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Hades

The battle between the gods and the Titans. Source: Pubic Domain

What Caused the War of the Titans in Greek Mythology? (Video)

The War of the Titans , a tumultuous saga in Greek mythology, unfolds like a cosmic drama, blending familial strife, ruthless ambition, and the inescapable pull of destiny. Kronos, the cunning Titan...
Could the real underworld location be closer than we think? Source: 3D Station/Adobe Stock

Is The Real Location of the Ancient Underworld Right in Front of Us?

The myth of the underworld, much like the myth of the lost paradise and the worldwide deluge, is a universal one. Cultures from all across the world, past and present, widely separated and with...
Reproduction of a depiction of Cimmerian mounted archers from a Greek vase. (Shams bahari /CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Enigmatic Cimmerians Crisscrossing The Caspian And Caucasian Steppes

The Cimmerians remain one of the most mysterious and obscure peoples of the ancient world. They make their debut in the Odyssey , written by Homer, the great Greek bard, in the eight century BC. To...
Charon on the River Styx in the Greek Underworld. Source: Dracus / Goodfon

Dark Sketches & Stories from the Underworld in Greek Mythology

One of the most fascinating concepts of Greek mythology is that of the underworld. The Greek underworld is one of three realms that make up the cosmos. It was believed that after death, an individual...
Detail from 'Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld' by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1861. Public Domain

Orpheus: Mythical Greek Musician Went to Hell for His Lover

Orpheus is one of the most well-known heroes of Greek mythology. Unlike most Greek heroes, Orpheus is famous for being a lover, not a fighter. A legendary bard, musician, poet, and prophet Orpheus...
Stonehenge ( Gail Johnson / Adobe Stock)

Dark Lords And Winter Queens Of Solstice

Christmas is for obvious reasons a thoroughly Christian holiday, that overlies the darkest time of the year around the Winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year with the least light in...
The Thesmophoric procession by Francis Davis Millet (1894) Brigham Young University Museum of Art (Public Domain)

The Original Meaning Of The Mysteries Of The Ancient World

For probably over 2,000 years in antiquity, mystery rites were celebrated in many different cities stretching from parts of Europe and Africa all the way to India. There were many variations to the...
The Eleusinian Mysteries: An Unresolved Ancient Greek Puzzle

The Eleusinian Mysteries: An Unresolved Ancient Greek Puzzle

To this day the Eleusinian mysteries remains a subject enveloped by broken pieces of information, creating great controversy among historians who work under heavy assumptions while trying to piece...
The five female Olympians of the Ancient Greek Pantheon. Source: local_doctor / Adobe Stock

Five Female Olympians of Ancient Greece: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Greek Mythology consists of numerous gods and goddesses, although the Greek pantheon itself is comprised of just twelve main gods ruling Mount Olympus. Among the twelve, there are five female rulers...
‘L’enlèvement de Proserpine’ (The Rape of Proserpine) (circa 1636) by Peter Paul Rubens.

The Rape of a Goddess: How Demeter Beat the All-Powerful Zeus

Who were Demeter and Persephone? And why did their myth resonate so strongly with women of ancient Greece? The story of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter Persephone, queen of the...
Sisyphus

The Sisyphus Myth: Cruel King Gets Eternal Punishment for Annoying Zeus

Doomed to forever roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, Sisyphus is a figure in Greek mythology who represents an impossible task. As his punishment in the Greek Underworld , each time Sisyphus neared...
The remains of what appears to have been a unique funeral ceremony and Greek burial have been discovered at the ancient colony of Gela in southern Sicily. Source: Superintendence of Caltanissetta

Evidence of Deceased Baby Burning Discovered in Sicily

The remains of what appears to have been a unique funeral ceremony and Greek burial have been discovered at the ancient colony of Gela in southern Sicily. Founded some time between 689 and 688 BC,...
Waipio Valley: Home of Demons, Demi-Gods, and Despots

Waipio Valley: Home of Demons, Demi-Gods, and Despots

Hidden deep in the dark blue heart of the Pacific Ocean drifts the Hawaiian Archipelago. One of the youngest landmasses on the planet, made up of 137 volcanic islands covering an area of 1,500 miles...
The buried children found in Poland were in sandy ground and were arranged on an east-west axis, all with heads to the west on their backs with the hands at their sides. Source: Arkadia Firma Archeologiczna

The Buried Children Found in Poland With Coins In Their Mouths

In 2020, the centuries-old remains of 115 children’s bodies were discovered by construction workers laying a road in in Podkarpackie province, south-east Poland . This apparently bizarre discovery...
The Battle between the Gods and the Titans by Joachim Wtewael. The beginning of the Greek Gods

Greek Gods: The 7 Core Males Exposed

The ancient Greeks were a polytheistic people and worshiped a multitude of gods. The most important gods of the Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians, so-called due to the belief that they resided...
The Harrowing of Hell by Jacob van Swanenburgh  (1571–1638) (Public Domain)

Geographic Gateways to the Underworld

Ancient civilizations, including the Indian Hindu traditions, blended astronomical observations with religious and spiritual beliefs. The Orion constellation was where the vernal equinox was stated...
The Hell Hound Cerberus.

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...
An Angel leading a soul into heaven

Why the Christian Idea of Hell no Longer Persuades People to Care for the Poor

Although many of us now associate hell with Christianity, the idea of an afterlife existed much earlier. Greeks and Romans, for example, used the concept of Hades, an underworld where the dead lived...
Archaeologists Unearth Thracian Princess Grave Rich with Jewelry and Mythic Meaning

Archaeologists Unearth Thracian Princess Grave Rich with Jewelry and Mythic Meaning

The remains of an ancient Thracian noblewoman that was ritually dismembered has been unearthed along with bronze and silver jewelry buried with her in a rock tomb in the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria...
Exposing the Shady Secrets of Charon's Obols: Spirit Coins of Ancient Greece

Exposing the Shady Secrets of Charon's Obols: Spirit Coins of Ancient Greece

Charon’s obols were coins supposedly used by the ancient Greeks for funerary purposes. More precisely, the belief is that these coins were used by the shades (roughly equivalent to the concept of ‘...
Remains of an embracing couple found near the entrance of the Alepotrypa Cave.

Greek archaeologists find 5,800-year-old skeleton couple in loving embrace

Archaeologists have found the remains of a young Neolithic couple embracing each other at an archaeological site near the Diros Caves in the Peloponnese region of Greece. According to ekathimerini...