Top 20 Ancient Greek Myths That Turned Out To Be TRUE

Every god needs somewhere to live. In Greek mythology, the Twelve Gods’ home was based on the very real Mount Olympus on the Thessaly[a] and Macedonia border, on its highest peak, Mytikas, at 9,572 feet up. Often, whenever Greeks settled in other areas, they named the highest peak Olympus, too. In 1913, the first recorded climbing of Mount Olympus took place by Frédéric Boissonnas and Daniel Baud-Bovy. However, they weren’t the first to climb, as Greek scientists later found items on the mountain from as far back as 400 BCE. Some scientists believe natural events on Mount Olympus, such as a meteor strike, may have inspired some of the gods’ feats in the mythology.

According to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Nestor was a former Argonaut and the king of Pylos. In those tales, now an older man, he gives others advice, including Agamemnon and Achilles. In 1939, American archaeologist Carl Blegen found the first signs of the Palace of Nestor in Pylos. However, World War Two put a stop to the excavation for years. In 1952, Blegen and his team returned and continued uncovering the palace and ancient items until 1966. In 2015, a team from Blegen’s former employers, the University of Cincinnati, uncovered the Griffin Warrior Tomb nearby. Dated around 1450 BCE, the tomb was filled with riches. However, while the body’s identity has yet to be identified, it's not believed to be Nestor.

Cyclopes[c] play a role in many Greek mythological tales and have become one of the most famous mythological beings. Described as hulking creatures with immense strength, their most defining feature is the single eye they have centered on their face. Depending on the story, Cyclopes are depicted as barbarous raiders, builders, or blacksmiths for Zeus. While the creatures didn’t exist in reality, they might’ve been inspired by a prehistoric elephant. In 1914, Austrian paleontologist Othenio Abel suggested the Cyclops myth could’ve originated from the discovery of dwarf elephant skulls by ancient Greeks. The animal’s large nasal cavity for its trunk could’ve been misinterpreted as a single eye socket. Fossils of the dwarf elephants have been found in several Mediterranean islands, including Greece’s Crete.

Greek Mythology can get really weird. Due to Minos’s wife, Pasiphaë, hiding in a wooden cow that a bull…“impregnated,” she gave birth to the Minotaur, the half-human, half-bull hybrid monster. Minos, the king of Crete, got Daedalus to create a labyrinth to house the creature, with the king sacrificing people to it. Minos wasn’t a nice person. While, thankfully, he doesn’t exist in reality, the labyrinth seemingly does. In 1900, a team led by British archaeologist Arthur Evans began excavating in Knossos. An elaborate maze was discovered with bull motifs, leading to the belief it was the infamous labyrinth. As for the Minotaur, it may have been inspired by the skull of the extinct elephant species, Deinotherium giganteum.

In Greek mythology, Scylla and Charybdis are sea monsters who are said to share the same strait, both residing under rocks. When Odysseus sailed near them, he was advised to go closer to Scylla rather than Charybdis to lose some crew, but not all of them, if he did the opposite. As such, the duo gave rise to the idiom “Between Scylla and Charybdis,” which is similar to “between a rock and a hard place.” Charybdis used whirlpools to drag ships to her mouth while Scylla snatched people to consume. Scientists believe the duo may have been inspired by the Strait of Messina in Southern Italy, as the area is known to have a whirlpool and rocks.

While the Siege of Syracuse actually happened from 213 BCE to 212 BCE, there’s one part of the story that some believe to be nothing more than a myth. When the Roman Republic sent ships to attack, inventor Archimedes got creative. He used mirrors to create a heat ray that set the enemy ships ablaze. This far-fetched technology was tested in 1973 by Greek scientist Ioannis Sakkas[e]. He managed to set a mock-up Roman ship on fire, seemingly giving significant weight that this may have happened. However, the “MythBusters” TV show couldn’t replicate his experiment. 3 times they tried, and their experiment did little beyond minor fires. Conversely, in 2023, 13-year-old Brenden Sener made a mini-version of Archimedes's heat ray with much better success.

Many cultures have a Great Flood mythology, such as Noah in the Bible. In Ancient Greece, it was the Deucalion Flood. Zeus, in another one of his rages, decided to end the Bronze Age by inciting a flood to destroy everything. Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, survived the flood by building a chest or ark, with help from his Titan father, Prometheus. The real-life Parian Chronicle, which details some of Greece's history, believes a regional flood happened around 1529 BCE. For years, marine archaeologists had found evidence that seemingly confirmed a big flood took place. In 2000, Robert Ballard, who famously discovered the Titanic wreck, found evidence in the Black Sea that a major flood had happened over 7000 years ago.

This legendary fruit has popped up in several Greek myths. Most famously, Eris[g] had thrown the Apple of Discord during a marriage with the words “to the most beautiful.” This led to 3 goddesses claiming it. Typically, Zeus delegated the decision to Paris. He gave the Golden Apple to Aphrodite, who bribed him with Hellen of Sparta’s love, sparking the Trojan War. While there are apple species that share similarities with the mythical one, it’s believed another real-life fruit is the fabled Golden Apple. Argan fruit, Quince, and tomatoes have all been suggested by scientists. However, with many languages describing it as a Golden Apple, an orange is the favorite explanation, especially as it wasn’t grown in the region at the time.

Born of the Sky Father Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, Hercules the demigod was tricked into slaying his family by Hera, his stepmom-slash-aunt…yep. Anyway, to redeem himself, he worked under King Eurystheus, who gave him the 12 Labors of Hercules. The first task was to slew the Nemean lion, who was attacking the city of Nemea. Despite the beast’s pelt being reputedly impenetrable, Hercules managed to do it and wore its pelt. Nowadays, lions don’t live in Europe. But they used to, and may have gone extinct there as late as the Middle Ages. As such, some scientists believe that a real-life version inspired the Nemean Lion fable. Lions terrorizing a community isn’t unheard of, as the Tsavo[i] Man-Eaters of Kenya wreaked havoc in 1898.

The settlement Mycenae and the civilization that bears its name have been heavily featured in Greek Mythology. After being founded by Perseus, the slayer of Medusa, Agamemnon later took the crown and famously led the Greeks in the Trojan War. In 1874, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, desperate to prove Homer’s work true, began excavating a site that turned out to be Mycenae. He found a royal cemetery and many artifacts, including the so-called “Mask of Agamemnon,” which is dated before the fabled ruler’s rule. Schliemann’s work not only proved that the Mycenae site existed but a whole civilization that was believed lost to time had walked the Earth.

According to mythology, after the Trojan War, a bunch of prisoners were taken to the island of Tenedos. Eventually, Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, allowed them to create a settlement, which became the city of Tenea. The location also played a part in the story of Oedipus, who infamously had a whole complex named after him. But Tenea eventually vanished from the records and was seemingly a fictional place. That was until 1846 when the Kouros of Tenea was found in the area. Then, in 1984, a sarcophagus was discovered by local villagers and archaeologist Eleni Korka. In 2013, Korka led an excavation of the site. Since then, various ancient items and the remains of Tenea's buildings have been discovered.

When you think of the most precious materials in the world, orichalcum wouldn’t be considered. However, to the ancient Greeks, this metal was believed to only be behind gold in value. In Plato’s Critias, he speaks of the walls of some of Atlantis’s buildings being decked out with the unusual material. He described the metal as “[flashing] with the red light.” While many believed orichalcum to be a work of fiction, in 2015, a discovery was made. Off the coast of Gela in Sicily, a 2,600-year-old shipwreck was located. Onboard were thirty-nine ingots made from seemingly orichalcum. Scientists discovered the material was an alloy, primarily made from copper and zinc, but also had traces of lead, nickel, and iron.

In mythology, looking to become king of Iolcus, Jason and the Argonauts set out to claim the golden fleece of Chrysomallos, which has long ties to his heritage. As the name suggests, the sought-after item was a fleece made from gold. During a perilous journey filled with one ridiculous task after another, Jason manages to get the iconic item from a grove in Colchis, located in modern-day Georgia. Well, this tale might be based on fact. Back then, sheep fleeces were used to collect gold flakes from rivers and streams. And several of these gold-rich water sources were in Georgia and mentioned in Jason’s tale. As such, it’s likely the golden fleece is talking about this ancient way of prospecting.

Probably one of the most terrifying creatures from Greek mythology, the fire-breathing Chimera is typically depicted as having the head of a lion, a goat, and a snake-headed tail. According to Homer’s Iliad, Bellerophon defeated the beast in Lycia, modern-day Turkey. Well, it’s likely a real location that inspired this story. In Yanartaş, near the ancient city of Olympus, in Turkey, is Mount Chimaera. On the slopes are fires that are still burning centuries later, which have natural gas vents below feeding them. On top of this, the area is said to have been inhabited by lions, snakes, and goats at one point. Suspicious.

Nicknamed “Pluto’s Gate,” these areas were thought to be entrances to the underworld in ancient Greece. Named Ploutonion after the god Pluto, who was previously called Hades, animal sacrifice was a common practice there. Especially at the site in ancient Hierapolis in modern-day Turkey. During a ceremony, a priest would take an animal into the eerie depths. The rising toxic gas would then cause the creature to pass away, but the human to live. They believed the gas was sent by Pluto. However, after the cave was discovered in 2011, studies have shown the gas is pockets of carbon dioxide from seismic activity. The priests would hold their breaths to escape the effects and be celebrated for making it through Pluto’s sacrifice.

One of the top jobs in ancient Greece involved being the Pythia at the Temple of Apollo. Also known as the oracle of Delphi, the high priestess was visited by many, including rulers. She would go to a chamber and inhale the vapors from a crack in a rock, putting her into a trance as she gave advice. However, this occasionally caused delirium or led to their demise. When the temple was excavated in the late 1800s, the mystical vapor wasn’t present. So, it was thought of as a myth. However, in 2001, geological studies found fault zones underneath the site. Researchers believe the vapor was a hydrocarbon gas. In a nearby water source, ethylene was discovered, which was once used as an anesthetic.

When thinking of Amazon warriors, Wonder Woman would probably be the first thing to spring to mind. The second is that they’re fictional. But are they? Ancient Greece was fascinated by them. As such, they were featured in many stories, including the “Labours of Hercules,” and showcased their superior combat skills and strength over Greek folk. In 2019, a tomb in the Voronezh region in Russia was excavated. The archaeologists found the remains of four women warriors from three generations buried together. They found an elaborate golden headdress, weapons, and other goods within. While the remains were officially credited to be Scythian nomads, some researchers believe they are the basis for the Amazon legend.

Since Plato wrote about the island of Atlantis in his work, the human race has been fascinated with the place. Within his tales, Plato describes the utopian island from its highest point to its lowest when the gods sunk it into the ocean’s depths. While Atlantis is thought of being fictional, the story might not be. Instead, it could be based on an actual natural disaster that swallowed an island. One example is the volcanic eruption and earthquake that turned the singular island of Santorini, previously known as Thera, into an archipelago. The quake also created tsunamis, which swept over other settlements. This devastated the highly-advanced Minoan civilization, which was effectively wiped out.

Many ancient civilizations have tales about the monstrous giant squid that destroys boats and terrorizes the oceans. And the Greeks were no different. In Homer’s “Odyssey,” he describes the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis that resided in a narrow strait. The latter was known for creating whirlpools, while the former had six heads, was twelve feet, and had rows of sharp teeth. Scylla would use her multiple noggins to devour six sailors that got too close to her rock. It wasn’t until 2004 that scientists managed to get a photo of a giant squid in its natural habitat. And it had some resemblance to the legend of Scylla.

To the ancient Greeks, the city of Troy in Turkey was a powerful kingdom that had its downfall during the Trojan War. Detailed in Homer’s work in “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” after ten years of besiegement, it was conquered by the Greek army led by Agamemnon. It’s also the setting for Achilles and Hector’s legendary fight. But then, Troy fell to history and was considered a myth. That was until 1865 when Frank Calvert began excavating a site in Hisarlik and found evidence of its existence. He brought in Heinrich Schliemann, who was notorious for his reckless methods. In 1871, they found multiple ruins believed to be attributed to Troy. Since then, archaeologists have discovered further evidence that the legendary city may have existed.