Birthplace of Alexander the Great

Greek archaeologists have discovered the ancient city of Pella in northern Greece, birthplace of Alexander the Great.

My professor talked about how, during one of Alexander's conquest, he went to the ancient city of destroyed Troy and danced naked with his friend, Hephaestion, around the graves of Achilles and Patroclus. It makes me wonder where truth ends and fiction begins.

I found that I'm more concerned with etiology, trying to figure out why myths are formed (the origins of the Cyclops, the Minotaur, for example), rather than how they inform us of ourselves.

After all, an alternative to the famous story of Odysseus and his faithful wife is that his wife actually wasn't faithful. She may have, during her dalliance with one of the suitors, given birth to Pan, the satyr is the guardian of shepherds and plays the pipes he crafted from handful of reeds. (Another version is that Hermes actually had sex with Penelope, rather than the suitors.)

My concern is more close-minded, unfortunately, more concerned with which version is true. My professor, however, urges us to cast off the idea of truth and investigate what these stories tell us of ourselves. He urges us to ask "What If?"