Mapping the Evolution of Stories

A few years ago Lapham's Quarterly mapped the evolution of four famous stories; Pygmalion, Faust, Oedipus and Leviathan. These stories all originated in the eastern Mediterranean region (modern day Turkey, Syria, and Libya), spread their way through Europe and eventually made it to the United States where they were all Hollywoodized, or otherwise Los Angelified. In each case the story has been modified but with the exception of Pygmalion, most have stayed fairly true to the format of the original.

This map is big and hard to see in much detail here (a click will take you to the original) so here is a detailed view showing the origin of each story.

Map of the Week-Libyan Chaos

It's hard to find a good map of the situation in Libya. The ones I've seen often contradict each other and that's not really surprising given that conditions change over there almost as frequently as the spelling of Gaddafi's name does. This map from Reuters via the Daily Mail makes it look like the opposition is really taking over.

The semi-interactive map that appears in The Guardian is more detailed and nuanced. There is a clickable detail of the town of Brega, where control has been shifting back and forth. In another country you might see a map showing areas of control instead of points but I suspect that the population outside the cities in Libya is small enough that a point map makes more sense here.

UPDATE: An anonymous commenter pointed me to the Libya Crisis Map, an excellent source for current information by region.