Few TV series, even those in the science fiction genre, have a mythology as complex and thorough as Stargate SG-1. The show’s version of our planet’s timeline continually shaped the events of the show, and was also used to explain some of the mystery surrounding Earth’s actual history. Basically, the series promotes ancient alien theory to an extreme degree, with actual humans being responsible for few of the biggest milestones throughout their own history. So to see just how big of an impact various alien races have had on our culture, take a look below at the history of the world according to Stargate SG-1.
The Dawn of Humanity
Human life began on Earth thanks to the Ancients, a powerful alien race who seeded our planet — and several others — with mankind.
Man’s Fear of Fire
The Ori, the Ancients’ archenemies and an alien race who consider themselves gods, used fire as the symbol to represent their power. The Ancients instilled in primitive man a healthy fear of fire, associating it with demons, to ensure humans’ freedom from Ori influence.
Ancient Egypt
The gods of Ancient Egypt — Ra, Anubis, Osiris, Isis, etc. — were actually members of the Goa’uld, an antagonistic alien race bent on conquering the galaxy. They dominated Earth several millennia ago after the Ancients had left.
Atlantis
A small group of Ancients returned to Earth, and discovered humankind to be more primitive than they expected. They influenced the Ancient Greeks, mainly by spreading the story of their ancient lost city, Atlantis, which eventually is discovered under the ice of Antarctica.
Ancient Rome
This same small group of Ancients, including Janus (known in Ancient Roman religion as a god), had a great influence on the Ancient Romans as well, building their roads and teaching them Latin.
Ancient Babylon
A Goa’uld named Belus conquered Ancient Babylon, but was opposed by a benevolent member of an aquatic alien race known as the Oannes, Omoroca. In actual Babylonian mythology, Oannes was an aquatic being who taught mankind wisdom, while Omoroca was the Chaldean name for the primordial goddess Tiamat in the Ancient religion of Mesopotamia.
Buddhism and Enlightenment
Oma Desala, who resides in a Buddhist-like temple containing Buddhist-like monks on the planet Kheb, is an Ancient who has been teaching people how to achieve enlightenment for thousands of years. It’s theorized that her teachings on Earth formed the basis of Buddhism.
Arthurian Legend
All of the stories surrounding King Arthur can be traced to one Ancient: Merlin. He returned to Earth around 500 A.D. to battle an emerging Ori threat. He established Avalon in England as his headquarters to build a weapon, and enlisted Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, who also for a time ruled the planet Camelot, as his allies. Merlin was opposed by Morgan Le Fey, an Ancient committed to non-intervention among humans, who imprisoned him on Camelot.
The Development of Mayan and Aztec Culture
These mythologies can be attributed to the Omeyocan, a giant race of aliens who helped develop humanity in the Western hemisphere. They left behind crystal skulls, which remain popular (and controversial) artifacts today in real life. Also figuring into Stargate SG-1 history is the destruction of Teotihuacan, of the most dominant cities in the world in the first half of the first millennium A.D. This ancient Mexican city was mysteriously destroyed around 750 A.D, and the show attributes its demise to the arrival of Goa’uld in the area at this time.
Asgardian Influence
The Ancient Norse religion, with its tales of Thor, Loki, and others, were the result of visitations to the area by the Asgard race (Asgard is also the name of the God’s realm in Norse mythology). These benevolent beings were enemies of the Goa’uld, and may have also influenced the language of the Germanic peoples in addition to the clear impact they had on religion.
The Fountain of Youth
This myth of the Americas has its origins in the Talchak device, a healing device hidden in Central America by the Goa’uld Talchak, who was also worshipped as the Mayan rain deity Chac.
World War II
The first Stargate on Earth was discovered in Egypt, and FDR ordered experiments on it, believing it to be a weapon of great potential.
Alien Abductions
The Asgard bear a strong resemblance to modern depictions of alien greys, and the abductions and experiments on humans by Loki may have inspired the UFO abduction lore of the 20th century.
Area 51
Lots of top-secret alien research in the series takes place at this mysterious Nevada military base, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Clearly, the world would be a very different place if it weren’t for the interference of numerous warring alien races… at least according to Stargate SG-1.
Stargate SG-1 is returning to COMET! Catch back-to-back episodes every Monday – Thursday at 8/7C, beginning April 3.
