"There are those who believe that life here...Began out there..."

Cast Photo (left to right): Jolly (Tony Swartz), Boomer (Herb Jefferson), Sheba (Anne Lockhart), Adama (Lorne Greene), Athena (Maren Jensen), Apollo (Richard Hatch), Cassiopea (Laurette Spang), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict)

    "Forgoing the big finish, the [1978] series began with the virtual destruction of the human race.  In a distant galaxy, the 12 colonial tribes of Man come together to end a 1000-year war with a robot race called Cylons.  But the Cylons spring a trap, devastating the humans' home planets and attacking their vast battlestar spaceships.
    The remnants of mankind reassemble under the leadership of the final remaining battlestar, the Galactica, commanded by Adama [played by Lorne Greene] last member of the shattered colonial government.  Forming a cumbersome caravan of some 220 assorted spacecraft, from shuttles to freighters, taxis to tankers, the survivors head off into deep space in search of the 'lost' 13th colony - Earth.  Naturally, the Cylons don't let it go at that and relentlessly pursue them through the galaxy... (from The Sci-Fi Channel Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction)"

    Battlestar Galactica drew very heavily on several mythology sources, including Greek mythology (as best evidenced by many character names, see the cast photo's caption), Egyptian mythology (likewise with character names, as well as the use of pyramids and some Egyptian rituals), and the Judeo/Christian Bible/Old Testament (Adama leads the 12 tribes of Man as Moses led the 12 tribes of Israel). 
    The coinage in Galactica is referred to as "Cubits," a (rather inexplicable) reference to the Bible (specifically the story of Noah, where a cubit is a form of measurement).
    The flight of the humans from the Cylons can be compared to the flight of the Israelites from the Egyptians in the Bible (Exodus).