Mothman: The Ancient Sources Of A Modern Myth
A look at the myth of Mothman and some of the ancient myths that might have influenced it.
One of the few truly modern myths is that of Mothman. The legend goes that in Point Pleasant, Virginia in the late 1960s a giant humanoid bird appeared to the townsfolk to warn them of the imminent collapse of Silver Bridge after which it vanished. In 1999 a Russian newspaper published much the same story about a giant bird man seen before a terrorist attack.
Whether or not you believe such a story, the story itself has become a mainstream part of American culture and spawned books, movies and comics including a flash fiction piece I wrote myself.
But where did such a story come from? Well there are several mythological precedents for Mothman stretching from Ancient Greece to 17th century Scotland. In fact Mothman might simply be a modern variation on a very old folktale.
Harpies
Harpies are a famous monster of Ancient Greek Mythology. The daughters of the monster Typhon the harpies are woman faced birds of prey who were thought to be servants of Zeus and personifications of the dangerous aspect of wind storms.
In The Argonautica they are shown punishing people on Zeus’s behalf and are fought…
