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How is Wonder Woman related to the Amazons of Greek Mythology and Atlantis?
Does anyone have any real proof not from comics or movies that Diana of Themyscira is an actual figure from mythology? How does Atlantis relate to this?
For background, Diana of Themyscira is name of the modern superhero, Wonder Woman. In the…
user3327
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What is the significance of the very long time Völsung spent in the womb?
Völsung's mother carried him in her womb for six years:
Now no otherwise it goes with the queen's sickness than heretofore, nor may she be the lighter of her child, and six winters wore away with the sickness still heavy on her; so that at the last…
yannis
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Why does Odin favour Sigi at the beginning of the Saga of the Völsungs?
In the beginning of the Saga of the Völsungs, we learn of the senseless murder of the thrall Bredi at the hands of Sigi. Although Sigi is condemned and declared a "wolf in holy places" (an outlaw), Odin helps him attain warships and troops and he…
yannis
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How rich was Croesus?
My grandparents, who were fortunate to come from the generation when the classics were still at the core of education, often used the phrase "rich as Croesus".
But how rich was Croesus?
DukeZhou
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Do we know what stories Boios collected in Ornithogonia?
The story of Polyphonte and her cannibal sons survives in only one source, the Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis. Antoninus cites Boios' lost collection of metamorphosis myths Ornithogonia as the source of the story.
Do we know of other myths…
yannis
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Why is the virgin goddess Artemis associated with childbirth?
Orphic Hymn I to Prothyrea ("Προθυραία"), identifies Artemis as the goddess of childbirth, and relegates Eileithyia to the role of "assisting goddess":
O venerable goddess, hear my pray'r,
For labour pains are thy peculiar care;
in thee, when…
yannis
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Why was Baal Hammon identified with Cronus/Saturn?
Greeks identified the Carthaginian Baal Hammon with Cronus, and Romans, in turn, with Saturn.
Why was that? Did Baal Hammon share any attributes with Cronus/Saturn?
Girsan Virlee
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The Origin of Werewolf: Deities Cursing People into Animals?
I read some years back, about some ancient mythology where people believed the gods would rather commonly curse mortals into animal forms. There may've even been terms specific to this process. I think it was even related that the werewolf legend…
J. Doe
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What are the main differences of the Orphic theogonies?
Wikipedia records four distinct Orphic theogonies:
The "Protogonos Theogony", lost, composed c. 500 BC which is known through the commentary in the Derveni papyrus and references in classical authors (Empedocles and Pindar).
The "Eudemian…
yannis
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Revenants in mythology of the British Isles?
In his series, "Song of Ice and Fire", George R.R. Martin re-imagines a War of the Roses era-Britain where the British Isle is greatly enlarged and the continent compressed. He creates a history that mirrors the waves of historical migration…
DukeZhou
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Are there any similarities between the Deucalion/Pyrrha myth and Cadmus?
Specifically, both parties "grow" people by sowing "bones":
Deucalion and Pyrrha sow "the bones of [their] mother" which is interpreted as being "mother earth" and thus rocks. Thus they repopulated the earth after the flood.
Cadmus sows dragon's…
DukeZhou
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Is there any reference to this story about Inari?
The Japanese rice Goddess liked to wrap herself in a fox’s body. Sometimes, too, She took the shape of a human woman in order to sleep with men, who had excellent crops as a result. One of these men, it was said, realized he was sleeping with the…
user1385
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How and why are Idunn and Tyr gods?
In the eddic poem Hrafnagaldur Óðins, stanza 6, Idunn is identified as an "elf" (alfar) and the "youngest of the elder children of Ivaldi." This implies that Ivaldi had two sets of children, probably by different mothers. Thus Idunn is a sister of…
user1385
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Griffin, Griffon, or Gryphon?
According to Wikipedia, three spellings can be found for the Griffin, and the source of the word is uncertain. Is it simply a case of different sources choosing their favorite spelling that led to three different spellings?
Captain Phoenix
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Do Muses govern the arts?
I thought Muses were patrons of all arts. I knew modern arts like photography or cinema would be attributed by extension to a "visual arts" muse. I thought there were "classical arts" painting and writing Muses.
I just re-read about them and found…
Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land
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