I think it’s been a little while since I’ve talked about a Greek myth, so today we’re going to look at the twelve labors of Heracles.
Note: while he is more often referred to as Hercules, that’s the Roman version of the culture hero. Also, I just like the way Heracles sounds a lot better, so that’s what I’m going with here.
This is also going to be kind of an abridged version of the myth, since otherwise we’d be here all day because it’s not exactly short.
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I will be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about indigenous Australian folklore. I first heard about this particular critter from a Tik Tok of all things. But if this is any indication, Australia’s monsters are about as ready and able to kill you as their actual wildlife.
That creature is the yara-ma-yha-who.
Hold on folks, because this actually gets a bit rough.
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So, a lot of Greek heroes tend to have one specific fatal flaw: hubris, or excessive pride. And there are fewer Greek heroes hubrisier than Bellerophon.
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A while back I talked a bit about how the Norse believed that the world would end. So this time let’s talk a bit about how they believed that the world got started.
Unsurprisingly, it involves murder.
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Well, I’m back, and this time I’m going to talk about the jorōgumo, a type of yōkai that shapeshifts and eats people. Which, now that I think about it.
Also, just as a warning, I’m going to be talking about spiders.
So, I think I may have found a Christmas-related folklore figure even creepier than Krampus, and since the holiday is later this week I figured I’d talk about her.
That figure, of course, is the Austrian Frau Perchta, also called Frau Berchta or Bertha.
Well, Christmas is almost upon us, so I’ve decided to take about the jolliest of topics: being eaten by a cat the size of a house.
Since we’re coming upon winter (in the northern hemisphere at least), I’m going to take a moment to discuss a decidedly winter-themed creature. That creature is the Japanese yuki onna.
Fun fact: yuki onna literally means “snow woman.” It also has a bunch of different names depending on where you are in Japan, but for simplicity’s sake I’m going with the above.
So, uh, that hiatus ended up being a lot longer than I thought that it would be. I’m back now, though, and today we’re going to be looking at the conception and birth of Helen of Troy.
Spoiler alert: it involves divine bestiality.
So, there are at least two gods in the Greek pantheon who were birthed by, of all people, Zeus, in kind of weird or esoteric ways. One of them was Dionysus, who got sown into Zeus’s thigh (or groin, depending on who you ask) as a fetus after Zeus accidentally vaporized his mom. The other one, and the one that most people probably know, is Athena.
The title probably gives away the outcome here, huh. Anyway, let’s talk about that for a bit.
Katethulu's Cave Of Mysteries 