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Martini Fisher

Martini Fisher comes from a family of history and culture buffs. She graduated from Macquarie University, Australia, with a degree in Ancient History. Although her interest in history is diverse, Martini is especially interested in  mythologies, folklores and ancient funerary practices.

Martini currently travels Asia with the purpose of collecting folklores and tales to simplify and present them for a global audience. Her first series of books, “Wayang: Stories of the Shadow Puppets,” is a look at the ancient stories of Javanese creation myths from a traditional performing arts standpoint. She also spent some time in Bali, Indonesia, compiling a little book of Balinese folk tales which she then released in e-book form titled “The Giant Who Loved the Moon: A Collection of Balinese Folk Tales”.

Spending most of her time in Asia and Australia, Martini started her contributions for another series of books, “Time Maps,” in 2008, continuing the work of Dr. R.K Fisher, who started the project in 1996 until the time of his passing. “Time Maps” retells the world history through a non-European point of view. “Time Maps: History, Prehistory and Biological Evolution” is available online and in bookstores.

Connect with Martini online through:

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/martinifisher

Blog: www.fishermartini.wordpress.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/martinifisher

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fishermartini

History

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Posts

Sacrificial virgin on altar. (heywoody / Adobe)
9 October, 2017 - 15:18 MartiniF

Throwing Virgins into the Sea and Other Ways to Appease the Gods: The Ancient Reasons behind Virgin Sacrifice

When the going got tough, it was believed sacrificing a virgin to the gods—by throwing them into the sea, burying them alive, or leaving them for hungry monsters—was the best plan. Virgin sacrifice...
8 Immortals in a temple in Vietnam
4 October, 2017 - 15:32 MartiniF

The 8 Immortals of China: How ordinary mortals worked hard to achieve superpowers and become legendary

The general appearances of Chinese gods lead us to think of them as sober imperial bureaucrats. They mostly look like middle-aged men dressed in official-looking robes, spending their time reading...
The climactic moment in Homer's Iliad when a dying Achilles' head bursts into flame
25 September, 2017 - 15:32 MartiniF

Magic Armor Can’t Save the Tragic Heroes: Duty & Doom for Karna, Ferdiad & Achilles

It is no longer a secret that there are historical connections between the myths from everywhere in the world, indicating that every culture had strong influences on each other and their legends. A...
Pandora, Bouguereau, 1890
11 September, 2017 - 15:26 MartiniF

Eve was Created from Adam’s Rib, but What About the Other Women? Where did the First Women of Ancient Creation Come From?

In the Bible, Genesis 2:7 is the first verse that tells us about the first man. It tells how God formed a man from the dust and blew the breath of life into him. The man was then placed in Eden where...
King Shapur of Persia Humiliating Emperor Valerian (Public Domain) Background: court of the emperor Valerian, painting circa 1450. (Public Domain); Deriv. By Martini Fisher
14 August, 2017 - 15:34 MartiniF

What Really Happened to Valerian? Was the Roman Emperor Humiliated and Skinned at the Hands of the Enemy?

The death of Valerian is traditionally known as one of the most dramatic and unfortunate of all the deaths of the Roman emperors. The widely accepted story is that Valerian wanted to end the war with...
Bellona with Romulus and Remus
4 August, 2017 - 15:31 MartiniF

Who is Bellona and Was She More Powerful than Mars? Piecing Together the Identity of the Mysterious Ancient Roman Goddess of War

In his History , Livy reported that during a critical part of the battle against the Samnites in 296 BCE, the general Appius Claudius was seen in the front lines raising his hands as he uttered a...
Museum diorama depicting scholars from the Joseon Dynasty (Public Domain), and script from the Hunmin Jeongeum Eonhae
24 July, 2017 - 15:37 MartiniF

What Happens if Scholars Rule a Kingdom? How Korea’s Kingdom of Joseon Lived Up to its Legendary Namesake

By the 14th century, the foundations of Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty (918 -1392 CE) started to collapse from years of war and de facto occupation from the Mongol Empire. The royal court in Goryeo was at...
Dramatic mask with tusks and feathers, Ninghai, Zhejiang, China
10 July, 2017 - 15:39 MartiniF

Ferocious Beast-Head Masks, Heavy Robes & Swirling Colors: What are the Unspoken Messages in Ancient Chinese Opera?

In “Civilization of China” (1911), Herbert Giles wrote that “for pleasure pure and simple, independent of gains and losses, the theater occupies the warmest place in every Chinaman's heart”. The fact...
Demons in Your Toilet? Guardians of the Sewers and How They Protected Ancient Latrines
26 June, 2017 - 15:38 MartiniF

Demons in Your Toilet? Guardians of the Sewers and How They Protected Ancient Latrines

As a ritual symbol of purification, water plays a key role in the public space of hygiene and sanitary activities as well as in almost all religions past and present. From the first moment mankind...
Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii.
19 June, 2017 - 15:32 MartiniF

Shave Your Armpits and Don’t Smell Like a Billy-Goat: Ovid’s Art of Love, Relationships and Adultery

Born a year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Ovid’s first works appeared in the early days of the Augustan principate. Ovid wrote various works throughout his long career, but none so...
Ganesha
12 June, 2017 - 15:32 MartiniF

Understanding Ganesha: Legendary Wise Hindu God who Removes Obstacles, Ensures Success

Ganesha is one of the most distinctive Hindu deities. His role is to remove obstacles and ensure success as well as creating obstructions for those whose ambition has become destructive. He is also...
Helen of Troy
5 June, 2017 - 22:25 MartiniF

Achieve Your “15 Minutes of Fame” & Ancient Lessons on How to be Famous: Celebrity Culture in the Ancient World

An early third century CE Greek inscription recovered from the ancient town of Oinoanda in southwest Turkey reveals that the Roman army relied on the services of Lucius Septimius Flavianus...
Detail; Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine-tailed fox
22 May, 2017 - 15:46 MartiniF

Quick as a Fox, Powerful as a Demon: Legendary Foxes and Their Trickster/Temptress Ways

The fox plays a wide range of roles in 42 out of the 358 of Aesop’s fables. It is generally described as a quick, intelligent and adaptable animal which no doubt led to its importance as a symbol of...
Pan
8 May, 2017 - 15:41 MartiniF

The Failed Sex God: The Horned God Pan and His Unrequited Lusts

"The bounteous Pan, the god of rural scenery, shepherdi, and huntsmen," as the poet Milton calls him, is the Greek god of woods and fields. Originally a pastoral god from Arcadia and depicted as a...
Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy, 1st century B.C. – early 1st century AD.
1 May, 2017 - 15:21 MartiniF

Decapitation? No Problem. The Magic of Restoration: Ancient Myths and Practices of Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery, not just a modern practice, has always existed and was shrouded in mystery, magic, and eroticism. An Indian physician named Sushruta, who was widely regarded in India as the “father...
19 April, 2017 - 15:34 MartiniF

Woman, Healer, Goddess? Famous (and Forbidden) Female Physicians in the Ancient World

Throughout history, women have always been healers. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were also nurses, counselors, midwives who traveled...

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