6 Incredible Ancient Legends That Are Inspired by Real Historic Events

Storytelling is one of the greatest gifts given to mankind. Through stories, we are able to share information, entertain audiences, stir emotions, inspire action, and preserve moments. As children, we enjoyed listening to stories told to us by our parents. And as adults, we are able to craft our own narratives.

Today, there are many ancient stories for us to get lost into. There are ancient legends that continue to capture the imagination of many – legends that may have actually been inspired by real events. Read about them below.

1. The Great Flood

Researchers believe that this biblical tale, along with the Epic of Gilgamesh, were inspired by real events. The two stories are quite similar. In the Mesopotamian saga that dates back to 7th century BCE, the gods conspired to create a great flood to destroy the world. One of the gods told a man named Utu-napishtim to build a boat to save himself and his family, along with a selection of animals.

According to geological records, around 11,500 years ago, toward the end of the last glacial maximum, the Black Sea was starved of its glacier meltwater source. The Black Sea dried up, while the Mediterranean Basin was refilled with seawater from the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, the Mediterranean Sea overflowed into the Black Sea, which caused the sediment barrier between the two to become like a waterfall 200 times the volume of the Niagara Falls. Some believe this inspired the story of the Great Flood.

There’s another theory, though. A recent study confirmed that the worst flood of the last 10 millennia happened along the Yellow River at the exact date referenced in ancient texts. Archaeological evidence also suggests that the mythical first line of monarchs in China – the Xia dynasty – may have been real.

2. The Lost City of Atlantis

This famous myth tells the story of a great civilization that sunk below the ocean, never to be seen again. It’s still the subject of debate, but some archaeologists believe the legend of the lost city of Atlantis was inspired by the collapse of the Minoan empire.

Around 3,650 years ago, a huge volcanic eruption happened in Santorini (then called Thera). The volcano’s magma chamber was emptied out in an instant, causing the core of the island to collapse. This sent a tsunami across to Crete and caused flooding in Thera. The catastrophe buried the Minoan civilization below the waves.

3. The Guest Star

In the year 1006, astronomers around the world spotted what they called a “guest star” in the sky. A Persian scholar named Ibn Sina gave a very detailed account of the event. In Kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing), Sina described how the “guest star” kept changing colors. He also added that the object in the sky threw sparks before finally disappearing.

For years, the “guest star” was believed to be a comet, but we now know, through science, that it was actually a supernova that took place 7,200 years ago and whose visible light only reached the Earth at the turn of the first millennium. The color changes mentioned by Sina may have been because of the merger of two white dwarfs, which would create a powerful supernova bursting with color.

4. The Thunderbird and the Whale

This is the story of a supernatural being that swooped down to the sea to capture a whale that was depriving the Quileute tribe of resources. The encounter created powerful waves and killed many people. In the end, the Thunderbird emerged victorious after lifting the whale out of the sea and dropping it on dry land with a deafening thud.

In the 1980s, geologists discovered that a powerful earthquake happened in the Pacific Northwest around 1700. The earthquake caused a deadly tsunami that hit the American coast where the tribe would have lived. It was so powerful that it even reached Japan.

In addition, the Aiornis, a prehistoric giant bird, is believed to be the inspiration for the Thunderbird. It is known to have a wingspan of up to 5 meters and a habit of swooping down on whale carcasses to feed.

5. Crater Lake and the Battle of the Gods

According to the Native American Klamath tribe, the Crater Lake in Oregon was once a tall mountain called Mazama. It was then inhabited by Llao, their deity of the underworld. During an epic battled with the sky god Skell, fire and brimstone flew across the skies across Mazama and the nearby Mount Shasta. Llao lost the battle and returned to the underworld. Skell then collapsed the mountain on top of him and covered it with a beautiful lake.

The myth describes a 7,700-year-old volcanic eruption. During the eruption, magma ruptured the crust of the earth, blew a hole on the ground, and left a massive crater to be filled with rainwater. According to geologists, the eruption was 40 times more powerful than the May 1980 cataclysm at Mount St. Helens.

6. Sri Lanka and the Ape-Men Army

In the Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana, Sita, the wife of the god Rama, is kidnapped and taken to the Demon Kingdom on the island of Lanka. An army of ape-like men, along with Rama’s brother Lakshman, built a floating bridge between India and Lanka. They used this bridge to cross over and defeat the demon king Ravana.

The bridge mentioned actually exists. Aerial surveys show a 48-kilometer-long submerged stretch of limestone shoals and sand. This bridge, said to be the inspiration for the Ramayana, was reportedly above the water until it was sunk by a 15th-century storm surge.

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