of the best underwater archaeologists on Earth, 12,000 years ago, the Earth was covered in ice. In Connecticut, the ice is 1600 meters high and stretches all the way to the Arctic. So, when all this ice began to melt at the end of the ice age, it caused the world's sea level to rise, leading to the Great Flood of Mesopotamia.
But now there's still a big question, and that is, are all these floods directly related to the biblical story of Noah and his ark? Is the Great Flood in the Bible real? This is a legend with an astonishing truth. While archaeologists are still searching for the Ark Noah built, it's clear that just as humanity was just beginning, a great flood destroyed the world.
The Oracle of Delphi was one of the most important women in ancient Greece. She was a priestess at the Temple of Apollo, engaged in divination or foresight of the future. One of the biggest mistakes people make when people think of an oracle is that she's just a person, which is wrong. In fact, there are many oracles, each of which is a real woman, selected by the priests of the Temple of Delphi, in which the future is predicted. They were actually called Pitias, and when one died, the other would take her place.
Thanks to historical records and archaeological evidence, we know that there were indeed oracles, and the Greeks took their vision of the future very seriously. But unlike myth, they may not have special abilities. Scientists believe that the temple of Apollo, which the oracle proclaimed to her, was built on a crack in the ground. It is from this crack that the gas rises from deep underground. When the oracle inhales this smoke, he enters a trance state. But not because God was talking to her, but because she was under the influence of poisonous gases. There are scientific explanations for the state of divine ecstasy seen by the ancients, but in ancient times science and divinity were one. Heat and gas escape from dark caves and cracks in the ground, which means that this is the entrance to Hades, and who can say what's the difference?
King Arthur may have been real, and might even have sat at Camelot's round table. For centuries, historians have debated the existence of King Arthur. He first appeared in documented history around 1000 AD. The Welsh historian Nainius lists 12 epic battles in which King Arthur participated. He is said to have been a Celtic hero who helped defend Wales against the invasion of Saxon armies. Like Hercules, his initial mention in history was very boring. He was basically a good king who had fought many battles. But by the 12th century, King Arthur had a magic sword called the King's Sword, a wizard named Merlin, and a group of trusted knights.
In the process, someone who may be real becomes a character in a storybook. But there are also some problems with these stories, such as the 12 battles arthur is believed to have been involved in that happened at too many different times that he could not have participated in all of them. There is also the problem of camelot city, his legendary castle. Although there are six mysterious fortresses on the border between Wales and England that may have been Camelot, none of them have been confirmed. King Arthur may really be a king, or he may just be a figure imagined by a Welsh historian a thousand years ago.
What other ancient legends do you know that may be real? Pls let me know in the comments, thank you very much for watching!