The legends have inspired the imagination of people for thousands of years. Although many of them are simple stories passed down from generation to generation, some might be real story of geological events, believed Patrick Nunn of the University of the Sunshine Coast of Australia.
Patrick Nunn has studied the link between ancient myths and natural phenomena of the past, considering that legends can give scientists important information about events witnessed storytellers, but which scientists do not have much information.
Here are the 10 most famous ancient myths and events that you might present.
Noah's Ark and the flood
One of the most popular myths and disturbing is the flood, which survives only Noah and his family. Following the directions given by God Himself, Noah built an ark huge that take one pair of each species on Earth, thus ensuring biodiversity by receding water.
Stories of floods are found in legends of other cultures, not just in the Bible, but scientists do not think there was ever a flood covering the entire planet with water.
Certainly were but isolated cases, dramatic events that produced a strong impression on people. A familiar example is the catastrophic flooding of around 5,000 î.e.n, which took place in the Black Sea.
People tend to exaggerate when reporting different memories, so it is not difficult to understand that a phenomenon that has led to the flooding a region to be expanded on a global scale, as if the entire planet were only water, not to be any patch of land.
Nunn believes that the myth of Noah is actually a story about giant waves that covered a certain region for a few weeks, during which the area has never been dry.
The discovery of fossils of shells on top of mountains not necessarily suggest that the area was once flooded. Now researchers know that the tectonic plates lifted from the seabed rocks therefore talk about another phenomenon, not flood, says Adrienne Mayor, a historian at Stanford University.
Oracle of Delphi and the priestess who foretells the future
In antiquity, Oracle of Delphi, located on Mount Parnassus in Greece, was well known. Here, in a temple dedicated to the god Apollo, a priestess called Pitha enter into a state of ecstasy and thus can "see" events that will occur in the future. She breathe vapors emanated from a crack in the floor, get into a trance and then uttered seemingly meaningless things. But these words could be interpreted only by a priest, he understands and translate them into prophecies.
Temple actually exist, being an important tourist attraction in Greece. There, geologists found two faults which lies just below the ruins of the temple. Perhaps they went through the gas producing euphoric, but now researchers do not know exactly what this gas contained. It could be ethylene, benzene, or a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane.
Sinking Atlantis
Perhaps the best known is the myth of Atlantis, thriving island which sank into the sea after a cataclysm. According to Plato, who spoke first about this legend, people who lived on Atlantis were half gods and foundations that had a very advanced civilization, while their island was built in the form of concentric circles.
Even if Atlantis really existed as described in the story of the Greek philosopher, real sad fate of a civilization inspired the legend.
It is possible that part of the island sinking Satorini to be behind the myth. Santorini is now an archipelago, but thousands of years ago there was only one volcanic island called Thera.About 3,500 years ago, the volcano erupted here, being one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history. The island was destroyed, there were tsunamis, and crops have been affected for years because of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.
It is possible that this situation has led to the decline of the Minoan civilization that dominated the Mediterranean from the neighboring island of Crete, some historians believe.
Pele, the goddess jealous of Kilauea
According to legend, the goddess Pele came to Hawaii with her sisters, and here was in love with a man named Lohi'au. After goddess has established residence in a crater of Kilauea volcano, she asked her sister, Hi'iaka, to bring it on Lohi'au. Because of the late sister, Pele thought that perhaps the two ran together and, as revenge, forest fire, which was very dear to Hi'iaka.
When he saw what happened, sister of Pele made love to Lohi'au and goddess, angry man killed him and threw her body into the crater. Hi'iaka jumped into the crater after him and saved him, and then they left together.
This strange love story metaphorically describes the Kilauea volcanic activity, scientists believe. Forest burned probably due to a flood of lava. A phenomenon of this kind took place in the XVth century, when lava flowed continuously for 60 years, covering over 430 square kilometers of the island of Hawaii.
Such destruction would be seriously affected people's lives since then, so who invented legend.
Similarly, the gesture of Hi'iaka who jumps and dig into the crater to recover the man's body may represent new crater formation, after the outpouring of lava.
Rama's Bridge
In the Hindu epic "Ramayana", god Rama's wife, Sita, is kidnapped and taken to the island of Lanka, the United Demons. Monkeys and bears help Rama and his brother, building a floating bridge between India and Lanka, because the hero can save your wife.
Recent satellite images show that there was a 29 km long bridge between India and Sri Lanka. It probably sank when water levels rose, with around 4,500 years ago.
Recently, another disaster has exposed the submerged ruins of temples, proving the truth behind the legend Mahabalipuram city. It was a port city on the coast of northeast India and legend has it that seven pagodas have. Currently, there was one preserved temple, but the tsunami that hit India in December 2004 to remove sediment from the ocean floor and revealed the ruins of more temples.
Killing Lake
A Cameroonian legend tells the story of Kom tribe, who lived in the land of the tribe Bamessi time. Kom leader learned that Bamessi tribal chief wants to kill him and then decided to take revenge. He was hanged and his body fluids was born a lake.
Before he died, he told his sister that his tribesmen must not ever touch that lake or fish that would swim there. Someday, when the tribe Bamessi wanted to fish in the lake, it exploded and all fishermen died.
The story could have a real substrate. In 1986, Lake Nyos in Cameron issued a large amount of carbon dioxide, killing 1,700 people sleeping in the nearby village.
This gas gathers in the waters toxic volcanic and seismic activity can cause a sudden release of gas that reach the surface and kill whoever is in the area
Giant catfish Namazu (Earthshaker)
According to Japanese legend, Namazu, a sleeping giant, is buried just below the archipelago. Kashima God keeps him motionless on Namazu with a stone, but sometimes god fish slides and then move their fins or tails and produce earthquakes.
Of course, no need for a gigantic fish to cause a big earthquake in Japan. This country is located on several tectonic plates and volcanic activity takes place here and that is why most earthquakes.
However, somnii are present in popular mythology for another reason. These fish can predict earthquakes, the Japanese believe.
However, the research could not prove a link between sleep behavior and earthquakes.
Authorities use the latest technology to find clap when large earthquakes will occur, so they can alert the population of the time. Sophisticated apparatus detects seismic waves and then send messages to the officials, who decide slowing trains to reducing the damage and risk the loss of lives.
Chimera monster that spits fire
Epic "Iliad" by Homer, there is a creature of nightmare called Chimera. It is a monster that has the characteristics of a lion and a serpent's mouth and remove flames. The creature was killed by the hero Bellerofonte, but her tongue stuck lair Chimaera, still burning.
Today in Turkey, tourists can visit Yanartaş, where the burning flames of the Chimera eternal. Here, through cracks in the earth out methane, which burns perhaps thousands of years. Long, this permanent fire was used by sailors on the far post for orientation at sea.
But Chimera legend is older than the "Iliad", probably dating from the Hittite period. In folklore Hittite Chimera was a monster with three heads - one human, a lion's head and a snake found in line.
Crater Lake birth
The strange story of the formation of Crater Lake was spoken by Europeans Klamath tribe of Indians, hundreds of years ago. They refuse even now to look to the lake for fear that this will invite him to death.
According to legend, Crater Lake was formed after a fight between Llao, lord of the underworld and Skell master Upper World. The two stoned incandescent sky during the battle and was always black, dark.
Finally, Llao, fighting on Mount Mazama, was thrown back into the underground world after Mount crashed. The rain then the former site filled mountain, forming Crater Lake.
The story is not very far from reality, although obviously lake formation does not imply the presence of the gods. 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama, which was actually a volcano erupted. Incandescent rocks flew through the air and crashed mountain crater is then filled with water from rain. Here is the event that inspired the legend probably Klamath tribe, believed Adrienne Mayor.
Patrick Nunn notes, however, an interesting detail. A myth usually lasts several hundred years, more than 7,000 years, as in this case. Legends transmitted orally so long a time are very rare.
Missing Island
Residents of Solomon Islands say happy story Teonimanu island, which disappeared underwater. It began when a man named Rapuanate kidnapped a woman on this island, but her brother were unable to take back. Angry that he could not be with the woman he loves, Rapuanate resorted to witchcraft to get back.
He used three plants - two were left on the island, and was holding a plant on it. When he saw them grow new leaves of this plant, was a sign that the island began to sink. After residents fled the island, Teonimanu was covered by water and disappeared.
Recent research done in arhipelangul submerged islands Solomon pointed to several hundreds of meters underwater. It is possible that they have been submerged after an earthquake caused a landslide thousands of years ago.
Patrick Nunn stated that this myth is transmitted orally, unlike the Bible or from Greek mythology. He fears that because of that many stories, which are based on a real event, will be forgotten forever. Do not lose only a part of world culture, but also serious warnings about the troubled past of this planet, scientists information that could benefit.
Source ; smithsonianmag
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