We don’t take a lot of time to think about the deeper meaning of the directions up and down, yet they have clearly permeated our thinking for as long as storytelling has existed. In this episode, we take a look at what people in different times and cultures have thought about what lies both above and below us, and how these ideas have changed throughout the last four millenia. 

Starting with some of the oldest stories on record (the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh and the associated Babylonian Creation Myth), meandering through some classical Roman poetry, and eventually arriving in Europe’s middle ages, let’s have a go at exploring what the sky is, why down is the most important direction, and the power that direction has had in shaping countless religions and cosmologies.

Erratum: Caedmon wasn’t a writer, according to Bede he was actually a cow herder. Bede attributed the hymn to Caedmon.

Art referenced in the episode can be found on Instagram

References

English translation of Gilgamesh by Academy for Ancient Texts

Great Hymn to Aten translated by E.A. Wallis Budge

Mundus Subterraneus on Archive.org (please support this incredible resource)

Cosmigraphics by Michael Benson

Dante’s Divine Comedy 1 on Gutenberg

Aristotle’s Physics on Internet Archive

Clearquran.com on the heavens

Ovid’s Metamorphosis

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