From Slate: "The definition of myth that matters to folklorists is this: a very old story, often containing supernatural elements, that explains an event or phenomenon from the distant past. These sorts of myths often include real historical truths, such as the Trojan War myth told by Homer in 'The Iliad,' which led the 19th-century German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann to the ruins of Troy in Turkey. Among Papamarinopoulos' accomplishments was conducting seismic surveys to prove that a fantastic-seeming story from Herodotus — that the Persian king Xerxes had ordered his men to dig a canal across the Mount Athos peninsula wide enough for two warships to pass each other — was true."
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