HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-10-27T12:42:30.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: This ancient goddess commanded a Wonder of the World – but why did she have thirty breasts?
items: Hug a tree like a pagan from the margins of Europe
items: When gods go to war: what was the Titanomachy of Greek mythology?
items: Roman gods and goddesses: 17 of the most important deities of ancient Rome
items: Zeus's children: who were the offspring of the god with a libido that couldn’t be contained
items: King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts
items: Vikings quiz - week three
items: Norse myths: everything you wanted to know
items: Roman gods & goddesses: everything you wanted to know
items: 8 ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses you might not know about

This ancient goddess commanded a Wonder of the World – but why did she have thirty breasts?
type: item
date: 2025-10-24T12:00:22.000Z
creator: Isabel King
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: Gods
description: The strange and powerful symbol at the heart of one of history’s greatest temples reveals the importance of the goddess Artemis in ruling fertility, childbirth and nature
encoded: When we think of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may be the first examples that come to mind. However, the oldest-known versions of the list start with a landmark that is often forgotten: the Temple of Artemis. Located in the ancient city of Ephesus (near modern-day Selçuk, Turkey), this remarkable place of worship was renowned for its size and scale, standing at least 20 metres tall and boasting an enormous tile-covered roof supported by 127 marble columns. With a floor plan of some 6,000 square metres, the temple was also nearly three times as large as the famous Parthenon in Athens. But some of the most startling archaeological evidence from Ephesus isn’t concerned with the dimensions of the temple, nor its complicated history of destruction and rebuilding. Instead, much attention has been directed towards a collection of statues depicting the temple’s patron deity, Artemis. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/10/BAL957668-36357fc.jpg" width="7715" height="4533" alt="A large temple with a triangular roof and many columns holding it up. It sits on top of a large flight of stairs. The roof has a mural of the goddess sitting in the middle and surrounded by crowds of people and two golden horses" title="A 20th-century depiction of the Temple of Artemis, dedicated to the goddess Artemis (Image by Bridgeman Images)" /> Rather than portraying the goddess as a conventional Greek beauty, the sculptures display Artemis in an altogether different guise. And, according to classicist and broadcaster Bettany Hughes, these statues bear a particularly striking physical characteristic. Read more | On the steps of a sacred temple, Cleopatra's feud with her sister came to a blood-soaked end “[This] is not the Artemis that you probably have in your heads… this image of a beautiful young woman in a tiny Greek chiton, artfully pulling a bow and arrow,” reveals Hughes on an episode…

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Hug a tree like a pagan from the margins of Europe
type: item
date: 2025-08-05T11:34:25.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove, FSA
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Gods
subject: Historical people
description: David Musgrove finds out from Francis Young why we should engage in creative spirituality in the same way that the non-Christian people of the Baltic and far north did for centuries
encoded: I used to be able to say, unequivocally and without hesitation, that I’d never hugged a tree. I can’t do that any more, and it’s all Francis Young’s fault. He told me to be creative with my spirituality, and I took him at his word. Dr Young is a historian and folklorist specialising in the history of religion and belief, and also particular expert on the Baltic. With my inaugural arboreal embrace, I was following in the footsteps of the people that Francis has been studying in his most recent book, Silence of the Gods: The Untold History of Europe's Last Pagan Peoples (Cambridge University Press, 2025). It’s a cracking read, and a revelation if, like me, you could do with being much better informed about the historical and religious story of the peoples living in the geographical northern and eastern margins of Europe. In Silence of the Gods, Francis outlines how in the Baltic region, parts of the far north towards the Arctic, and an area of what’s now Russia today, non-Christian practices persisted for centuries after the church had become established across the rest of the continent. It wasn’t until 1387, as he explains, that Lithuania, the last pagan country in Europe, became officially Christian. Even after this, non-Christian practices persisted for centuries in the region, certainly into the 18th century, and in some places, to the present day. Given the wide spread of space and time we’re talking about, you won’t be surprised to hear that the actual nature of these pagan practices was varied, from shamanism in the far north, to polytheistic veneration of pantheons of multiple gods and spirits, to animism, and to worship of sacred places. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/08/GettyImages-987973286-6b8c286.jpg" width="4928" height="3648" alt="Two women in large flower crowns dance together, arms linked. The one on the left is dressed in khaki and the one on the right is dressed in red" title="Lithuanians celebrate the summ…

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When gods go to war: what was the Titanomachy of Greek mythology?
type: item
date: 2025-01-28T12:35:21.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Ancient Greece
subject: Period
subject: Gods
description: Before Zeus could rule as the king of the ancient Greek gods, he had to defeat his father and the Titans in a decade-long war. It was either that or be eaten as a baby
encoded: In ancient Greek mythology, before the more famous Olympian Greek gods (think Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and, of course, Zeus) came another group of deities: the Titans. These were the children of the primordial deities Uranus (the personification of the sky) and Gaia (Earth) and were ruled by Cronus. According to Theogony, an epic poem by Hesiod from the eighth century BC, Cronus had overthrown his father, castrating him in the process, but was warned that he would befall the same fate. To defy this prophecy, he made the somewhat extreme decision to devour his children as soon as they were born. This is when things began to go wrong for the Titans. Read more | The gods and their whims: your guide to ancient Greek religion He ate the goddesses Demeter, Hestia and Hera, along with the gods Hades and Poseidon. But the last child, Zeus, was saved from becoming a meal by his mother, Rhea. She tricked Cronus into eating a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes instead, and hid Zeus on the island of Crete. Once fully grown, he returned to fulfil the prophecy, forcing his father to vomit up his siblings before overthrowing him. Thus began the Titanomachy, a war between the gods that lasted 10 years. The Titanomachy explained On one side of the Titanomachy were the Titans led by Cronus, and on the other was Zeus and his allies – who included more than his recently regurgitated brothers and sisters. One of Zeus’s most important tasks in this contest for the universe was to free the Cyclopes (three one-eyed giants) and the Hecatoncheires (three enormous creatures with one hundred hands and fifty heads) from the deepest abyss of the underworld in return for their support. Listen | Natalie Haynes tackles listener questions on Greek myths, from ancient origins to modern reinterpretations Skilled craftsmen, the Cyclopes forged the thunderbolts that Zeus wielded as weapons, as well as Poseidon’s trident and Hades’ helmet, which gave him the power of invisibility. The immensel…

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Roman gods and goddesses: 17 of the most important deities of ancient Rome
type: item
date: 2024-12-28T09:44:16.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Evergreen
subject: Gods
description: With every aspect of Roman life having a specific deity to call upon, it can be tricky to make sense of the ancient pantheon – and that’s before you even take the Greek gods and goddesses into account. Here is a guide to the key divine figures and their importance to those who worshipped them
encoded: Looking at the ancient Roman religion, you’ll find a rich and diverse collection of gods and goddesses. Peer a little closer and you’ll realise that the pantheon has more than a glancing resemblance to those worshipped in Greece. As the Romans expanded their territory into the Hellenistic world, they took many things they liked and made them their own – whether it was art and culture, or their religious beliefs. As a result, the Greek gods and goddesses went through a rebranding. Suddenly, the Twelve Olympians were Dii Consentes. Worshipping these gods was a multi-faceted business in Roman society, from attending temples, shrines and sanctuaries to making offerings or paying private reverence to individual deities within the household. Every need was catered for and, while some held more sway than others, all had their place. Here are some of the most important names in the Roman religion. Who are the most famous Roman gods and goddesses? Jupiter – King of the gods, and god of the sky and thunder Juno – Queen of the gods, goddess of marriage and childbirth Mars – God of war Venus – Goddess of love, sex and beauty Neptune – God of the sea Pluto – God of the dead and the underworld Saturn – God of time, agriculture and seed-sowing Janus – God of beginnings, transition and doorways Vesta – Goddess of the hearth, home and family Mercury – God of commerce, merchants and travellers Ceres – Goddess of agriculture and harvest Apollo – God of the Sun, music, archery, healing and prophecy Diana – Goddess of the hunt and wild animals Minerva – Goddess of craftsmanship, wisdom, justice and war Vulcan – God of fire and forges Bacchus – God of wine, vines, fertility and revelry Sol Invictus – God of the Sun Jupiter: king of the Roman gods Known as: Ruler of the Roman pantheon, and god of the sky and thunder Family: Son of Saturn and Ops, husband (and brother) of Juno, father of Mars, Minerva, Vulcan and more Greek equivalent: Zeus When the Romans came across Zeus, the king of the…

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Zeus's children: who were the offspring of the god with a libido that couldn’t be contained
type: item
date: 2024-12-26T10:02:48.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Ancient Greece
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Gods
description: The king of the gods in the ancient Greek pantheon had a notorious reputation for sleeping around, so it should come as no surprise that Zeus fathered a lot of children. When you’re nearly counting your offspring in three figures, though, that really is a big family
encoded: The king of the Greek gods could control many things: the weather, as the sky and thunder god; order and justice; his enemies, thanks to his thunderbolts; and the other Olympians, most of the time. The thing that Zeus couldn’t control was his libido. His mythology is littered with sordid tales of seducing other goddesses or mortal women, all to the knowledge and chagrin of his long-suffering wife Hera. He forced himself on the subjects of his desire or tricked them into making love to him, even transforming himself into animals to get close to them. Zeus raped the mortal Spartan queen Leda in the form of a swan, a myth that became a source of inspiration for Renaissance art. And when he became besotted with a young prince of Troy, Ganymede, he abducted the boy as an eagle to serve as the cupbearer of the gods. From his dozens of lovers came many children, possibly nearing 100, giving new meaning to his status in ancient Greek religion as the father of all. Here are some of Zeus’s most notable offspring, from the divine to the demi-god. Ares <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2024/10/GettyImages-1691897505-4f03772-e1734349737360.jpg" width="620" height="414" alt="Ares, or Mars as he was called in Rome, in a 17th-century painting by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)" title="Ares, or Mars as he was called in Rome, in a 17th-century painting by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)" /> Ares was one of the few children that Zeus actually fathered with his queen, Hera, although that did not help his reputation. A war god, he was generally disliked by the Greeks for his associations with bloodlust, brutality and chaos, so was not widely worshipped. While Ares went into battle accompanied by his sons Phobos and Deimos (fear and terror), his half-sister Athena was the war god to go to for military strategy and leadership. That said, the warrio…

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King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts
type: item
date: 2024-10-28T10:01:48.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Ancient Greece
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Gods
subject: Olympics
description: From narrowly avoiding being eaten by his father as a baby to seducing mortal women as a swan or a bull, there were some eye-catching myths about the thunderbolt-hurling god. Jonny Wilkes explores how Zeus came to top the Greek pantheon
encoded: Flowing hair and thick beard; heaving muscles that seem to fizz with electricity; and a thunderbolt clasped in one hand while he sits on a throne or stands on a mountaintop. That tends to be the archetypal depiction of Zeus. The king of the ancient Greek gods, and spiritual father of both deity and mortal, needed a powerful image. From Mount Olympus, he ruled over all as a protector and arbiter of justice, and as god of the sky and thunder the weather was his to command. Hence the lightning. What were the origins of Zeus? Zeus was the son of Cronus, leader of the Titans. They were a group of gods borne from a union of the Earth (personified as Gaia) and sky (Uranus) who existed before the more-famous Olympians. Upon hearing a warning that one of his offspring would overthrow him – much like he had done with his own father – Cronus made the extreme decision to devour all of his children after their birth. He swallowed three would-be goddesses, Hestia, Demeter and Hera, and two would-be gods, Hades and Poseidon, and would have had Zeus for dessert were it not for his wife’s quick thinking. Rhea managed to save the youngest of the children by tricking Cronus into eating a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. She then hid Zeus on the island of Crete, where he was nursed either by a nymph or a goat, depending on the version of the story, while warriors called Curetes clashed their weapons to make enough noise to drown out the baby’s crying. Zeus’s rise to power and the Titanomachy Once a man, which happened quickly for a Greek deity, Zeus made a triumphant return to take on his father. He forced Cronus to vomit up his five brothers and sisters, then, just had been foretold, set about overthrowing him. This began the Titanomachy, a ten-year war between with the Titans on one side and Zeus, the Olympian gods and their allies on the other. The powerful Zeus wielded the thunderbolt as a weapon and carried the aegis, a divine protective shield. As his mythology grew, so did hi…

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Vikings quiz - week three
type: item
date: 2024-02-19T18:25:20.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Quiz
subject: Viking
subject: Gods
subject: HistoryExtra Academy
subject: HistoryExtra Academy Vikings Course
description: How much about Viking daily life did you learn this week? Test your knowledge in our quiz
encoded: View Riddle on the source website Discover more learning from week three of the HistoryExtra Academy Vikings course Video: Daily life, with Professor Ryan Lavelle – watching time 19 mins What was life like for Viking women? – reading time 7 mins Inside the Viking mind – reading time 10 mins Viking gods, goddesses & tricksters: 12 figures from Norse mythology – reading time 8 mins Podcast: What Norse poetry reveals about the Viking Age – listening time 48 mins Viking women: raiders, traders and settlers – reading time 7 mins How England rode the Viking storm – reading time 12 mins Viking ‘warrior women’ – reading time 3 mins

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Norse myths: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2023-11-12T07:31:26.000Z
creator: Kev Lochun
subject: General ancient history
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
subject: Gods
description: Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough delves into the pantheon of Norse myths, from the inscrutability of the nine realms to larger-than-life tales of mischief and magic
encoded: What myths did the Norse believe, and what influence did they exert on daily life? Was the trickster god Loki really that bad, and was Odin really that wise? And why is Christianity a crucial part of the story? Speaking to Kev Lochun, historian and broadcaster Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough answers listener questions about the pantheon of Norse myths, from the yawning void of Ginnungagap to the end of days, Ragnarok.

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Roman gods & goddesses: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2023-07-16T06:51:45.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Roman
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
subject: Gods
description: From Mars to Minerva, Philip Freeman answers listener questions on the Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses
encoded: How were Roman deities different to Greek deities? Why did the Romans sacrifice animals? What did religious cults get up to in ancient Rome? And just how many gods and goddesses did they worship? In our latest everything you wanted to know episode, Emily Briffett puts listener questions on the Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses to Philip Freeman, Professor of Classics at Pepperdine University.

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8 ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses you might not know about
type: item
date: 2019-09-24T09:20:00.000Z
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Period
subject: Gods
description: The ancient Egyptians worshipped at least 1,500 gods and goddesses. Some of these, such as the mummified god of the dead, Osiris, and the goddess of magical healing, Isis, are well known today. Others are more obscure. So how much do you know about Egypt’s forgotten deities? Here, egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley shares 8 lesser-known gods and goddesses
encoded: Discover 8 lesser-known deities worshipped by ancient Egyptians… Taweret At first sight the goddess Taweret, ‘the great female one’, appears to be composed of randomly selected animal parts. She has the body and head of a pregnant hippopotamus standing on its hind legs, the tail of a crocodile, and the limbs of a lioness – topped, occasionally, by a woman’s face. Her mouth lolls open to reveal rows of dangerous-looking teeth, and she often wears a long wig. We might find this combination of fierce animals and false hair frightening, but the women of ancient Egypt regarded Taweret as a great comfort, as she was able to protect them during childbirth by scaring away the evil spirits who might harm either the mother or the baby. This made her extremely popular so that, although she did not have a grand temple, her image was displayed on walls, beds, headrests and cosmetic jars in many private homes, and she even appears on palace walls. The same assortment of animal parts – this time the head of a crocodile, the foreparts and body of a lion or leopard and the hind parts of a hippopotamus – can be found in Ammit, the ‘eater of the damned’. Unlike Taweret, Ammit was greatly feared. She lived in the kingdom of the dead where she squatted beside the scales used during the ‘weighing of the heart’, a ceremony that saw the heart of the deceased being weighed against the feather of truth. Those whose hearts proved light were allowed to pass into the afterlife. Hearts that weighed heavy against the feather were eaten by Ammit. 10 things you (probably) didn't know about ancient Egypt Why was mummification used in Ancient Egypt, and why did they leave the heart in the body? Bes Bes was another god who brought comfort and protection to mothers and children. A part-comical, part-sinister dwarf with a plump body, prominent breasts, bearded face, flat nose and protruding tongue, Bes might be either fully human, or half-human, half-animal (usually lion). He might have a mane, a lion’s…

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