Historic Tales & Mythology

Jozef Stalin (left) and Winston Churchill both understood the importance of the occasional drink on the battlefield.

Jozef Stalin (left) and Winston Churchill both understood the importance of the occasional drink on the battlefield.

From the moment man discovered the art of fermentation, and later distillation, alcohol has been an important part of human history. The ancient Greeks and Romans left plenty of written sources about their favorite drinks, as well as the brews of the ‘barbarians’ that surrounded them. And archeologists discovered evidence of way older civilizations who made their own booze. In peace but definitely also in war liquor helped to shape the world as we know it. These are some of the alcohol infused stories in history…

Historical Tales and Background Stories:

How alcohol played a key role in warfare around the world

The wine tradition of Georgia, which goes back at least 8000 years

How Napoleon saved the drunks in Amsterdam from drowning

The history of Lewis Redmond, the Robin Hood of moonshiners

The oldest Arab cookbook has recipes for wine and hangover food

Xenophon’s beer experience in Armenia

Mahatma Gandhi killed thousands of Indians by calling for prohibition

How New Zealand was saved from prohibition after World War I

The “All Beer Diet” German Monks invented for the Lent Fast

The bizarre Cold Booze War between Canada and Denmark over Hans Island

Alcohol in the ancient Mayan civilization

Alcohol in the Inca Empire; communicating with gods and spirits through corn beer

How the love for drinking drove the Kievan Rus to Christianity

Beer, wine and drinking gods: the foundation of Ancient Egypt

The witch hunt for ‘ale wives’ made beer brewing a man’s game

Meet the Scythians, excessive drinkers that drank from enemy skulls

The deadly beer tsunami that hit London in 1814

.

The history behind Drinks:

Dutch jenever and English gin

Kumis and arkhi, the drinks of Genghis Kahn and Attila the Hun)

Pisco from Peru

Linie aquavit from Norway

Lithuanian farmhouse ale, a national craft beer tradition that outlived Communism

Belgian Trappist beers and the French Revolution

.

Folklore and Mythology:

The Aztec myth of the 400 Drunken Rabbit Gods

The history of San Simon, a drunk saint from Guatemala

The legend of the Irish Cluricauns

Silenus, the happy drunk that taught Dionysus how to party

Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the Godess that gave the Zulus beer

The legend of Gambrinus, the King of Beer

Stingy Jack, the mythical drunk who held the first Halloween lantern

The salvation of the town Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Brewers recreate oldest beer after poem for Sumerian Goddess Ninkasi

Aegir, the brewer for the Norse Gods

The Devil gets the Serbian Saint Sava drunk on rakija

Ukranian folktale of Sirka the Dog and the drunken wolf

The Japanese folk tale of the sacred white saké

The Highlander and the Devil

A pulque vendor tricks the Devil in Mexico

.

Drunk History (historical events explained in a language drinkers understand):

Europe under Nazi Germany (part 1)

Europe under Nazi Germany (part 2)

.

You may also want to see our page on Famous Drunks in History and the U1600 Tour past the oldest bars in Europe.

Advertisements

4 thoughts on “Historic Tales & Mythology

  1. Pingback: Silenus, the happy drunk from Ancient Greece that taught Dionysus how to party | Lords of the Drinks

  2. Pingback: The legend of Gambrinus, the King of Beer | Lords of the Drinks

  3. Pingback: Stingy Jack, the drunken mythical figure that held the first Halloween lantern | Lords of the Drinks

  4. Pingback: Stingy Jack, the drunken mythical figure who held the first Halloween lantern | Lords of the Drinks

Leave a Reply