Humanity Archived

The stories of being human, gathered in one place.

From creation myths to a grandmother’s tale, from epics carried across centuries to a story told once over a fire, this is an open archive of what we’ve passed down. Read the note →

Across regions and time28 stories on the map
The Tortoise and the Hare — Greece (550 BCE)The Wolf and the Crane — Greece (550 BCE)Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp — Mythical China of the 1001 Nights tradition (Levantine origin) (1,709 CE)Aschenputtel — Hesse, Germany (1,812 CE)The Children of Lir — Ireland (1,000 CE)How Cú Chulainn Got His Name — Ulster, Ireland (800 CE)Cupid and Psyche — Roman world (Greco-Roman tradition) (160 CE)The Death of Baldr — Iceland (recorded); Scandinavian tradition (1,220 CE)The Death of Enkidu — Mesopotamia (Uruk) (2,100 BCE)Hanuman's Leap to Lanka — Southern India to Sri Lanka (500 BCE)The Hero Twins — Highland Guatemala (K'iche' Maya) (1,550 CE)Houyi Shoots Down the Nine Suns — China (legendary period) (200 BCE)La Gatta Cenerentola (The Cat Cinderella) — Naples, Kingdom of Naples (1,634 CE)The Dice Game — Hastinapura, North India (1,000 BCE)Momotarō (The Peach Boy) — Okayama, Japan (1,700 CE)Odysseus and the Cyclops — Aegean Sea (mythic island of the Cyclopes) (750 BCE)Pandora's Jar — Boeotia, Greece (700 BCE)Pangu Creates the World — China (250 CE)The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Princess Kaguya) — Japan (909 CE)Quetzalcoatl Goes to the Land of the Dead — Central Mexico (Aztec) (1,450 CE)Rostam and Sohrab — Persia (Iran), legendary geography (1,010 CE)Sigurd and Fáfnir — Scandinavia / Continental Germanic tradition (1,270 CE)The Little Mermaid — Denmark (1,837 CE)The Painted Skin — Shandong, China (1,680 CE)The Tale of Sinuhe — Itj-tawy, Middle Kingdom Egypt (1,875 BCE)Theseus and the Minotaur — Crete and Athens (1,300 BCE)Vasilisa the Beautiful — Russia (1,860 CE)Yeh-Shen — Tang dynasty China (850 CE)
1 CE

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