ancient greece

11 June, 2019 - 01:29 Bryan Hill

Cerberus: Legendary Hell Hound of the Underworld

In ancient Greek mythology, there exists a three headed dog called Cerberus that guards the entrance to Hades, a misty and gloomy Underworld in which spirits of the dead are permitted to enter but...

Atreus and Thyestes. Two members of the House of Atreus.

2 May, 2019 - 23:50 Miriam Kamil

The Curse of the House of Atreus: A Dysfunctional Family Taken to Extremes

The Ancient Greeks often spoke of the Heroic Age, when nymphs and satyrs cultivated the mountains and gods played with mortals. Among the Greek myths that take place in the Heroic Age is the story of...

‘Alexander of Macedon trusts the doctor Philip’ (1870s) by Henryk Siemiradzki. Alexander is drinking a draught prepared by his trusted physician Philip after suffering from a severe fever. Humoral theory was used to cure illnesses, from fever to cancer, in ancient Greece.

19 February, 2019 - 23:01 dhwty

Bile, Cauterization, and Exercise: Cancer Treatment Was a Very Different Story in Ancient Greece

Cancer has existed since before the dawn of civilization. By the time of the ancient Greeks, cancer as a disease was already diagnosed by physicians, along with recommendations for its treatment. But...

Roman Painting - Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii, Italy. Miltos was used for yellow and sometimes red in many Greco-Roman paintings

16 December, 2018 - 22:50 Caleb Strom

Miltos, The Wonder Dust of the Ancient World

What pigment could be used for ship maintenance, art, agriculture, medicine, and cosmetics? In the Greco-Roman world, the multi-use ocher pigment called Miltos filled all these roles. The powerful...

15 October, 2018 - 22:56 ashley cowie

High-Technology Discovered in Classical Mythology Reveals The Ancient Origins of Artificial Intelligence

For the last 70 years science fiction writers and Hollywood movie directors have explored the place of robots and artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of humankind. But automated technologies...

This is the mouth of the well where modern archaeologists believe ancient Athenians invoked Apollo to tell the future in the water.

29 August, 2018 - 23:31 Mark Miller

Site in Athens revealed as an ancient temple of twin gods Apollo and Artemis

In 2015, an ancient well was uncovered in Kerameikos in central Athens, Greece, with inscriptions calling upon Apollo, the Greek god of prophecy. Archaeologists speculate that Kerameikos seers used...

‘Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam’ by Lieve Verschuier.

18 August, 2018 - 01:57 ancient-origins

Myths and Meteors: How Ancient Cultures Explained Comets and Other Chunks of Rock Falling From the Sky

Eve MacDonald / The Conversation Comets and meteors have fascinated the human race since they were first spotted in the night sky. But without science and space exploration to aid understanding of...

‘Sappho and Alcaeus’ (1881) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

4 August, 2018 - 22:30 Van Bryan

Sappho: Putting Together Fragments to Gain an Image of the Tenth Muse

By Van Bryan/ Classical Wisdom Besides being born on the island of Lesbos around 630 BC, and this date is often disputed, surprisingly little is known about the life of the beloved poet Sappho. The...

The Banquet (after Plato). second version (1874) by Anselm Feuerbach.

7 May, 2018 - 13:58 Van Bryan

Plato’s Symposium: Is it Just a Joke?

When talking about love in the classical age, we would be utterly remiss to not include Plato’s Symposium in our conversation. Symposium is Plato’s recounting of a, supposedly true, ancient cocktail...

Detail of ‘The Punishment of Sisyphus’ (1548-1549) by Titian

26 March, 2018 - 23:00 Van Bryan

The Myth of Sisyphus: Lessons in Absurdity

The legend of Sisyphus begins with a man who, if we are to believe Homer, was one of the wisest and most prudent of mortals. Nonetheless he would fall out of favor with the gods of ancient Greece. He...

Prometheus and Hercules by Christian Griepenkerl.

17 March, 2018 - 12:50 Van Bryan

Betrayed by the Acts of Others? The Events that Led to Prometheus’s Perennial Punishment

The story of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora is a popular myth of ancient Greece - one that has been told and retold throughout the ages. It is a tale of Prometheus, the son of a titan, who was...

Odysseus and Polyphemus, Arnold Bockling. Polyphemus is one of the only Cyclopes recognized by name.

18 March, 2017 - 12:59 Natalia Klimczak

Is There Any Truth to the Existence and Damning Character Assassinations of Mighty Legendary Cyclopes?

The mysterious, one-eyed creatures revered in Greek and Roman mythologies remain one of the most interesting creatures spoken of in the oldest Mediterranean legends. They were members of the race of...

3 July, 2014 - 14:22 dhwty

The Ancient Invention of the Water Clock

Today, the ability to keep track of time seems to be taken for granted. One just simply needs to glance at a watch, clock, or mobile phone to know the exact time, even down to the nearest second...

25 October, 2013 - 01:57 aprilholloway

The Sound of Ancient Greece Reconstructed

A musician and tutor in classics at Oxford University has been bringing back to life the music of ancient Greece , unheard for thousands of years, using a combination of archaeology and historical...

3 July, 2013 - 01:18 johnblack

2,500-year-old convicts’ cemetery discovered in Greece

A burial place for convicts dating back to the 7 th - 5 th century BC was discovered in Athens, Greece. The convicts were buried with their hands chained behind their backs, with fractured and broken...

30 January, 2013 - 21:31 johnblack

Greek mythology and human origins

Greek mythology begins with the Creation Myth , which is contained within many different sources of ancient Greek texts. The most complete one is Theogony from the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around...

Pages

Myths & Legends

“Full moon rising over Mount Shasta, as seen from northern valley.”

Mount Shasta: Inner Earth Realms and History of the Lava Beds

There are legends all over the world, found in every culture, which populate caves with spirits and supernatural guardians who dwell in a subterranean realm hidden just beneath surface of our own...

A Herculean Effort: What Led to the 12 Labors of Hercules and How Did He Succeed?

The Pyramid Complex and the Hopi: Creation Myth Sheds Light on Building Plan

Baba Yaga: The Wicked Witch of Slavic Folklore

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Enigma of the Anasazi

Human Origins

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

Do you dare enter a fairy ring? The mythical mushroom portals of the supernatural

Pangu and the Chinese Creation Story

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures – Part I

Ancient Technology

Did Egyptian Mummification Descend from a More Ancient and, Perhaps, Reversible Preservation Technique?

A central concept in the novel The Sphinx Scrolls is whether a mummification technology has ever existed that could preserve someone for long periods and retain the potential to bring them back to...

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Poisonous Pigments: History’s Deadliest Colors

The ancient invention of the steam engine by the Hero of Alexandria

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Ancient Places

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place...

The Dark Secret Behind the Hidden Room of Glamis Castle

Island in the Clouds: Is Mount Roraima Really A ‘Lost World’ Where Dinosaurs May Still Exist?

Mount Shasta: Inner Earth Realms and History of the Lava Beds

The Anomaly of King Orry’s 5000-Year-Old Grave

Enduring Mystery Surrounds the Ancient Site of Puma Punku

Opinion

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

Mount Shasta, located near the Oregon border in northern California, holds the distinction of being one of the world’s preeminent sacred mountains. It is recognized as an eligible Native American...

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

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By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.