Tales of Times Forgotten

The Real-Life Female Warriors Who Probably Inspired the Legendary Amazons

Everyone has heard of the legendary Amazons, a nation of fearsome female nomadic warriors who, according to legend, lived in the steppes north of the Black Sea. Have you ever wondered, though, if the legend of the Amazons might have some historical basis? Well, if you have, you are in luck, because there really just might be a grain of truth behind this famous legend.

What Evidence Is There for the Existence of Alexander the Great? Quite a Lot.

One of the things that bothers me the most about the internet are all the pernicious articles claiming that such-and-such well-attested historical figure from ancient times actually never existed at all. One of the most annoying claims out there on the internet is that there is no evidence for the existence of Alexander the Great. This claim is blatantly ridiculous, but yet I have seen multiple people on the internet claiming it, repeatedly and in earnest. In this article, I intend to offer a sound debunking of this assertion by presenting some solid evidence for the existence of Alexander the Great.

Should the Elgin Marbles Be Returned to Greece?

The Elgin Marbles are a collection of ancient Greek marble sculptures that originally decorated some of the ancient monuments on the Akropolis in Athens, particularly the Parthenon, but were removed in the early nineteenth century by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and are currently held in the British Museum in London. There have been many calls for the Elgin Marbles to be returned to Greece so they can be put on display in the Akropolis Museum in Athens along with most of the rest of the sculptures from the Parthenon. In this article, I will make the case for why I think they should.

Ancient Greek Misogyny

The ancient Greeks have a reputation for being great thinkers and innovators. I have written about Greek achievements many times before and I even discuss them at length in this article from March 2019. Unfortunately, ancient Greek society was also, in many ways, deeply flawed. Notably, misogynistic attitudes towards women were extremely common, especially among elite educated men.

Lengthy tirades about the supposed “evils” of women that even the most avowed sexist today would fear to say outright in public absolutely inundate ancient Greek literature. These tirades are practically ubiquitous; they even occur in some of the oldest and most revered works of classical Greek literature. In this article, I will quote some of these passages—not because I think the opinions in them are in any way correct or justified, but rather to illustrate one hateful aspect of ancient Greek civilization.

Debunking the So-Called “Dark Ages”

There is no period in all of human history that gets quite so much bad press as the Middle Ages. Popularly known as the “Dark Ages,” most people imagine that this was the worst possible time to be alive—a thousand years of poverty, backwardness, stagnation, superstition, and obscurantism.

It is popularly believed that, during this era, obscurantist Christians deliberately rounded up classical texts to destroy them, people burned witches, no one ever bathed, everyone thought the world was flat, people were constantly slaughtering and torturing each other for no reason, all people were fanatically orthodox Catholics, scientific and technological advancement was virtually nonexistent, doctors knew less about medicine than doctors in all other eras, and everyone was always miserable.

There is very little truth to any of these notions, however. The real Middle Ages are very different from the barbarous caricature that most people are familiar with. Although some historians do use the term “Dark Ages,” they use this term to refer to a specific period in medieval western European history lasting a little over three hundred years from the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD until the rise of the Carolinian Empire in the late eighth century AD.

In this article, I will debunk some of the most popular misconceptions about the Middle Ages. Then, at the end, I will explain why I, like many historians, believe that the term “Dark Ages” should be retired altogether.

The True Origins of the Cyclops in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’

The Odyssey has long been one of my favorite books of all time, possibly even my number one favorite. It is a masterpiece of world literature and a true classic in every sense. One of my favorite episodes from the Odyssey is the part in Book Nine where Odysseus and his men have an encounter with the one-eyed giant Polyphemos. Have you ever wondered where this story about a one-eyed giant comes from, though? Well, read on, because, in this article, I will be exploring not only the origins of the story but also some of the clever wordplay and symbolism embedded in this scene from the classic epic.

Could You Have Survived in the Ancient World?

At some point, many people have wondered, “Could I have survived to a ripe old age if I had been born 2,000 years ago?” If you have ever wondered this, you are in luck, because right now is your chance to find out! In this article, we are going to be exploring some of the most common things that killed people in antiquity at different stages of their lives. We are also going to talk about how, believe it or not, some people in ancient times actually managed to survive to quite impressively old ages, even by twenty-first century standards.

Did the Ancient Greeks Ever Climb Mount Olympos?

If you know anything at all about Greek mythology, you are probably aware that the ancient Greeks believed that the most important deities in their pantheon, known as the δωδεκάθεον (dōdekátheon), which means the “Twelve Gods” in Ancient Greek, lived atop Mount Olympos, which is a real mountain in the region of Thessalia in northern Greece.

This has led many people to wonder why the ancient Greeks never climbed Mount Olympos and saw that there were no gods up there. The assumption that they never did this has led many people to assume that the ancient Greeks as a whole must have been deeply superstitious and uninquisitive.

The surprising truth, though, is that the ancient Greeks did climb Mount Olympos and it doesn’t seem to have destroyed their religion. In fact, by late antiquity, regular trips up the mountain seem to have become incorporated into the religion itself.

What Is the Difference between a Siren and a Mermaid?

If you enjoy reading about mythology, you have most likely heard of mermaids and Sirens, but you may not be familiar with the difference between them. Most people today generally consider them the same thing. We usually tend to imagine both a mermaid and a Siren as a beautiful woman with the tail of a fish instead of legs. Sirens, however, originally come from Greek mythology and this is not at all how the ancient Greeks envisioned Sirens. On the contrary, the ancient Greeks did not envision Sirens (or, as they are called in Greek Seirenes) as having fish-like attributes at all.

Thoughts on the Tragic Burning of the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral

The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris, France is widely considered one of the greatest examples of medieval Gothic architecture, an international symbol of French culture, and a testament to over seven hundred years of human history. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. Tragically, however, at around 6:45 p.m. Paris time on 15 April 2019, the historic cathedral was engulfed in flames. The fire blazed for around fourteen hours before it was finally put out completely, completely consuming the cathedral’s iconic spire and most of its roof, as well as wreaking massive damage to other parts of the cathedral as well.