Checked against Britannica · Published 30 October 2026
Three labels
History What historians, archaeologists, museums and reference works say, based on evidence.
Literature What a named ancient or later text says, with its book and line. A story in a poem is not evidence that it happened.
Tradition Customs and beliefs recorded by a named source.
Myth, legend and folktale
History Britannica notes that the Greeks themselves did not separate myth, legend and folktale, even though the distinction can be useful today. Britannica: Greek mythology ↗
History Legends such as the Trojan War were generally thought by the Greeks to have really happened. Britannica: Greek mythology ↗
Who wrote the myths down?
History Scholars have long debated who Homer was, and even whether he existed. The debate is known as the ‘Homeric Question’. Britannica: Homer ↗
History Homer’s poetry belonged to an oral tradition: poetry made and passed on by word of mouth, without writing. Britannica: Homer ↗
History Britannica says the Iliad and the Odyssey were probably composed in the 9th or 8th century BCE, with several features pointing more clearly to the 8th. Britannica: Homer ↗
History Britannica describes Hesiod as an 8th-century-BCE Greek writer. His Works and Days uses the Pandora story to show that honest, hard work is needed in life. Britannica: Works and Days ↗
History The Homeric Hymns are 34 ancient Greek poems addressed to gods. They were said in ancient times to be by Homer, but they differ widely in date and their authors are unknown. Britannica: Homeric Hymns ↗
History Ovid was a Roman poet, born in 43 BCE and died in 17 CE. Britannica (Scholars): Ovid ↗
History His Metamorphoses is a poem in 15 books, written in Latin about 8 CE, collecting myths in which a transformation takes place. Many of its stories come from Greek sources. Britannica: Metamorphoses ↗
History The Library is a handbook of Greek myths that has come down under the name of Apollodorus of Athens. Britannica says it is not in fact by him, and was written in the 1st or 2nd century AD. Britannica: Apollodorus of Athens ↗
Greek and Roman names
History Ovid, writing in Latin, uses Roman names for the Greek gods. The Roman Jupiter is identified with Zeus, Britannica: Jupiter ↗ History Neptune with Poseidon, Britannica: Neptune ↗ History Mercury with Hermes, Britannica: Mercury ↗ History Ceres with Demeter, Britannica: Demeter ↗ History Minerva with Athena, Theoi Project: Athena (Roman Minerva) ↗ History and Bacchus with Dionysus. Theoi Project: Dionysus (Roman Bacchus) ↗
History Persephone’s Latin name is Proserpina or Proserpine. Britannica (Scholars): Persephone ↗
Troy: a legend and a real place
History Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are the earliest literary evidence for the legends of the Trojan War; the stories were added to by later Greek and Latin writers. Britannica: Troy ↗
History Britannica says the tales of more than one sack of Troy are supported by archaeological evidence. Britannica: Greek mythology ↗
Archaeology shows that Troy was a real city that was sacked more than once. It does not show that a wooden horse was used, or that the gods took sides.
Knossos and the Minotaur
History Knossos, in Crete, was the capital of the legendary King Minos and the main centre of the Minoan civilisation. Britannica: Knossos ↗
History Excavations at Knossos began under Sir Arthur Evans in 1900. They revealed a palace at the centre of a Bronze Age culture that dominated the Aegean between about 1600 and 1400 BCE. Britannica: Knossos ↗
History It also suggests that the legend of the Minotaur could have arisen from exaggerated accounts of bull leaping in ancient Crete. Britannica: Greek mythology ↗
Notice the word could. Britannica offers bull leaping as a possible origin for the Minotaur story, not as a proven one.
So are the myths true?
The Greeks believed that some legends, such as the Trojan War, had really happened, and places such as Troy and Knossos were real. That does not make the gods, monsters and magic in the stories into events. The myths are best read as stories, with each version named and dated.
Follow the thread
Britannica: Apollodorus of Athens ↗
Theoi Project: Athena (Roman Minerva) ↗
Theoi Project: Dionysus (Roman Bacchus) ↗
Britannica (Scholars): Persephone ↗
Retellings are in our own words. Every sentence above carries a label (History, Literature or Tradition) and a link to the source it was checked against, with the book and line or section numbers. Where ancient writers tell a myth differently, we name each one.
Source method & more reading ↗