TABLE of CONTENTS
1 – Why was Oedipus the one who solved the riddle of the Sphinx?
2 – Why did the Flood only occur once?
3 – Why did only one person survive the Flood?
4 – Why did the light and the sun appear after the Flood?
5 – Why can’t dwarves endure daylight?
6 – Why were people able to nourish themselves with the leaves of plants and the flesh of animals after the Flood?
7 – Why did Noah immediately plant a vine after disem-barking from the Ark?
8 – Why did the god Osiris travel the whole world teaching men how to plant grapevines?
9 – Why was Osiris thrown into the Nile in an oblong box, the exact size of his body?
10 – Why did Osiris have no phallus when he was thrown into the Nile?
11 – Why is the Tree of Life found in almost all mytho-logies?
12 – Why is it said of the tree Yggdrasil that « no one knows from whence its roots run »?
13 – Why in mythologies is a serpent often found coiled in the Tree of Life?
14 – Why did the serpent that was coiled in the Tree of Life offer a new sort of food?
15 – Why did the serpent speak to Eve, not Adam?
16 – Why is the dragon a symbol of prosperity?
17 – Why did the serpent in the Garden of Eden have four feet?
18 – Why are newborns in Greece given a protective amulet shaped like a serpent?
19 – Why are temples and sacred spaces often guarded by serpents?
20 – Why is the God of Thunder often identified as a serpent?
21 – Why does Thunder cause a spring to burst out of the ground?
22 – Why is Thunder the giver of fire?
23 – Why do many legends describe fire originating from between someone’s thumb and forefinger?
24 – Why does either the cosmic tree or a lotus grow out of Vishnu’s navel?
25 – During the reign of Quetzalcoatl, why was an ear of corn so heavy that a man could only carry one at a time?
26 – Why did the Egyptian god Djehouty invent a lyre with only three strings?
27 – Why did Odin pledge his eye at the Fountain of Urdr?
28 – Why did Jason have to yoke two bulls to the plough in order to gain the Golden Fleece?
29 – In the legend of Jason, why do dragon‘s teeth that have been sown like seeds grow into warriors who then fight each other?
30 – Why did a hero have to behead a serpent, whose head kept regrowing? 31 – Why did God destroy the tower of Babel?
32 – Why did people build ziggurats?
33 – Why did Apollo institute a priesthood after he had killed the serpent?
34 – Why do the Chinese value rhinoceros horn so much?
35 – Why could the divine Achilles only be mortally wounded in the tendon of his ankle? 36 – Why does fate hang by a thread?
37 – Why did Gilgamesh return to his own country empty-handed after seeking eternal life?
38 – Why does Lakshmî, the goddess of fortune, sit on the knees of her husband, Vishnu?
39 – Why do some religions forbid divorce?
40 – Why are there many folktales in which a poor man who is an outstandingly skilled archer eventually marries a princess?
41 – Why did the Incas marry their sisters?
42 – Why did Phrixos lose his sister Helle as they fled to safety?
43 – Why did Eurydice die at the threshold of the cavern?
44 – Why was Ariadne abandoned by Theseus?
45 – Why did Icarus perish after he flew from the labyrinth?
46 – Why did Romulus kill his twin brother after the latter had jumped over the newly-built walls of Rome?
47 – Why did Pharaoh dream of seven fat cows and then of seven thin cows that ate the fat ones?
48 – Why did the continent of Atlantis disappear beneath the waves in one day and one night?
49 – Why does Atlas carry the world on his shoulders?
50 – Why were the Celts afraid that the sky would fall on their heads?
51 – Why did the ancients see mythological figures in the constellations in the night sky?
52 – Why are dark-skinned Madonnas objects of veneration?
53 – Why were the most skilled of all sorcerers those of ancient times?
54 – Why does Vishnu have four arms?
55 – Why were the four sons of Horus assigned to watch the four cardinal points?
56 – Why was it customary in ancient times to harness four horses to racing chariots? 57 – Why did the Symplegades (« Clashing Rocks ») or Cyanean Rocks, smash against each other?
58 – Why did the Goddess Athena push the Argonauts’ vessel through the passage between the Symplegades?
59 – Why did Hercules create the Strait of Gibraltar?
60 – Why was Troy situated on the banks of the Hellespont?
61 – Why was Helen of Sparta considered the most beautiful woman in the world?
62 – Why did the liver of Prometheus regenerate at night after it had been devoured during the day?
63 – Why was the Golden Fleece nailed to a tree?
64 – Why did Achilles cut off his long hair as a sacrifice at the funeral of his friend, Patroclus?
65 – Why did the River Alpheus and the River Peneus cleanse the Augean stables after they had been diverted from their course?
66 – Why do people perform the dragon dance to make it rain?
67 – Why does sacrificing a bull bring on the rains?
68 – Why did Pandora release all the ills of mankind by opening the box?
69 – Why does watering a sacred stone ensure rain and fertility in a territory where stones are scarce?
70 – Why does the Irish Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) cry out when the rightful King of Ireland puts his foot upon it?
71 – Why does fire jump from one animal to another when they are all running together to escape from it?
72 – Why metempsychosis?
73 – Why was Zeus successively the lover of many different beings?
74 – Why is the tortoise a symbol of long life?
75 – Why was Apollo born on a floating island?
