ErebusFact library / Trivia
25 mythology facts, each paired with a strange little scene and a hook for the hard word.
In Norse myth, Odin gave up one eye to drink from Mímir's well of wisdom.
Picture it
The chief Norse god plucks out one of his own eyes and drops it into a well guarded by a giant called Mímir, all for one sip of wisdom. Two ravens perch on his shoulders: Thought and Memory.
Memory hooks
Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, returns to his hand after he throws it.
Picture it
The thunder god hurls his short-handled hammer at a frost giant. It smashes him, then flies back to his iron-gloved hand. Its name crackles like lightning: Mjölnir.
Memory hooks
Wednesday is named after the god Woden (Odin) and Thursday after Thor.
Picture it
Every week, two Norse gods walk through your diary: one-eyed Woden on Wednesday (Woden's day) and thunderous Thor the day after, on Thursday.
Memory hooks
In Norse myth, the world tree Yggdrasil, a giant ash, connects the nine worlds.
Picture it
A colossal ash tree holds nine worlds in its branches and roots. A squirrel runs up and down it carrying insults between an eagle at the top and a dragon gnawing at the bottom.
Memory hooks
Say it: Yggdrasil (IG·dra·sil)
Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir was born to the trickster god Loki.
Picture it
Odin gallops across the sky on a grey horse with eight legs, so fast it can ride to the land of the dead and back. Its strange parent is the trickster god Loki.
Memory hooks
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In Norse myth, Valkyries carry chosen fallen warriors to Valhalla, Odin's hall.
Picture it
Warrior women on winged horses swoop over a battlefield and choose which fallen heroes will feast for ever in Odin's great hall, roofed with shields.
Memory hooks
In Greek myth, Icarus flew too close to the Sun on wings of wax made by his father Daedalus.
Picture it
A master craftsman glues feathers together with wax to make wings so he and his son can escape Crete. "Not too high!" he warns. The boy soars toward the Sun, the wax melts, and he falls into the sea.
Memory hooks
The hero Theseus killed the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull, in the Labyrinth on Crete.
Picture it
Under King Minos's palace on Crete, a bull-headed man roars in a twisting maze. An Athenian prince ventures in, slays it and follows a thread back out. He's Theseus.
Memory hooks
Perseus beheaded the Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone, by looking at her reflection in a shield.
Picture it
A woman with live snakes for hair turns anyone who looks at her to stone. A hero walks backwards, watching her reflection in a polished shield, and cuts off her head. From her neck springs the winged horse Pegasus.
Memory hooks
In Greek myth, Pandora opened a jar (often called a box) that released the world's evils, leaving only hope inside.
Picture it
The first woman, curious, lifts the lid of a jar the gods told her never to open. Sickness, war and sorrow fly out into the world. She slams it shut just in time to keep one thing inside: hope.
Memory hooks
Achilles was dipped in the river Styx to make him invulnerable, except for the heel he was held by.
Picture it
A sea-nymph dips her baby son into the river Styx to make him invulnerable, holding him by one heel. Years later at Troy, an arrow from Paris finds that one dry spot.
Memory hooks
Heracles (Hercules) performed twelve labours, including killing the Nemean lion and the Hydra.
Picture it
As penance, a mighty hero is set twelve tasks: kill a lion with unbreakable skin, a nine-headed snake, clean a mountain of dung in a day by diverting two rivers. He's Heracles, Hercules to the Romans.
Memory hooks
Sisyphus was punished in the underworld by having to push a boulder up a hill for ever, only for it to roll back down.
Picture it
In the underworld, a king who cheated death pushes a huge boulder up a hill. Just before the top, it slips and rolls back down. He trudges after it, for ever. Sissy fuss: Sisyphus.
Memory hooks
Tantalus was punished with water and fruit always just out of reach, giving us the word "tantalise".
Picture it
A king stands in a pool under a fruit tree. When he bends to drink, the water drains away; when he reaches for fruit, the branch lifts out of reach. His name gives us the word "tantalise".
Memory hooks
King Midas was granted the power to turn everything he touched to gold, and soon regretted it.
Picture it
A king wishes that everything he touches turns to gold. Delighted, he touches a rose, a table, then his bread, which turns to metal in his mouth. Then his daughter hugs him.
Memory hooks
Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, while the nymph Echo, who loved him, faded to just a voice.
Picture it
A beautiful youth leans over a pool and falls in love with his own face. A nymph who can only repeat others' words, Echo, fades to nothing but a voice. He wastes away and becomes a flower.
Memory hooks
Cerberus, the three-headed dog, guards the gates of the underworld ruled by Hades.
Picture it
A huge dog with three heads and a snake for a tail sits at the gates of the underworld, letting souls in and never out. Orpheus lulls it to sleep with music.
Memory hooks
Persephone ate pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so she must spend part of each year there, which the Greeks said caused winter.
Picture it
Kidnapped to the underworld, a young goddess eats a few pomegranate seeds. Now she must spend part of each year below. While she's gone, her grieving mother Demeter lets the crops die: winter.
Memory hooks
The Titan Atlas was condemned to hold up the sky; the Atlantic Ocean and books of maps are named after him.
Picture it
A Titan who fought against the gods is punished by having to hold up the sky on his shoulders for ever. Map books are named after him, and so is the ocean beyond his mountains: the Atlantic.
Memory hooks
The Roman god Janus, with two faces looking backward and forward, gives his name to January.
Picture it
A Roman god stands in a doorway with two faces, one looking back at the old year and one forward to the new. The first month is named after him: January.
Memory hooks
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The Egyptian god Anubis, shown with a jackal's head, guided the dead and oversaw the weighing of the heart.
Picture it
In an Egyptian tomb, a god with the head of a black jackal places a dead man's heart on a scale against a feather. If it's heavier, a monster eats it.
Memory hooks
Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is worshipped as the remover of obstacles; he is the son of Shiva and Parvati.
Picture it
A Hindu god with an elephant's head and a broken tusk rides a tiny mouse. People pray to him before starting anything new, because he removes obstacles. His father is Shiva.
Memory hooks
Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess, once hid in a cave, plunging the world into darkness, until the other gods lured her out.
Picture it
Upset by her storm-god brother, the Japanese sun goddess hides in a cave and the world goes dark. The other gods hang a mirror outside and throw a noisy party. Curious, she peeks out, and light returns.
Memory hooks
Quetzalcoatl, the "feathered serpent", was a major god of the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples.
Picture it
A great snake covered in shimmering green quetzal feathers coils around an Aztec temple. Its name joins the bird and coatl, the snake.
Memory hooks
In Arthurian legend, the sword Excalibur was given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.
Picture it
An arm in white silk rises out of a misty lake holding a gleaming sword. King Arthur rows out to take it. At the end of his life, Sir Bedivere throws it back, and the arm catches it.
Memory hooks