Mythology Explained

By Mythology ExplainedHistory

Mythology Explained episodes

September 17, 2023 The First God & the Primordial Father of the Gods - Norse Mythology
To tell the story of Buri is to tell of how the universe came to be in Norse mythology. In this, he plays but a small part, though one of paramount importance, to be sure. He was the first god to draw breath in all of Norse mythology, grand-father to Odin, who it was that created the world.

In the beginning there was only Ginnungagap, the great void, something similar to the Waters of Nun in Egyptian mythology or to Chaos in Greek mythology. It was the empty space that presupposed creation. Next there was Niphlheim and Muspelheim. Niphlheim was a realm of ice and dark in the North, and Muspelheim was a realm of fire and light in the south. Both were equally desolate and inhospitable. Niflheim abounded with poisonous water, the bubbling of springs and roaring of rivers, and Muspelheim was a land closed off to those not born there; only those native to it could endure its burning terrain and choking air. Surtr, the black one, ruled over Muspelheim. He wields a great flaming sword; and come Ragnarok, the gods will be laid low and the world set ablaze. Eventually, the poisonous waters of the north flowed down into the void. Here's the passage:

"High replied, 'When those rivers, which are called Elivagar [Storm Waves], came so far from their source, the poisonous flow hardened like a slag of cinders running from a furnace, and became ice. When this ice began to solidify and no longer ran, poisonous drops spewed out and froze into ice rime [hoar-frost]. Then layer by layer, the ice grew within Ginnungagap.' Then just-as-High said, That part of Ginnungagap, which reached into the northern regions, became filled with this ice and rime. Inside the gap there was mist and wind-whipped rain. But the southern part of Ginnungagap grew light because of sparks and glowing embers flowing from Muspelheim."
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14 min
September 13, 2023 God's True Form & the Ultimate Heaven Beyond the Universe.
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to dive into the Divine Comedy, focusing on the Empyrean, the place of pure light, love, and energy where God, angels, and the souls of the saved reside. Unlike the nine circles of Hell, the nine levels of Purgatory, and the nine spheres of Heaven, the empyrean exists outside the confines of the universe, transcending space and time. It is a place so far beyond what the human mind can comprehend that Dante, even while his perception was preternaturally augmented by the presence of the divine, could only bear witness to visions that imparted the roughest outline, unable to understand, let alone perceive, the finished work, the mastery and majesty of it.

We're going to begin by quickly covering how Dante got to heaven, then going over how heaven is structured, then going over the Primum Mobile, the ninth sphere of heaven, and then going over the Empyrean: what it is and what Dante experienced while he was there.

Alright, let's get into it.

After braving the depths of hell, plunging ever deeper down through the infernal abyss, all nine of its circles, Dante and Virgil, our pair of intrepid poets, climb down Satan's body and pass through the center of the earth. When they come out the other side, they emerge a bit of the way up Mt. Purgatory, which towers up toward the heavens. Because of this, they are forced to go down so that a full ascent can be made, beginning at the very bottom.

The purpose of Mt. Purgatory is purification, not punishment. In Hell, the souls of the sinful are tormented for all of eternity, and escape is prevented by demons and monsters. In Purgatory, on the other hand, there is suffering, but the intent of this suffering is to cleanse and is not a product of condemnation. The pinnacle of Mt. Purgatory is the Garden of Eden, and it is there that Virgil and Dante depart. As a virtuous pagan, Virgil's soul resides in Limbo, the first circle of hell, so he cannot accompany Dante on the final segment of his journey, precluded from entering the paradise of heaven. Beatrice, who it was that sent Virgil to guide Dante, appears and assumes the role as Dante's guide.
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21 min
September 06, 2023 10 Gods so Powerful the Other Egyptian Gods Bowed Before Them
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to dive into Egyptian Mythology, going over its 10 most powerful gods. I'll make another video for the goddesses later on. The order in which the gods are discussed in this video isn't based on power but on precedent, beginning with the creators.

Alright, let's get into it.

Starting us off is Ptah.

One of ancient Egypt's many creator deities, Ptah was said to have created the world with his heart and tongue. According to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the heart was the center of thought and feeling. Because of this, Ptah first pictured and planned the creation of the world in his heart, visualizing the world as a craftsman visualizes his next project. With the idea conceived, it then passed to the tongue, which manifested the idea, bringing it to life.

In addition to his role as the creator of the world, It was said that Ptah could fashion new bodies for the dead, furnishing them with new flesh. He was the patron of craftsmen, particularly sculptors and metalworkers. And the Greeks equated him with Hephaestus, their own divine smith.

Most often Ptah was depicted as a bearded man, and among his most salient features are a skullcap and blue skin. The skullcap that covered his head was that of an artisan, and his blue skin was celestial blue, which is why he was known by the epithet, "he who is beautiful of face." The scepter he carried united the djed, the was, and the ankh. The djed is a pillar-like symbol representing stability; the was is a staff that represents power and dominion; and the ankh is a cross-shaped symbol with a loop that represents life. Egyptian pharaohs were commonly crowned in Ptah's temple at Memphis, and it was thought that the three attributes embodied by his scepter were bestowed on them at their inaugurations.

Sekhmet, the goddess who at one time nearly exterminated the human race, was Ptah's consort. Together they had a son, Nefertem, the god of the primeval lotus, creator gods sometimes described as emerging from this lotus, signifying their engenderment and the commencement of their great work.
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31 min
August 29, 2023 The Deepest & Darkest Hell: Satan Forever Frozen in Icy Torment.
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to dive into the Divine Comedy and discuss the 9th circle of hell: the circle reserved for traitors, the frozen heart of hell where Satan is torturously trapped, and the place in all of creation most sundered from the light and love and God. Here, we'll see Satan depicted in superlative fashion, virtually as massive, monstrous, and malevolent as can be, the horror of him beyond Dante's ability to fully describe.

We're going to begin by quickly outlining how Hell is structured, then jumping into the story when Dante and Virgil enter the 8th circle, covering their entry into the 9th circle, their encounter with Satan, and their arrival at Mt. Purgatory.

Alright, let's get into it.

Dante Alighieri penned the "Divine Comedy" in the early 14th century. The story takes the reader on an allegorical journey through the three spiritual realms: Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso). The narrative follows Dante, the protagonist and the fictional representation of the author, whom we first join while he's lost in a dark forest, symbolic of spiritual confusion. Guided by the Roman poet Virgil and later by his muse Beatrice, Dante embarks on a profoundly transformational odyssey. In "Inferno", he plunges into the depths of Hell, braving ever deeper into the depths of terror, torture and torment, journeying downwards through the nine circles of Hell.

Hell is conceptualized as a descending funnel-shaped abyss composed of nine concentric circles, each containing a distinct category of sin and its corresponding punishment.

Central to Dante's vision of punishment is the concept of 'contrapasso,' poetic justice, the punishments suffered by the sinners in Hell inspired by the nature of their sins in life.

Beginning at the outermost circle, the nine circles of Hell are: limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery, the ninth and final circle. Limbo is the place for unbaptized souls and virtuous pagans, neither good nor bad, and after it, the punishments of hell proper begin in the second circle where the lustful are condemned to be buffeted and battered by the winds of a violent storm that relentlessly rages.
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16 min
August 22, 2023 Is Satan Trapped in Hell or Does He Walk the Earth?
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Satan, whether or not he's trapped in hell. First, we're going to see how Satan, where he currently resides, is portrayed in fiction, looking at Dante's Inferno and then at Paradise Lost. Second, we're going to see what scripture has to say about where Satan is. And third, we're going to delve into various interpretations of scripture, here meaning the eschatological perspectives used to understand the bible, these different perspectives yielding different answers: Roaming the earth, locked away in the hearts of sinners, or imprisoned forever in hell.

Alright, let's get into it.

In Dante Alighieri's "Inferno," the Ninth Circle of Hell, the deepest, most desolate, and most despair-filled circle, is reserved for traitors, treachery deemed the most egregious of sins and those who perpetrate it the most wicked of sinners, the sanctity of special relationships defiled by the betrayals of these transgressors. The ninth circle is a vast, frozen lake named Cocytus, and it is divided into four concentric rings. The ice becomes progressively thicker and more torturous as one moves inward to the circle's center. The rings house different types of traitors: those who betrayed their kin, those who betrayed their countries, those who betrayed their guests, and those who betrayed their benefactors. At the very center of Cocytus, Satan is imprisoned in ice up to his waist, continuously chewing on Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius, the three greatest traitors in Dante's view. Judas betrayed Jesus, and Brutus and Cassius betrayed Julius Caesar. Satan is described as a monstrous giant with three heads and a great pair of bat's wings. Judas is perpetually devoured by the center head, Brutus and Cassius by the two outside ones. Though Satan participates in the punishment of, per the reckoning of Dante, the three most evil sinners in all of history, he himself is also condemned, torturously trapped in a state of physical and spiritual agony. One of the details that communicates this are the tears that incessantly stream from his six weeping eyes.
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26 min
August 16, 2023 The Solar Titan: The Primordial Power That Moved the Heavens
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. Today, we're going to dive into Greek mythology, focusing on Hyperion, a primeval solar deity. He was the father of the sun, of the moon, and of the dawn, of the 12 first-generation Titans, one of the Titans who helped castrate Uranus, and one of the Titans cast down into the depths of Tartarus, battered and banished, following the victory of Zeus and the Olympian-led forces.

Here's how this video is going to work: first we're going to go over Hyperion's sphere of influence, which is to say what he was associated with and what role he played in structuring and maintaining the universe; second, we're going to quickly go over who his three children were; and third, we're going to go over his rise and fall, beginning with his birth and ending with his imprisonment in Tartarus.

Alright, let's get into it.

1 - SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

His name meaning "The One on High" or "He Who Walks Above", Hyperion was a primeval solar deity, though he was not the personification of the sun itself. Indeed, the matter of Greek mythology's sun god is a bit confusing because there are three of them: Hyperion, a primeval solar deity, Helios, the personification of the sun, and Apollo, whose own sphere of influence eventually subsumed the sun. All three of them were identified with each other and to an extent were conflated. One idea is that Hyperion's original role was orchestrating the cycle of celestial objects, ensuring that the symphony of heaven sang out harmoniously. This ties into who Hyperion's wife and children were. According to Hesiod's Theogony, his wife was Theia, another of the 12 first-generation Titans and his sister. She was a goddess associated with sight and was called "The One Who Sees".
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14 min
August 13, 2023 Moros: The Greek God of Doom
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Moros, the Greek god of Doom, which is to say the inevitability of death. He is the divine personage who personifies adages like, "you can't cheat death" and "you can't escape your destiny." In the context of Greek mythology, everyone is doomed, meaning doomed to die. Just as every person is born, so too must every person die; and when a person dies, this isn't something that was dictated by the moment. How a person dies isn't contingent on chance and isn't a permutation of events that, if a person's life was run over and over again in a simulation, could have been ordered differently, played out differently, and culminated to produce different results. In Greek mythology, how each and every person dies is already indelibly written by the fates in the proverbial ledger of destiny. Death, everything about it, is determined even before birth, and Moros, the god of Doom, is the personification of the power that uncompromisingly and unyieldingly ensures everyone meets their fated end. In short, doom drives destiny; doom is the guardrails that makes sure people don't veer off the road and arrive at their death destination.

Here's how this video is going to work: First we're going to quickly go over Moros' family: who his parents were, who his siblings were, and generally, how he fits, in a structural sense, into Greek mythology. Second, we're going to see how his power and purview are complementary to those of his siblings. If you think of death as a process that begins before birth when a person's destiny is decided and ends when a person arrives in the underworld, achieving this requires the efforts of many gods working in concert, beginning with the fates and ending with Charon, the ferryman who conveys the souls of the dead across the River Styx.
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20 min
August 09, 2023 Can Demons Become Angels Again & Rejoin God in Heaven?
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss whether Demons can renounce their wicked ways, reform themselves, and return to God, becoming angels again and reentering the blessed and beatific realm of Heaven.

At the core of Christianity is the salvation of the human soul. A person who strays from the righteous path and succumbs to sin can, through the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, be guided back to a virtuous and faith-filled existence. Based on what's written in the bible, and based on the discourse of scholars and theologians, it looks like there is no sin that is truly unforgivable. God's love is boundless, and it is his greatest desire that the soul of each and every person join him in eternal exaltation; so not matter how terrible the transgression, insidious the infraction, odious the offense, or cruel and corrupt the crime, if a person - any person - genuinely repents, let's God into their heart, turns over a new leaf, and lives out their remaining time in a way that is consistent with the teachings of Christianity, they can be saved and go to Heaven and live in perpetual paradise.

While this is all well and good for humanity, does this also apply to Demons? Can Demons, as is the case for even the most disgusting and depraved people, find salvation and once again bask in the light of God as they did before they rebelled and were subsequently expelled from Heaven?

To be clear, if someone is truly evil, they can't just insincerely go through the motions and end up in heaven. An evil person can't just pretend to repent and be good. Well, they can, but it won't work. Maybe they feign repentance, keep up the facade for the rest of their days, and trick some people, but God can't be duped, deluded, or defrauded. He's omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Every person's inner thoughts and motivations are laid bare before him. A profound, paradigm-shifting change has to occur in which a person genuinely comes to feel remorse about their past wrongs, genuinely wishes to reestablish their connection with God, and genuinely wishes to live out their lives virtuously in keeping with the Christian creed.
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17 min
August 06, 2023 The Primordial God of Darkness
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Erebus, one of the primordial deities and the personification of darkness in Greek Mythology.

Alright, let's get into it.

As the personification of darkness, it isn't surprising that Erebus became synonymous with the underworld, even becoming a byword for it, as can be seen in Hesiod's Theogony ("Zeus struck him [the Titan Menoetius] with a lurid thunderbolt and sent him down to Erebus"), and in the Homeric Hymns, ("[Hermes came] bidding me [Persephone] come back from Erebus.), and many other works. Similarly, Hades name was also used as an appellation for the underworld; however, there were differences between the two. Erebus more so pertained to the dark and shadow of the underworld, while Hades invariably pertained to the totality of the underworld itself. Here's a passage from Edith Hamilton's book Mythology A to Z that elaborates on this:

"As the darkness under the earth, he was sometimes called Erebus, the personification of darkness and shadow, and sometimes the chasm or pit that separated the world of the living from the underworld. He was a god, but he had no cult, no following. He was simply there, the personification of something that is always there, a part of the underworld and of the world above it, like the atmosphere around the earth"

Though Erebus' name was used on occasion, Hades' name was the true name of the underworld, and because of this, Hades' name would transcend Greek Mythology and find its way into Jewish and Christian scripture.

The Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), is the holy text from which the Old Testament is derived. It was originally written in Hebrew, of course, but the first language it was translated to was Ancient Greek in the 3rd century BC.
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7 min
August 04, 2023 The Goddess Who Stole the Sun God's Power & Greatest Weapon
Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Isis, the mistress of magic, the might of her magical mastery making her one of the most powerful gods in all of Egyptian mythology. As Weret-Hekau (meaning 'the Great of Magic'), she was sometimes depicted as a cobra who suckled and safeguarded the pharaoh, and with respect to defending Egypt's borders, she was said to be greater "than a million soldiers." She was the sister-wife of Osiris, ruling alongside her husband as the queen of creation; she was the mother and protector of Horus, the rightful king who would win back his father's crown from the usurper Set; she was the symbolic mother of every pharaoh, the pharaohs themselves symbolic incarnations of Horus; and she was the griever, preserver, and guardian of the dead.

Her magical escapades and exploits include: poisoning the sun god and stealing his power, materializing appendages, reincarnating the king of the gods, taking the form of animals and of other people, transforming into a flint statue after being decapitated to preserve herself, conjuring up weapons that listen to her and respond to her bidding, and countless other examples - these named hitherto but a mere glimpse into the spells, sorcery, necromancy, and enchantment that were at her disposal.

Alright, let's get into it.

The cult of Isis had really risen to prominence by the first millennium BC, and in the fullness of time, she would become the most widely worshiped goddess in all of Egyptian mythology, a fact shown empirically by evidence of her cult having been found in places as far as Britain, this from when it was a Roman province. As her popularity spread, so did her sphere of influence, including more and more. She became a sea goddess of sorts, the protective power that was at her core helping ships survive treacherous waters and make it home safely.
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20 min

About Mythology Explained

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On Mythology Explained we will be diving deep in to all kinds of Mythology: Greek, Roman, Norse, Chinese, Egyptian - you name it. If you've always been curious about the beginnings of Hercules or how…