Analysis of Social Networks Gauges Historicity of Myths

Pádraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna of Coventry University's Applied Mathematics Research Centre have found in the social-network structures of three mythological narratives evidence that they are, in fact, historically based.

The researchers looked at Homer's Iliad, the Old English heroic epic Beowulf, and the Irish tale Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), creating a database of character interactions and classifying relationships between characters as hostile or friendly. They compared the mythological networks to real-world ones, as well as those in narratives that, like The Lord of the Rings, are known to be fictional. 

Read about the results of the study in the April 2013 issue of SIAM News or in the academic paper.