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The Oracle of Delphi, the Plague of Athens, and the lost Caspian Sea city of Abaskun are three ancient mysteries where myth, history, archaeology, and science collide.
In this episode, we travel from ancient Greece to a city dying under siege, and then to a Silk Road port that vanished beneath rising waters:
1) The Oracle of Delphi’s Sacred Trance (Pythia, Apollo, and the “perfumed” fumes)
High on Mount Parnassus, Delphi’s priestess, the Pythia, delivered prophecies that shaped wars, colonies, and kings. Ancient witnesses described a strange vapor rising beneath Apollo’s temple, sending her into an altered state. But was it divine possession… or geology? We dig into the modern theory of fault lines, underground petrochemicals, and ethylene gas, a sweet-smelling compound known to trigger euphoria and hallucination-like effects.
2) The Plague of Athens (430 BC): the ancient pandemic that shattered a superpower
During the Peloponnesian War, a terrifying disease erupted in Athens and spread like wildfire through a packed city. Using Thucydides’ chilling account, we unpack the symptoms, societal collapse, mass death, and the political fallout, including the death of Pericles. Then we examine the long-running debate: typhoid fever, smallpox, or something else entirely?
3) Abaskun: the prosperous medieval port swallowed by the Caspian Sea
Once a thriving trade hub near modern northern Iran, Abaskun faced Viking raids, regional upheaval, and the shadow of the Mongol era, before the ultimate enemy arrived: the sea. Medieval reports describe rising Caspian Sea levels and a coastline that shifted until the city was effectively erased, fueling a modern “lost city” mystery that researchers still try to pin down.
If you love history mysteries, ancient civilizations, lost cities, myth vs science, and the darker side of the past, follow the show and share this episode with a friend.
Keywords: Oracle of Delphi, Pythia, Apollo, Delphi trance, ethylene gas, fault lines, ancient Greece mysteries, Plutarch, Strabo, Plague of Athens, ancient pandemic, Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, typhoid fever, smallpox theory, Pericles, Abaskun, lost city, Caspian Sea, Silk Road port, Vikings in the Caspian, Genghis Khan era, submerged ruins.
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