The Origins of Myth, According to Science

Mythology has long inspired human culture, creativity, and even belief systems. Well-told stories of the supernatural give us insight into the fears, views, and logic of the humans that came before us. However, with modern science, we can look back with an analytical lens, allowing us to understand what was once unfamiliar and how it came to be fabled.

In British folklore, ‘will-o'-wisps’ are the ghostly glows of dead souls, thought to entice lonely travellers off the beaten track and to their deaths. Indeed, it was the fourteenth-century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym who likely made the first written account of the haunting flickers, describing his encounter with the “corpse candles” when wandering through a boggy woodland at night. Now, what once was supernatural can be explained through modern chemistry. Wisp sightings may be attributed to the release of phosphine from marshes — a volatile gas which burns blue-violet upon contact with oxygen in the air, matching the deathly description given by Dafydd.

The release of gaseous chemicals from the earth may also explain an ancient Greek legend. The Oracle of Delphi was the title bestowed upon the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo, who was thought to be a conduit for the divine word of Apollo. Early tales describe the Oracle entering manic, uncontrolled states where she would gibber rapidly — possessed episodes which would afterwards be interpreted as prophecies. While this story enticed the people of ancient Greece, it has also attracted scientific scrutiny. The Temple of Apollo sits above two intersecting fault lines, which allow gases produced deep in the earth to rise towards the surface and into the spring water. Researchers at Wesleyan University identified ethylene gas in springs close to the temple, hypothesising that the light anaesthetic and hallucinogenic effects induced by the gas could account for the Oracle’s trance-like behaviour. 

The properties and effects of natural gases do not explain the origins of all myths, however. The misinterpretation of biology by ancient societies may also account for various tall tales. One of the most well-known Greek myths is that of the cyclops — the giant, one-eyed monster faced by the hero Odysseus in Homer’s famous epic poem. What is less known is that this myth was likely inspired by fossilised dwarf elephant skulls found across the Greek coast. These elephant skulls have large, circular holes in the middle of the forehead, marking where the trunk began. It is likely that ancient Greeks, unexposed to elephant anatomy, believed these huge holes to be the eye sockets of dead giants.

Fear-driven misinterpretation is also what birthed the Kraken of maritime folklore. The eighteenth-century Danish author Erik Pontoppidan is often cited as the first to write about the enormous, tentacled sea creature, based on stories told by superstitious sailors. What is more likely, though, is that these sailors — frightened and weather-beaten on wooden ships off the Scandinavian seashore — were encountering giant squid species. Although they typically dwell in the deep North Atlantic, these aquatic beasts — some measuring up to thirteen metres end-to-end — rise to the surface when they are dying, even thrashing around in the stormy waters. Isolated and afraid, sailors likely let their imaginations overinflate what was simply an encounter with the unfamiliar.

Latching onto terror and catastrophising the ‘supernatural’ has not faded from the human mind since the times of Homer, Dafydd, or Pontoppidan. Instead, it has been the source of one of the most notorious modern urban legends — Bigfoot. A 2024 article from the Journal of Zoology modelled the relationship between the black bear population and Bigfoot sightings across North America and found that for every extra 1,000 bears, the number of reported Bigfoot sightings increased by 4%. It is therefore plausible that the accounts of towering, furry, bipedal beasts living deep within the forests of North America are solid descriptions of a common ursid. 

While they can be uncovered with scientific scrutiny, myths are representative of culture and society at the time when they were established. And although this still rings true with regards to modern urban legends, seeing is, clearly, not necessarily believing.

Image from Wikimedia Commons