Foundations for Western mythology were forged by the Yamnaya culture on the northern banks of the Black Sea in what is now the Ukraine. The Yamnaya were migratory herders who buried their dead in small kurgans, smelted copper for tools and weapons, and ornamented themselves with silver and gold.
Great advancements often followed whenever distinct cultures made friendly contact. After the Corded Ware culture to the northwest made contact, they likely introduced cannabis to the Yamnaya. The name “corded ware” derives from their use of hemp rope to create patterns on their distinctive pottery. Copper smelting probably came from farmers in the Caucasus who built fortified settlements, unlike the migratory Yamnaya.
Early use of cannabis involved burning colas inside tents and caves and drinking bhang. When horses became domesticated, they were small at first and used for pulling carts and producing milk. But a century of breeding produced horses that could be ridden.
The Yamnaya descendants who moved south into Greece made contact with the Phoenicians, the purple people. The Phoenicians had two important advancements: an alphabet and a non-fading dye known as Tyrian purple. Moses commanded this dye be used for the tabernacle curtains, priestly garments, and prayer rugs. An enormous amount of snails were required to produce a tiny amount of dye.
The Myceanaeans of Southern Greece created the Greek alphabet based off Phoenician script and it traveled east and became Sanskrit. They began mixing a small amount of tin into the molten copper, making bronze, which is four times stronger than copper. The Myceanaen warriors covered themselves in bronze armor. Their culture was captured by a blind singer-songwriter named Homer. Heracles, the original Greek superhero, has a cameo in the Odyssey when Odysseus visits the underworld.
Meanwhile, back in the Ukraine after centuries, the migratory Yamnaya descendants were now riding horses and raiding cattle and women from neighbors. They had become the heavily tattooed Scythians, named for a tool used to harvest hemp. Herodotus was the first to document their love for cannabis intoxication.
Although separated by centuries, the myths of Myceanae and Scythia both involve Heracles, a Greek who traveled to Scythia and met a half-woman-half snake creature who forced him to have sex, resulting in the founding of a Scythian royal family that would rule the steppes for centuries before becoming the prize mercenaries of Rome.
In Greece, cannabis fumes for divination was kept secret and made part of the Eleusinian mysteries, while in Scythia cannabis was openly enjoyed. Socrates was famous for cannabis fumigation and accused of corrupting the youth while violating the secrets of the mysteries. Socrates was so offended by the charges that he refused to back down and voluntarily drank the poison they were threatening him with.
The major difference in spirituality between the two cultures was Scythian priests were men who spoke and sang in falsetto and wore priestess robes, not pants like all other Scythians. The priests carried scepters and had antler headdresses. Deer was an important food source and considered spiritual and part of Scythian mythology. Many deer ornaments were fashioned out of gold, although it appears the best work may have been done by Greek goldsmiths living along the banks of the Black Sea.
In Greece, however, everyone wore robes as they considered pants backward and unrefined. But Scythians were raised as mounted warriors from birth, and pants were essential for riding. Girls and boys were raised collectively by blinded slaves and were indistinguishable in battle, giving rise to the myth they were a tribe of woman, the Amazons.
