TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of Ireland's two greatest warriors | Iseult Gillespie
Cú Chulainn, hero of Ulster, stood at the ford at Cooley, ready to face an entire army single handedly— all for the sake of a single bull. The army in question belonged to Queen Meadhbh of Connaught. Enraged at her husband's possession...
Crash Course
The Dying God: Crash Course World Mythology
This week on Crash Course World Mythology, it's the Circle of Life. And Death. And sometimes, Life again. Mike Rugnetta is teaching you about Dying Gods, by which I mean gods that die, and then return to life. You'll learn about the Corn...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of Gawain and the Green Knight | Dan Kwartler
It was Christmas in Camelot and King Arthur was throwing a party. In the midst of the revelry, a towering knight proposed a game. He challenged the warriors present to attack him with his own axe. If they could strike him down, they...
SciShow
The Truth About MSG and Your Health
MSG, or monosodium glutamate, got a bad rap in the 1960s when people started complaining of "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome," but that bad reputation was fueled more by xenophobia than science. Turns out, it's just delicious.
TED-Ed
Savitri and Satyavan: The legend of the princess who outwitted Death | Iseult Gillespie
Princess Savitri was benevolent, brilliant, and bright. Her grace was known throughout the land, and many princes and merchants flocked to her family's palace to seek her hand in marriage. But upon witnessing her blinding splendor in...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Shunan Teng: The Chinese myth of the immortal white snake
The talented herbalist Xu Xian had just started his own medicine shop where he created remedies with the help of his wife, Bai Su Zhen. One day a monk named Fa Hai approached him, warning him that there was a demon in his house. The...
TED Talks
TED: The virginity fraud | Nina Dolvik Brochmann and ellen Stokken Dahl
The hymen is still the most misunderstood part of the female body. Nina Dolvik Brochmann and ellen Stokken Dahl share their mission to empower young people through better sex education, debunking the popular (and harmful) myths we're...
TED-Ed
The epic of Gilgamesh, the king who tried to conquer death | Soraya Field Fiorio
In 1849, in the ancient city of Nineveh in Iraq, archaeologists sifted through dusty remains, hoping to find records to prove that Bible stories were true. What they found instead was a 4,000-year-old story inscribed on crumbling clay...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The tragic myth of the Sun God's son | Iseult Gillespie
Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he thought of his son, Phaethon, below. To prove to Phaethon that he was truly his father, Helios decided to grant...
Curated Video
Social Orders and Creation Stories: Crash Course World Mythology
In which Mike Rugnetta sits you down for a little talk about myth as a way to construct or reinforce social orders. Specifically, we're going to look today at stories from around the world that establish or amplify the idea that the...
Crash Course
What Is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology
Welcome to Crash Course World Mythology, our latest adventure (and this series may be literally adventurous) in education. Over the next 40 episodes or so, we and Mike Rugnetta are going to learn about the world by looking at the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Greek myth of Talos, the first robot | Adrienne Mayor
Hephaestus, god of technology, was hard at work on his most ingenious invention yet. He was creating a new defense system for King Minos, who wanted fewer intruders on his island kingdom of Crete. But mortal guards and ordinary weapons...
SciShow
Where Did Werewolf Myths Come From
Werewolves might not be real, but the myths about them could have come from real scientific phenomena, like a misunderstanding of certain illnesses.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How Thor got his hammer - Scott A. Mellor
Loki the mischief-maker, writhes in Thor’s iron grip. The previous night, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife and shorn off her beautiful hair. To fix what he’d done, Loki rushes to the dwarves and tricks them into making gifts for the gods....
SciShow
Calendars, Codes & Virgins: 3 Myths About the Maya
Hank talks about the Maya, and helps dispel some myths about their historic civilization, revealing how, ultimately, they were just like us: smart, flawed, and awesome.
Crash Course
Cosmic Sexy Time, Eggs, Seeds, and Water: Crash Course World Mythology
In which Mike teaches you about the creation of the universe, with sex. This week we're talking about creations stories from Egypt, West Africa, Greece, China, and Persia that have a lot in common with human sexual reproduction. And also...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Making sense of irrational numbers - Ganesh Pai
Like many heroes of Greek myths, the philosopher Hippasus was rumored to have been mortally punished by the gods. But what was his crime? Did he murder guests or disrupt a sacred ritual? No, Hippasus's transgression was mathematically...
Crash Course
Earth Mothers and Rebellious Sons - Creation Part 3: Crash Course World Mythology
So, we're still talking about sex this week, but we're talking about Earth Mothers and their children. We'll start with Gaia, and her son Kronos, who had a classic childhood rebellion, and castrated his father. We'll also get into...
Crash Course
Indian Pantheons: Crash Course World Mythology
In which Mike Rugnetta continues our unit on pantheons with the complex Indian pantheon, focusing on stories that were written in Sanskrit. We start with a violent creation story. We talk about the concept of Brahman, and the...
SciShow
Are Multivitamins Really Good For You?
People spend billions of dollars every year trying to boost their health with multivitamins- but are they actually good for you?
Crash Course
Ragnarok: Crash Course World Mythology
Ragnarok! It's the end of the world, Norse style. It's got everything you want in an apocalypse. Earthquakes, destruction, armies of the dead, a giant evil wolf, giants with flaming swords, and a kind of happy ending. It's got it all....
Crash Course
The Norse Pantheon: Crash Course World Mythology
This week, we're headed north. To check out the gods of the Northmen. Or the Norse. That's right, we're talking Thor, Loki, Freyr, Freya, Odin, Frigg, Baldr, and Tyr. And Fenrir. And the Frost Giants. There's a lot to cover here, and...
Crash Course
Great Goddesses: Crash Course World Mythology
Great Goddesses: Crash Course World Mythology #13
Crash Course
Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology
This week, we're talking about theories of Myth. We'll look at the different ways mythology has been studied in the last couple of millenia, and talk about the diffeent ways people have interpreted myth, academically.