famous legends. The creepiest urban legends that turned out to be true

In Scandinavian mythology, many plots are similar to the more classical and well-known ancient Greek (the theory of the praepos explains this well), but Scandinavian myths are closer to me with their northern beauty and the fact that before the influence of Christianity on the texts, everything ended with Ragnarok, final and irrevocable, everyone died, everything is bad , no revivals, only hardcore.

So, in the "Elder Edda" there are two plots that I like:

1) The story of Baldr. It may seem to you like the story of Achilles, and here it is really hard not to see the similarities, but there is also a difference - the kind of activity of the hero and the greater deceit in his death. Balder was the beloved, "spring" son of Odin and Frigga, a kind of singer of happiness: handsome, kind; everyone loved him and everything was wonderful, but he began to have dreams that someone wants to kill him. Frigga took from every pebble, tree, blade of grass and flower a promise not to harm Balder, but ignored the harmless mistletoe. Since then, no weapon could harm Baldr, and at the feasts, one of the listed entertainments was the attraction "throw a dangerous weapon at Baldr and see how nothing happens." Meanwhile, the insidious Loki found out that the mistletoe was not participating in this parade and incited the blind participant in the feast to throw an arrow from this same mistletoe at Baldur. And he disappeared. What a trick, right? Therefore, the second story will be about him.

2) About love. When the aces could no longer endure the antics of Loki and his seven-legged and overgrown children, their revenge knew no bounds. Let's leave the details of the cruelty of captivity to those who are interested, let them be rewarded on Wikipedia. They captured him by tying him to a rock and hanging a snake over him, dripping poison right into his face. Loki's wife, Sigyn, stayed with Loki to hold a bowl over his head and collect poison in it. But, as you might guess, the bowl overflows from time to time, Sigyn (not familiar with the drainage system), moves away to pour out the poison, and at this time Loki is overtaken by pain, suffering and earthquakes occur from this. In this story, I like, in fact, all this sacrifice and an attempt to alleviate suffering, despite the fact that the all-consuming Ragnarok is still ahead and it would probably be better to immediately get drunk on this poison and die, but the craving for life is paradoxical, especially among the Scandinavians, who wrote such a wonderful epic: everyone knows that everything will end badly, but they continue to live, rejoice as much as possible and do their job.

The legend of Orpheus and Eurydice - how the poet descends for his beloved to the kingdom of the dead, only to lose her again. What a fool Orpheus looks when he turns around, although he was warned not to do it under any circumstances. And how enamored he seems at this very moment, because ... well, who wouldn't turn around? The one who didn't love. And Orpheus loved.

And not the most famous legend from the corpus of Greek myths - about Protesilaus and Laodamia. Pascal Quinard in his book "The Boat of Charon" retold it like this:

It so happened that the deceased Protesilaus received permission to return to earth in order to spend one day with his wife.

And yet he hesitated.

He loved Laodamia. Ovid testifies to this.

The poet Levi wrote that Protesilaus valued life so much that he could not bring himself to be satisfied with just one day.

Catullus wrote that Protesilaus was afraid of the excitement that was bound to seize him the moment he opened his arms to Laodamia. It seemed to him that his body would no longer be able to lust for her, that his tensed member would not be able to penetrate her, and if he penetrated, he would briefly retain his strength in her, that he would not be able to give his wife the pleasure that she so rarely experienced in his bed.

For Protesilaus possessed Laodamia for only one day. The next morning after the wedding, he was already on the deck of the Greek ship, which, along with other warships, was heading for Troy.

Ultimately, Protesilaus accepted this gift from the gods. He left hell. Climbed to the ground. Met with Laodamia. Laodamia held out her arms to him. Protesilaus squeezed her hands. The night is short. However, for this short time, the male power of Protesilaus returns to him. And finds its satisfaction in darkness. By the end of the night, the shadows lead him back to the realm of shadows.

But after his departure, Laodamia kills herself: she slept with Protesilaus only twice. Once before he left. The second time before he left again.

The man gave her only the grief of two separations.

Levi gave his tragedy a strange name, which in writing looks like an embrace - "Protesilaodamia". Catullus loved this legend. Ovid quoted her endlessly.

My favorite is the Japanese myth of Matsue and Tei.

Matsue was the daughter of a fisherman and since childhood, she loved to spend time under a large pine tree, watching the needles gently fall to the ground. One day, she saw how the waves washed ashore the insensible body of a young man. The girl pulled him out of the water and laid him on a soft carpet of pine needles. When the young man woke up, he began to thank his savior in every possible way. Tee, that was the name of the young man, turned out to be a traveler, and he decided to end his journey here, staying with Matsue and marrying her. The older the couple got, the stronger was their love. Every night, when the moon rose, they walked hand in hand to their pine tree and remained there until dawn. In old age, their love was as strong as in youth, and the gods allowed the souls of Matsue and Tei to return to the world again, to that very pine tree. On moonlit nights, their souls whisper to each other, sing, laugh and gather fallen needles together to the gentle song of the sea surf.

I really like the myth about how little Hermes stole a herd of cows from Apollo. Hermes, having left his cradle, went to Pieria and stole fifteen cows, which were pastured by Apollo. So that they would not be found by footprints, he tied branches to their feet (an option - he adapted sandals) and drove them to Pylos, where he hid in a cave. Meanwhile, he himself made a lyre from the shell of a large tortoise and from the thin intestines of dead cows. Apollo, in search of cows, arrived in Pylos and, after asking the locals, found out that the boy had stolen the cows, but no one could find any traces. Having guessed who did it, Apollo came to Maya and accused Hermes of the theft. The mother showed him the baby lying in swaddling clothes. Then Apollo took him to Zeus, and Hermes, after asking his father, showed Apollo where the cows were, and he himself sat down nearby and began to play the lyre. Apollo liked playing the lyre very much and he offered Hermes to exchange the cows for the lyre. Hermes began to graze the cows, playing the flute. Apollo wanted to have this tool too, and he offered his rod in exchange for it.

In the general religious understanding of the ancient Hellenes, there was a variety of cult representations. All this is confirmed by numerous archeological excavations and artifacts. It is proved in what area these or those gods were extolled. For example, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, the capital of Greece is named after Athena, the god of healing Asclepius (son of Apollo) - in Epidaurus, Poseidon was respected by the Ionians in the Peloponnese, and so on.

Greek shrines were opened in honor of this: Delphic, Dodonian and Delian. Almost all of them are covered with some kind of mystery, it is deciphered in myths and legends. We will describe the most interesting myths of Ancient Greece (short) below.

Cult of Apollo in Greece and Rome

He was called "four-armed" and "four-eared". Apollo had about a hundred sons. He himself was either five or seven. There are countless monuments in honor of the saint, huge temples of his name too - located in Greece, Italy, Turkey. And it's all about HIM: about Apollo, the mythical hero and god of Hellas.

The ancient gods did not have surnames, but Apollo had several of them: Delphic, Rhodes, Belvedere, Pythian. This happened in the territories where his cult grew the most.

Two millennia have passed since the birth of the cult, and the fairy tale about this handsome man is still believed today. How did he enter "naive mythology" and why is he invented in the souls and hearts of the Greeks and inhabitants of other countries?

The veneration of the son of Zeus originated in Asia Minor two thousand years before our era. Initially, the myths depicted Apollo not as a man, but as a zoomorphic creature (the influence of pre-religious totemism) - a ram. A Dorian version of origin is also possible. But, as before, an important center of the cult is the Sanctuary at Delphi. In it, the soothsayer uttered all kinds of predictions, according to her instructions, twelve mythical labors of Apollo's brother, Hercules, took place. From the Hellenic colonies in Italy, the cult of the Greek god gained a foothold in Rome.

Myths about Apollo

God is not alone. Archaeological sources provide information about the various sources of its origin. Who were the Apollos: the son of the guardian of Athens, Corybant, Zeus the third and several other fathers. Mythology attributes to Apollo thirty heroes killed by him (Achilles), dragons (including Python), and a cyclops. They said about him that he could destroy, but he could also help and predict the future.

Mythology spread about Apollo even before his birth, when the supreme goddess Hera learned that Leto (Laton) should give birth to a boy (Apollo) from her husband Zeus. With the help of a dragon, she drove the expectant mother to a deserted island. Both Apollo and his sister Artemis were born there. They grew up on this island (Delos), where he swore to destroy the dragon for persecuting his mother.

As described in the ancient myth, Apollo, who quickly matured, took a bow and arrows in his hands and flew away to where Python lived. The beast crawled out of the terrible gorge and attacked the young man.

It looked like an octopus with a large scaly body. Even the rocks were moving away from him. The disturbed monster attacked the young man. But the arrows did their job.

Python died, Apollo buried it, and the real Temple of Apollo was built here. In his room was a real priestess-soothsayer from peasant women. She uttered prophecies allegedly through the mouth of Apollo. Questions were written on tablets and passed to the temple. They were not fictitious, but from real earthly people from different centuries of the existence of this temple. They were found by archaeologists. As the priestess commented on the questions, no one knows.

Narcissus - a mythical hero and a real flower

To paraphrase an ancient sage, we can say: if you have extra money, then do not buy bread beyond what you can eat; buy a narcissus flower - bread for the body, and he - for the soul.

So the mythical short story about the narcissistic youth Narcissus from Ancient Hellas grew into the name of a beautiful spring flower.

The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, took cruel revenge on those who rejected her gifts, who did not submit to her power. Mythology knows several such victims of it. Among them is the young man Narcissus. Proud, he could not love anyone, only himself.

Wrath found on the goddess. Once in the spring, while hunting, Narcissus came up to the stream - he simply fascinated him with the purity of the water, its specularity. But the stream was really special, perhaps also enchanted by Aphrodite. The goddess did not forgive anyone if they did not pay attention to her.

No one drank from the stream of water, not even a branch or flower petals could fall into it. Here Narcissus looked at himself. Leaning down to kiss his reflection. But there is only cold water.

He forgot about the hunt, and the desire to drink water. Everyone admires, forgot about food, sleep. And suddenly he woke up: “I really fell in love with myself so much, but we can’t be together?” He began to suffer so much that his strength left him. He feels that he will go into the realm of darkness. But already the young man believes that death will end his pangs of love. He is crying.

The head of Narcissus drooped completely to the ground. He died. The nymphs wept in the forest. They dug up a grave, went for the body, but he was gone. On the grass where the young man's head fell, a flower grew. They named him Narcissus.

And the nymph Echo remained forever to suffer in that forest. And she never spoke to anyone else.

Poseidon - lord of the seas

Zeus sits in all divine majesty on Mount Olympus, and his brother Poseidon went into the depths of the sea and from there the water boiled, inviting misfortune on sailors. If he wants to do this, he takes his main weapon in his hand - a club with a trident.

He has a better palace than his brother on land. And he reigns there with his charming wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea god. Together with Poseidon, she rushes through the waters on a chariot with horses harnessed to it or zoomorphic creatures - tritons.

Poseidon looked after his wife from the waters on the coast of the island of Naxos. But she ran away from him to the handsome Atlas. Poseidon could not find the fugitive himself. He was helped by dolphins, who delivered her to the palace at the bottom of the sea. For this, the sea lord gave the dolphins a constellation in the sky.

Perseus: almost like a good person

Perseus is perhaps one of the few sons of Zeus who did not have negative character traits. Like the drunken Hercules with his bouts of inexplicable anger or Achilles, who did not consider the interests of others and admired only his own "I".

Perseus was handsome, like a god, bold and dexterous. Always tried to be successful. The mythology of Perseus is as follows. His grandfather, one of the earthly kings, dreamed that his grandson would bring death to him. Therefore, he hid his daughter in a dungeon behind stones, bronze and castles, away from men. But all the obstacles for Zeus, who liked Danae, were nothing. He penetrated to her through the roof in the form of rain. And a son was born, named Perseus. But the malicious grandfather nailed the mother and child into a box and sent them to swim in the box on the sea.

The captives nevertheless managed to escape on one of the islands, where the waves washed the box ashore, the fishermen arrived in time to rescue the mother and son. But a man reigned on the island, no better than Danae's father. He began to approach the woman. And so years passed, now Perseus could stand up for his mother.

The king decided to get rid of the young man, but in such a way as not to incur the wrath of the god Zeus. He cheated by accusing Perseus of a non-divine origin. To do this, it was necessary to perform a heroic deed, for example, to kill the malicious medusa Gorgon and drag her head to the king's palace.

It really was not only a sea, but also a flying monster that turned those who looked at it into stone. The gods were indispensable here. Helped the son of Zeus. He was given a magic sword and a shield-mirror. In search of the monster, Perseus went through many countries and through many obstacles set up by opponents. The nymphs also gave him useful things on the road.

Finally, he reached an abandoned country where the sisters of that same Gorgon lived. Only they could lead the young man to her. The sisters had one eye and one tooth in three. While the younger gorgon with the eye was leading, the rest could not do anything. Further across the sky, he flew to the monster. And immediately came across a sleeping jellyfish. Before she woke up, the young man cut off her head and put it in a bag. And took a course through the sky to his island. So he proved his mission to the king and, taking his mother, returned to Argos.

Hercules marries

Many accomplished feats, slave labor from Queen Omphala took away the strength of Hercules. He wanted a quiet life at home. “It is not difficult to build a house, but you need a loving wife. Here it is necessary to find it, ”the hero made plans.

Somehow I remembered hunting for a boar near Calydon with a local prince and meeting with his sister Dejanira. And he went to South Aetolia to get married. At this time, Dejanira was already given in marriage, and many suitors gathered.

There was also a river god - a monster that the world had not seen. Dejanira's father said that he would give his daughter to the one who defeated the god. Only Hercules remained from the suitors, since the others, having seen a rival, changed their minds about marrying.

Hercules grabbed his opponent with his hands, but he stood like a rock. And so several times. The result for Hercules was almost ready, as the god turned into a snake. The son of Zeus, still in the cradle, strangled two snakes, and did it here. But the old man became a bull. The hero broke one horn, and he surrendered. The bride became the wife of Hercules.

These are the myths of Ancient Greece.

One businessman applied to one of the local banks in New York with a request to provide him with a three-week loan in the amount of $1,000.

As collateral, he offered the bank his car, a sports Ferrari worth a quarter of a million ($250,000).

Who is stronger?

The parable of the ancient Greek sage Aesop.

The Sun and the Wind argued who is stronger, and the Wind said: “I will prove that I am stronger. Do you see the old man in the raincoat? I bet I can get him to take off his cape faster than you can."

The sun hid behind a cloud, and the wind began to blow harder and harder until it almost turned into a hurricane.

Leaving all the hard work on newcomers is the policy of many companies. Somewhere this rite is called probation, somewhere - hazing.

But almost everyone does it.

Jay Walter Thompson (JWT) was no exception.

A young manager, James Young, came to work for them. At the same time, a batch of apples came to the company, beaten by frost and covered with black spots. The fruits were intended to be sent to customers, but seeing the state they were in, the JWT management was horrified.

The managers puzzled over what to do with the apples. And they decided to entrust the implementation of apples to a beginner.

Once, already a millionaire, Henry Ford came to England on business. At the airport information desk, he inquired about any cheap hotel, as long as it was nearby.

The clerk looked at him - his face was famous. Newspapers often wrote about Ford. And here he is, wearing a raincoat that looks older than he is, asking about a cheap hotel. The clerk asked uncertainly:

If I'm not mistaken, are you Mr. Henry Ford?

You call shame on me in front of everyone:
I am an atheist, I am a drunkard, almost a thief!
I am ready to agree with your words.
But are you worthy of judgment?
(Omar Khayyam)

One person began to publicly insult Omar Khayyam:

- You are an atheist! You are a drunk! You are mediocre!

In response, Khayyam only smiled and said loudly:

- I am ready to agree with your words ... provided that you yourself are a worthy person.

And he turned to those around him:

- Do you agree to call this person worthy?

- Not! - said the people around. - If it was a worthy person, he would not speak badly about other people.

In one city they held a competition for the best artist.

And, in the end, the jury chose the two best. But the judges could not decide which of the artists was the best. Then they turned to the Sage for advice.

The sage addressed the finalists with a question:

– How many shortcomings do you see in your paintings.

One artist said:

- If I saw a flaw in the picture, I would immediately correct it. This picture is flawless.

Modern legend.

Mark Zuckerberg reveals that he has been in talks for a long time to merge Facebook and WhatsApp. And the negotiations didn't work.

For reference. WhatsApp appeared in 2009. It was founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton. In 2014, when WhatsApp had 400 million monthly active users, Facebook wanted to take over WhatsApp. Both WhatsApp and Facebook were to benefit from this merger.

Mark Zuckerberg invited Jan Koum to his home to once again discuss the terms of the acquisition of WhatsApp.

Philosophical parable.

What kind of people live in this city?

It was a long time ago. But this story is still alive.

One gray-haired man was sitting near an oasis, at the entrance to an eastern city. A young man approached the old man and asked:

– I have never been here. Tell me, Old Man, what kind of people live in this city?

The old man answered him with a question:

What kind of people were in that city? The one you left?
“They were selfish and evil people. However, that is why I gladly left there!
- Well. You're out of luck. And here you will meet exactly the same people, - the old man answered him.
“Well, I’ll go and have a look at the city.

After a while, another person approached the place and asked the same question:

The most common legend about Narcissus,
although there are other legends….

There lived a handsome young man named Narcissus.

He was the son of the river god Kefiss. The nymph Echo, captivated by his beauty, suffered severely from unrequited love. In the end, Echo went to the mountains and died there, leaving her voice.

It just so happened that the heart of the young man did not reciprocate.

As punishment, Nemesis prophesied that Narcissus would one day experience an all-consuming feeling of unrequited love.

And soon the prophecy came true: on a hot day, the young man bent over the stream to quench his thirst and, seeing his own reflection in the mirror surface of the water, froze.

Narcissus was fascinated, in love with unconsciousness.

He did not sleep, did not eat, only admired himself until he died. In the place where the soul left the body, a beautiful lone flower with a drooping head grew.

Video Legend of Narcissus.

/ Legend of Narcissus / Narcissus, the legend /

There was a woman walking along the road, beautiful as a fairy. Suddenly she noticed that a young man was following her. She turned around and asked:

"Tell me, why are you following me?"

The guy replied:

“Oh, mistress of my heart, your charms are so irresistible that they command me to follow you. I want to express my love to you, because you captured my heart.

The girl silently looked at the young man for a while, and then said:

There lived a wise man. Everyone loved him. But, as always, there was a young man who wanted to test his wisdom. He persuaded his friends to teach the old man a lesson.

The sage sat near his house and thought about something. Suddenly, young people approached and they began to tease and even insult the person, trying to piss him off.

And again about the main thing - about mutual understanding.
Someone once (whether it was John Gray with his helpful relationship books, or someone before him) came up with the idea that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Everyone has heard about it, but no one takes it seriously. An intricate invention - nothing more. Artifice. But after all, like any good metaphor, it can help to better understand and see what we sometimes forget. And it's good when someone appears who will remind you of this.
🙂

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We are sure that many of you still believe in unicorns. It seems wonderful to imagine that they still exist somewhere, and we just haven't found them yet. However, even the myth of such a magical creature has a very prosaic and even somewhat frightening explanation.

If it seems to you that website is very skeptical and no longer believes in magic, then at the end of the article a real miracle awaits you!

great flood

Scientists believe that the legend of the Great Flood was based on the memory of major flood, the epicenter of which was Mesopotamia. At the beginning of the last century, during the excavations of the tombs of Ur, a layer of clay was found that separated two cultural layers. Only a catastrophic flood of the Tigris and Euphrates could lead to the appearance of such a phenomenon.

According to other estimates, for 10-15 thousand years BC. e. an incredible flood happened in the Caspian, which spilled over an area of ​​​​about 1 million square meters. km. The version was confirmed after scientists found sea shells in Western Siberia, the closest distribution area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is in the zone of the Caspian Sea. This flood was so powerful that there was a huge waterfall in the place of the Bosphorus, through which approximately 40 cubic meters were poured per day. km of water (200 times the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls). The flow of such power was at least for 300 days.

This version seems insane, but in this case, it is by no means possible to accuse the ancient people of exaggerating events!

Giants

In modern Ireland, legends are still told about gigantic people who can create an island by simply throwing a handful of earth into the sea. Endocrinologist Marta Korbonitz came up with the idea that ancient legends might have a scientific basis. Incredibly, the researchers found what they were looking for. Huge number of Irish people have mutations in the AIP gene. It was these mutations that caused the development of acromegaly and gigantism. If in the UK the carrier of the mutation is 1 per 2,000 people, then in the province of Mid-Ulster - every 150th.

One of the famous Irish giants was Charles Byrne (1761-1783), his height was over 230 cm.

Legends, of course, endow the giants with great power, but in reality, not everything is so rosy. People with acromegaly and gigantism often suffer from cardiovascular disease, vision problems and frequent joint pain. Without treatment, many giants may not live past the age of 30.

Werewolves

The legend of werewolves has several origins. Firstly, The life of people has always been connected with the forest. Rock carvings of hybrids of people and animals have come down to us from the deepest antiquity. People wanted to be stronger, they chose a totem animal and wore its skin. On the basis of these beliefs, narcotic drugs also worked, which the soldiers took before the battle and imagined themselves as invincible wolves.

Secondly, belief in the existence of werewolves was also supported by the presence in people of such a genetic disease as hypertrichosis- profuse growth of hair on the body and face, which was called the "werewolf syndrome". Only in 1963 did the doctor Lee Illis give the disease a medical justification. In addition to the genetic disease, there was also a mental disease, known as lycanthropy, during the attacks of which people lose their minds and lose their human qualities, considering themselves wolves. In addition, there is an exacerbation of the disease in certain lunar phases.

By the way, the wolf from the world famous Little Red Riding Hood, according to, was none other than a werewolf. And he didn’t eat his grandmother, but fed his granddaughter.

Vampires

The theory about the connection between the bones of dinosaurs and dragons is confirmed in Mongolia. There, in various geographical names, the word "dragon" is present. This is due to the fact that in some areas of the Gobi Desert, dinosaur bones can be easily found by anyone, because they lie on the surface of the earth's layers. There are many of them even now, so much so that all the time excavations are carried out illegally.
An important detail: there are no such myths in Africa, as well as access to the remains of dinosaurs.

However, why do dragons appear in the human mind as reptiles, with scales and claws? This question is explained by the observation of people. The appearance of the skeleton is similar to the bones of modern lizards., snakes, crocodiles. They enlarged these animals many times - and the result was a dragon. And by the way, it is lizards and snakes that sometimes form not one, but two heads, just like some fairy-tale dragons.

Centaurs

The image of the centaur was known as early as the 2nd millennium BC. e. Presumably it originated in Greece as a figment of the imagination of representatives of civilized peoples who did not yet know horse riding, who first encountered horse riders of some northern nomadic tribes: Scythians, Kassites or Taurians. This explains the ferocious disposition of the centaurs. The nomads really lived in the saddle, skillfully shot from the bow and galloped very quickly. The exaggerated fear of the farmer, who for the first time saw a man who rode so skillfully in the saddle, could well turn into a story about a hybrid of a man and a horse.

According to ancient Greek legend, under the palace of King Minos there was a huge labyrinth in which a formidable monster, half-bull-half-human Minotaur, was imprisoned. The thirst for blood torments the monster so much that its roar shakes the earth.

The island of Crete, where the monster lived, is very interesting for its seismic activity. Part of the island is on a continent called aegean plate, and the other part is oceanic Nubian Plate, which moves directly under the island. This geological phenomenon is called a subduction zone. It is in these areas that there is an increased risk of earthquakes. In Crete, the situation is aggravated by the fact that the African plate is pressing on the oceanic Nubian plate (and you can imagine how huge it is), and a phenomenal thing happens: under the interaction of the plates, the island is simply pushed to the surface. Since the dawn of civilization, Crete has experienced several such climbs, some of them up to 9 meters. It is not surprising that it seemed to ancient people that a furious monster lives in the depths, because every earthquake was accompanied by terrible destruction.

Cyclops

In ancient Greek mythology, the cyclops are groups of characters, in different versions they are divine beings (children of Gaia and Uranus) or a separate people. The most prominent representative was Poseidon's son Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. The Scythian people of the Arimaspians were also considered one-eyed.

As for the scientific substantiation of these myths, in 1914 the paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested that the finds in antiquity of the skulls of pygmy elephants caused the birth of the myth of the Cyclopes, since the central nasal opening is easily mistaken for a giant eye socket. It is curious that these elephants were found precisely on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete.

Sodom and Gomorrah

We don't know about you, but we always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah is a very large-scale myth and more like a personification of vicious cities. However, this is quite a historical fact.

Excavations of the ancient city have been under way for a decade in Tell el-Hammam, Jordan. Archaeologists are sure they have found the biblical Sodom. The approximate location of the city has always been known - the Bible described the "Sodom pentagon" in the Jordan Valley. However, its exact location has always raised questions.

In 2006, excavations began, and scientists found a large ancient settlement surrounded by a powerful rampart. According to researchers, people lived here between 3500 and 1540 BC. e. There is no other option for the name of the city, otherwise the mention of such a large settlement would have remained in written sources.

kraken

The Kraken is a legendary mythical sea monster of gigantic proportions, a cephalopod known from the descriptions of sailors. The first extensive description was made by Eric Pontoppidan - he wrote that the kraken is an animal "the size of a floating island." According to him, the monster is able to grab a large ship with its tentacles and drag it to the bottom, but the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the bottom is much more dangerous. It turns out that a sad end is inevitable - both in the case when the monster attacks, and when it runs away from you. Really creepy!

The rationale for the myth of the "creepy monster" is simple: giant squids still exist today and reach 16 meters in length.

When it comes to unicorns, we are immediately presented with a graceful creature with a rainbow horn in its forehead. Interestingly, they are found in the legends and myths of many cultures. The very first images were found in India and are over 4,000 years old. Later, the myth spread across the continent and reached Ancient Rome, where they were considered absolutely real animals.

The main "candidate" for the role of the prototype of the unicorn are elasmotheria - rhinos of the Eurasian steppes that lived during the Ice Age. Elasmotherium was somewhat horse-like (albeit at a stretch) with an extremely long horn in its forehead. It became extinct at the same time as the main megafauna. However, according to the materials of the Swedish Encyclopedia and the arguments of the researcher Willy Ley, individual representatives could have existed for quite a long time to have time to get into the legends.

Bonus: Moses trail

Surely each of us has heard about the plot from the Bible, which tells how the sea parted before Moses. But few people know that such a phenomenon can be seen near the island of Jindo in South Korea. Here the waters between the islands part for an hour, opening a wide and long road! Scientists explain this miracle by the difference in the time of ebb and flow.

Of course, many tourists come there - in addition to simple walks, they have the opportunity to see the marine inhabitants who remained on the open land. The amazing thing about Moses' Path is that it leads from the mainland to the island.

Incredible Facts

People have been making up legends and legends ever since they discovered communication. Despite some true facts, most of the terrible legends still remain fiction. However, chilling urban legends can often turn out to be true.

Sometimes turning a tragic event into a legend helps people cope with grief, as well as protect the younger generation from realizing the reality of what is happening.

In this article, we have collected for you the creepiest urban legends based on real events.

City's legends

Faceless Charlie

Legend:

Children living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania love to tell the story of faceless Charlie, also known as the Green Man. Charlie is believed to have been a factory worker disfigured in a horrific accident, some claiming it was the acid, others the power line.

In some versions of the story, it is claimed that because of this incident, his skin acquired a green tint, but all versions have in common that Charlie's face was so disfigured that it lost all features. According to legend, he wanders in the dark through oppressive places, such as, for example, the old abandoned railway tunnel in South Park, also known as the Green Man Tunnel.

Over the years, curious teenagers have visited this tunnel looking for signs of Faceless Charlie. Many claimed that they felt a slight electric shock and had trouble starting the car after calling Faceless. Others said they saw a slight glow of his green skin in a tunnel or at night by a country road.

Reality:

Unfortunately, in this tragic story lies the lion's share of truth. The legend of Faceless Charlie appeared due to the fact that he had a very real prototype - Raymond Robinson. In 1919, Robinson, who was 8 years old at the time, was playing with a friend near a bridge with high voltage tram tracks.

Raymond suffered horrific injuries after he accidentally touched a power line. As a result of the impact, he lost his nose, both eyes and an arm, but survived. He spent the rest of his long life - 74 years - withdrawing into himself, and went out for a walk only at night, but he reciprocated the friendly appeals of people to him.

killer in the attic

Legend:

This chilling story appeared many years ago. It tells about a family unaware that a dangerous intruder has settled in their house, secretly living in their attic for weeks. They lose or move things, suspicious objects appear in the garbage. They joke sweetly about the brownie until a cruel killer living near them kills them in their sleep.

The worst thing about this legend is that, it would seem, it is quite possible - and it really is.

Reality:

This story began in March 1922 on a German farm called Hinterkaifeck. The owner, Andreas Gruber, began to notice that things were periodically disappearing in the house, lying in the wrong places. His family heard footsteps in the house at night, and Andreas himself, on the eve of the tragedy, noticed other people's footprints in the snow, but after examining the house and territory, he did not find anyone.

At the end of March, the man who left these traces descended from the attic and brutally dealt with six inhabitants of the farm - the owner, his wife, their daughter, her two children 2 and 7 years old and their maid with the help of a hoe. Their bodies were found only 4 days later, and it turned out that at that time someone was caring for livestock. The identity of the offender has not yet been established.

legends

night doctors

Legend:

Stories of night doctors in the past were often heard from slave owners who used them to intimidate their slaves so they wouldn't run away. The essence of the legend is that there were some doctors who operated at night, kidnapping black workers to use them in their terrible experiments.

Night doctors caught people on the streets and took them to their medical facilities to torture, kill, dismember and cut out their organs.

Reality:

This creepy story has a very real continuation. Throughout the 19th century, grave robbery was a big problem, and the African American population could not protect either their deceased relatives or themselves. In addition, medical students did perform operations on living members of the African American community.

In 1932, the Alabama State Health Service and Tuskegee University launched a program to study syphilis. As terrible as it sounds, 600 African-American men were taken to perform the experiment. Of these, 399 already had syphilis and 201 did not.

They were given free food and a guarantee to protect their grave after death, but the program lost funding, but the participants were not told about their terrible illness. Researchers sought to study the mechanisms of the disease and continued to monitor patients. They were told that they were being treated for a non-serious blood disease.

The patients did not know they had syphilis or that they needed penicillin to treat it. The scientists refused to give any information about the drugs or the condition of their patients.

This story, spiced up with slave owners riding horses in white clothes at night, has long instilled fear and awe of the legend in black people.

Alice murders

Legend:

This is a fairly young urban legend from Japan. It says that in the period from 1999 to 2005 in Japan there was a series of brutal murders. The bodies of the victims were mutilated, their limbs were torn off, and a distinctive feature of all the murders was that next to each corpse, the name "Alice" was written in the blood of the victim.

The police also found one playing card at each of the creepy crime scenes. The first victim was found in the forest, and parts of her body were strung on the branches of various trees. The second victim had his vocal cords torn out. The third victim, a teenage girl, had her skin severely burned, her mouth cut open, her eyes torn out, and a crown sewn to her head. The last victims of the killer were two little twins - they were given lethal injections while they slept.

Police allegedly arrested a man in 2005 who was found wearing a jacket from one of the victims, but they were unable to link him to any of the murders. The man claimed that the jacket had been given to him.

Reality:

In fact, there have never been such murders in Japan. However, shortly before the appearance of this legend, a maniac was operating in Spain, who was called the Card Killer. In 2003, the entire police force in Madrid was sent to capture the man responsible for 6 brutal murders and 3 assassinations. Each time he left a playing card on the body of the murdered. The authorities were at a loss - there was no connection between the victims or an obvious motive.

All that was known was that they were dealing with a psychopath who chose his victims at random. He would never have been caught if one day he himself had not come to the police with a confession. The card killer turned out to be Alfredo Galan Sotillo. During the trial, Alfredo changed his testimony several times, retracting his confession and claiming that the Nazis forced him to confess to the murders. Despite this, the killer was sentenced to 142 years in prison.

scary urban legends

The Legend of Cropsy

Legend:

Among the people of Staten Island, the legend of Corpsi has been around for decades. It tells the story of a crazed axe-wielding killer who escaped from an old hospital and hides in the tunnels beneath the abandoned Willbrook Public School. He comes out of hiding at night and preys on children: some say that he has a hook for a hand, and some that he wields an ax. The weapon does not matter to him, the result is important to him - to lure the child into the ruins of the old school and cut him to pieces.

Reality:

As it turned out, the crazy killer was quite real. Andre Rand was directly responsible for the kidnapping of two children. He worked as a janitor at this very school until it closed. There, children with disabilities were kept in terrible conditions: they were beaten, insulted, they had neither proper food nor clothes. The homeless Rand returned to the tunnels under the school to continue the atrocities that had previously reigned in this school.

Children began to go missing, and the body of 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger was found in the woods near Rand's camp. He was charged with her murder of Jennifer and another missing child. It has not been fully proven that these murders were his doing, but the police managed to prove that he was involved in the abductions of children. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The whereabouts of the other missing children have not yet been disclosed.

Babysitter and killer on the second floor

Legend:

The story of the babysitter and the killer hiding upstairs is undoubtedly an urban horror classic. According to this legend, a girl who works as a nanny for a wealthy family gets a creepy call. In almost all versions of the story, the caller asks the babysitter if she has checked on the children. The nanny calls the police, where it turns out that they are calling from the house where she is with the children. According to most versions, all three are found brutally murdered.

Reality:

The reason for the spread of this terrible story was the very real murder of 12-year-old girl Janet Christman, who looked after three-year-old Gregory Romak. In March 1950, when this brutal crime took place, there was a terrible thunderstorm in Columbia, Missouri. Janet had just put the child to bed when an unknown person entered the house and brutally raped and killed the girl.

The main suspects for a long time included a certain Robert Muller, who is also accused of another murder. Unfortunately, the evidence against Mueller was only circumstantial, but he was nevertheless accused of killing Janet. Some time later, he sued for wrongful detention, the charges were dropped, and he left town for good. After his departure, such crimes ceased.

Legends based on real events

rabbit man

Legend:

The story about the rabbit man appeared around the 70s of the last century and, like many urban legends, has several versions. The most common of these speaks of events that occurred in 1904, when the local psychiatric institution in Clifton, Virginia, closes and it becomes necessary to transfer patients to a new building. According to the classics of the genre, transport with patients gets into a serious accident, most of them die, and the survivors break free. They are all successfully brought back... except for one - Douglas Griffin, sent to a psychiatric hospital for killing his family on Easter Sunday.

Shortly after his escape, exhausted and mutilated carcasses of rabbits appear in the trees in the area. Some time later, the locals discover the body of Marcus Wallster hanging from the ceiling of an underpass under a railroad track in the same terrible state as the rabbits before it. The police tried to drive the madman into a corner, but he, while running away, was hit by a train. Now his restless ghost roams the area and still hangs the carcasses of rabbits on the trees.

Some even claim to have seen the rabbit-man in person, standing in the shadow of the underpass. The locals believe that whoever dares to enter the crossing on Halloween night will be found dead the next morning.

Reality:

Luckily, this creepy legend is just a legend, and there really was no crazy killer. There was no Douglas Griffin, no Marcus Wallster. However, in Fairfax County there lived a man who was unhealthy obsessed with rabbits and terrorized the locals in the 70s of the last century.

He rushed at passers-by and pursued them with a small hatchet in his hands. Some claimed that he once threw a hatchet through the window of a passing car. One incident occurred in the house of one of the local residents. The madman took an ax with a long handle and began to chop down the porch of the unfortunate man's house. He escaped before the arrival of the police and no one still knows who he is and what motivated him.

Hook

Legend:

The legend of the Hook is perhaps the most common of all urban horror stories. It has several versions, each scarier than the previous one, and the most famous one is about a couple making love in a parked car. The radio is suddenly interrupted to tell the listeners terrible news - a cruel killer has escaped, wielding a hook, and now he is hiding in the very park where the lovers are.

The girl, having heard the news, asks her beloved to leave from there as soon as possible. The guy is annoyed, but they are going, and he takes her home. When they arrive, they find a bloody hook hanging from the door handle on the passenger side.

Reality:

Whether the couple makes it home without incident, or the girl is horrified to hear her lover's fingers touch the roof of the car as his bloodied body hangs from a tree, the story didn't come about by chance. In the late 1940s, a small and peaceful town was shaken by a series of horrific murders. The culprit was dubbed the Moonlight Killer, but was never found.

At night, he killed young people in parked cars. Frightened residents were returning home long before the curfew announced by the authorities. The bloody crimes stopped as quickly as they started, and the Moon Slayer vanished into the night.

dog boy

Legend:

In the city of Quitman, Arkansas, the legend of the Dog Boy has long circulated. The locals claimed that it tells the story of an evil and very cruel little boy who loved to torture defenseless animals, and then completely switched to his parents. After the death of the boy, his ghost lived in the house where he killed his parents, in the form of a half-man, half-dog, instilling horror and fear in people. People often notice his outline in the room where he kept the animals he abused.

Witnesses describe him as a large furry creature resembling a dog with glowing cat eyes. Those who pass by his house notice that he is watching them closely from the window of the house, and some even claim that an incomprehensible creature on all fours was chasing them down the street.

Reality:

Once upon a time, an angry and cruel boy named Gerald Bettis lived in an old house at 65 Mulberry Street. His favorite pastime was catching neighbor's animals. He had a separate room where he brought the unfortunate. There he tortured them and brutally killed them. Over time, his cruelty began to manifest itself in relation to elderly parents. He was huge and overweight.

They say that it was he who killed his father, but no one has ever been able to prove that he provoked him to fall down the stairs. After his father's death, he continued to abuse his mother, keeping her locked up and starved to the sea. Law enforcement agencies intervened and they managed to save the unfortunate mother. Some time later, she testified against him for growing and using marijuana. He was sent to prison, where he died of an overdose.

Legends that turned out to be true

Black water

Legend:

This rather famous story begins with an ordinary family buying a new house. They are doing great until they turn on the faucet, which pours black, muddy, foul-smelling water. After checking the water tank, they discover a rotting body. It is not known when this legend was born, but a similar story really took place.

Reality:

Eliza Lam's body was found in a water tank at the Cecile Hotel in Los Angeles, California in 2013. Her death is still a mystery, and the killer has not been found. By the time the guests complained about the tainted water and her body was found, it had been decomposing in the tank for a week.

The creepiest legends

Bloody Mary

Legend:

According to an eerie folk belief about Bloody Mary, in order to invoke her evil spirit, one must light candles, turn off the lights, and whisper her name while gazing into a mirror. When she arrives, she can do a range of harmless things, as well as terrible things.

Reality:

According to psychologists, if you stare in the mirror for a long time, you can see how someone else is looking at you in response, so most likely the legend of Bloody Mary did not appear out of nowhere. The Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo calls this phenomenon "the illusion of an alien face."

According to Caputo, if you stare long and hard at your reflection in a mirror, your field of vision will begin to distort, and the outlines and boundaries will become blurred - your face will no longer look the same. The same illusion manifests itself when a person sees images and silhouettes in inanimate objects.