plato

Marcus Aurelius Distributing Bread to the People by Joseph-Marie Vien

14 September, 2019 - 02:07 Riley Winters

The Philosopher-King of Ancient Rome: Marcus Aurelius' Imperium

Marcus Aurelius is famed for various accomplishments—his title as the last of the Five Good Emperors; his extensive study of and literary accomplishments in the field of Stoicism; and, last but not...

Nineteenth-century painting depicting the Athenian politician Pericles delivering his famous funeral oration in front of the Assembly

23 February, 2019 - 13:49 dhwty

The Ins and Outs and 'Idiots' of Greek Democracy

Greece, or more specifically the city state of Athens , is considered to be the birthplace of democracy. Athenian democracy is well-documented and served as a model for the democracies of other Greek...

Socrates in conversation with Diotima by Franz Caucig (1755–1828)

13 February, 2019 - 17:21 MartiniF

Socrates’ Philosophy of Love Inspired by Diotima Princess, Priestess and Philosopher

Symposium , Plato’s philosophical text dated at circa 385 to 370 BC, depicts a friendly contest of speeches delivered by a group of notable men attending a banquet. During the discussion, Socrates...

A representation of what the lost city of Atlantis may look like

17 November, 2018 - 19:19 ashley cowie

Ancient Underwater Ruins Found off the Coast of Spain… Atlantis Again?

The coast of southern Spain is an archaeological wonderland with thousands of ruins from ancient Roman and Greek cultures, but hidden among these crumbling stones, scientists from a private satellite...

10 June, 2018 - 23:18 dhwty

Plotinus: Platonism with a Twist for Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Thinkers

Plotinus was an ancient Greek-speaking philosopher who lived during the 3rd century AD. He is generally considered to be the founder of Neoplatonism, though Plotinus may have actually considered...

Sappho and Alcaeus by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1881)

25 May, 2018 - 15:33 MartiniF

Gender Equality in the Ancient World?

In discussions about gender in the ancient world, women seldom seemed to be portrayed in a good light. In Ancient Greece, women were described as dogs, demons and degenerates. Semonides of Amorgos (...

Artist's depiction of the sunken city of Atlantis

22 May, 2018 - 18:02 aprilholloway

Rare orichalcum metal said to be from the legendary Atlantis recovered from 2,600-year-old shipwreck

A team of marine archaeologists have discovered several dozen ingots scattered across the sandy sea floor near a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Sicily. The ingots were made from orichalcum...

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...

Pericles' Funeral Oration, Philipp Foltz, 1877.

15 March, 2018 - 17:55 Van Bryan

Are We in Tyrannical Times? Has Plato’s Terrible Prediction Come True?

Okay, so Plato once predicted that all democratic governments would inevitably lead to chaos and anarchy. And sure, he foresaw that elected leaders would try to lie to us, in attempts to placate the...

Slaves working in a mine. The sustenance provided by slaves in Ancient Greece meant that citizens had free time to participate in politics.

16 October, 2017 - 15:31 Cam Rea

Did He Create a Blissful Utopia or a Tyrannical Communist Nightmare? Plato’s Ancient Class System and Social Engineering Revealed

Perhaps surprisingly to some, classical Greek philosopher Plato was a social engineer; and he was the first of many “planners” to come. In essence, Plato, who laid the foundations of Western...

Double headed androgynous Herm statue, Athens.

28 September, 2017 - 01:48 Jim Vieira

Edgar Cayce, Six-fingered Giants and the Supernatural Creation Gods of Atlantis: Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part article. Read Part 1 In Plato’s Symposium (189–190 AD), Aristophanes displays knowledge of an ancient myth of the androgyne, according to which our original...

Edgar Cayce (Credit: Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment, Author provided)

27 September, 2017 - 22:50 Jim Vieira

Edgar Cayce, Six-fingered Giants and the Supernatural Creation Gods of Atlantis: Part 1

“The primitive mind does not invent myths, it experiences them.” -- Carl Jung For nearly 30 years I have returned to the famous “Sleeping Prophet” Edgar Cayce’s readings as a road map to try and...

The School of Athens: Plato and Aristotle

1 September, 2017 - 15:29 Cam Rea

Aristotle is Dead, but his Ideas are Alive: Manipulating Money, and Plato’s Communism– Part II

Aristotle died. But then he returned from the grave, in a manner of speaking. The ancient Greek philosopher and scientist’s ideas remained mostly dead until the middle ages. With his rediscovered...

Aristotle, part of a wall painting, circa 1883.

30 August, 2017 - 15:26 Cam Rea

Aristotle is Dead, but his Ideas are Alive: On Private Property and Moneymaking – Part I

By Cam Rea / Classical Wisdom Aristotle died. But then he returned from the grave, in a manner of speaking. The ancient Greek philosopher and scientist’s ideas remained mostly dead until the middle...

Five carved stone spheres from Scotland held at the Ashmolean Museum

22 August, 2017 - 23:06 Hugh Newman

Geometric Stone Spheres of Scotland: Part 2 – Explanations From Platonic Solids to Sexual Healing

The purpose of these, predominantly Scottish in origin, spheres is unknown, although simple theories range from projectiles to predictive devices and more. But the sophistication of their design and...

Figure 1. Geometric stone spheres. (Photo Credit: Martin Morrison, taken at Hunterian Museum, Glasgow)

21 August, 2017 - 19:01 Hugh Newman

Geometric Stone Spheres of Scotland: Part 1 – More Than A Projectile - What Possible Purpose 5,000-years Ago?

“O nly in the period when Megalithic Man was setting out the sophisticated stone rings has a sufficiently high standard of mathematical knowledge and skill ever been reached before the fifteenth...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Food of the Gods and the Elixir of Life

Immortality, the Elixir of Life and the Food of the Gods

When we look into the accounts of many different mythologies and religions, it becomes clear that the gods are either immortal or live a life of many thousands of years. What is rarely mentioned is...

Santa’s Horned Helper: The Fearsome Legend of Krampus, Christmas Punisher

The Dramatic True Story Behind Disney's Mulan

Exposing the Secret History of Giants and the Underground Hyperborean Gallery in Romania

Ten Mythological Creatures in Ancient Folklore

Zeus and Hera – A Match for the First Couple of Genesis?

Human Origins

Artist's impression of prehistoric hunters.

Dark Skin and Blue Eyes: European Hunter-Gatherers Did Not Fit with Common Representations

The popular image of the light-skinned European hunter-gatherer is not correct. DNA taken from a 7,000-year-old wisdom tooth found in Spain in 2006 shows a different story. A study of the tooth shows that the man who owned it had dark hair, blue eyes, and the dark-skinned genes of an African

Evidence that Noah’s Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat

Were Other Humans the First Victims of the Sixth Mass Extinction?

The Outstanding Story of Osiris: His Myth, Symbols, and Significance in Ancient Egypt

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Ancient Technology

Representation of an ancient Egyptian chariot.

The Untold History of The Wheel And Its Evolution

The wheel can be considered mankind’s most important invention, the utility of which is still applied in multiple spheres of our daily life. While most other inventions have been derived from nature itself, the wheel is 100% a product of human imagination. Even today, it would be difficult to imagine what it would be like without wheels, since movement as we know it would be undeniably impossible.

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

Romans Mastered Nanotechnology and Used it for Eye Catching Decoration

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

Defenders of the Dutch Polders: The Kinderdijk Windmills

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Ancient Places

The White Slaves of Barbary

Much attention and condemnation has been directed towards the tragedy of the African slave trade , which took place between the 16 th and the 19 th centuries. However, another equally despicable...

The Lost Tribe of Clover Hollow – Oldest Civilization in the World Found in Appalachian Mountains?

The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania: Deadly Wasps Once Prevented its Destruction

Archaeological Mystery: 10,000 or More Caves were Dug into the Himalayas Over 2,000 Years Ago

The Secret Bridge to Peru’s Most Legendary City, Machu Picchu

Titelberg, Home of the Influential Treveri Celts

Opinion

Nephilim - Giants - Sons of God And Daughters Of Man

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Who were the nephilim ? The word nephilim appears twice in the Old Testament of the Bible. They are first mentioned in chapter 6 of the book of Genesis and then again in Number 13:33. But their brief...

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

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

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.