Portal:Myths

The Myths Portal

Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is totally different from the ordinary sense of the term myth, meaning a belief that is not true, as the veracity of a piece of folklore is entirely irrelevant to determining whether it constitutes a myth.

Myths are often endorsed by religious and secular authorities, and may be natural or supernatural in character. Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be factual accounts of their remote past. In particular, creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form. Origin myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified. National myths are narratives about a nation's past that symbolize the nation's values. There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals. (Full article...)

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Goddess Ishtar on an Akkadian seal, 2350–2150 BCE. She is equipped with weapons on her back, has a horned helmet, places her foot in a dominant posture upon a lion secured by a leash and is accompanied by the star of Shamash.

Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is "the Queen of Heaven".

She was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, her early main religious center. In archaic Uruk, she was worshipped in three forms: morning Inanna (Inana-UD/hud), evening Inanna (Inanna sig), and princely Inanna (Inanna NUN), the former two reflecting the phases of her associated planet Venus. Her most prominent symbols include the lion and the eight-pointed star. Her husband is the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz), and her sukkal (attendant) is the goddess Ninshubur, later conflated with the male deities Ilabrat and Papsukkal. (Full article...)

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... that the demon Maha Sohona, whose head has been replaced with that of a bear, haunts graveyards and feasts on human flesh?

...that Ewale a Mbedi may have been the first Duala leader to trade with Europeans in Cameroon?

... that the origin of the Postclassic K'iche' Maya patron deity Jacawitz has been traced back to a historical event at the city of Seibal?

...that in Greek mythology, Antiope was the only Amazon known to have married?

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The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. The word is derived from Latin serpens, a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind.

They represent dual expression of good and evil. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various myth-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A 19th-century drawing of Sun Wukong featuring his staff (from List of mythological objects)
Image 2The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath / The First Six Plagues, Revelation 16:1–16. Matthias Gerung, c. 1531 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 3Golem and Loew (from List of mythological objects)
Image 4Longinus with his famous Spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 5Tissot Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 6Achilles wearing his armor (from List of mythological objects)
Image 7Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from List of mythological objects)
Image 8Lord Vishnu took the form of Beauty Mohini and distributed the Amrita (Ambrosia, Elixir) to Devas. When Rahu (snake dragon) tried to steal the Amrita, his head was cut off (from List of mythological objects)
Image 9Houyi, the God of Archery (from List of mythological objects)
Image 10Ahimelech giving the sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder. (from List of mythological objects)
Image 11Snake and world egg of the inhabitants of Tyre (from List of mythological objects)
Image 12Holy Robe in Trier (from List of mythological objects)
Image 13The Crown of Immortality, held by the allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 14Ancient Roman relief from the Cathedral of Maria Saal showing the infant twins Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf (from Comparative mythology)
Image 15Several legendary creatures from Bilderbuch für Kinder (lit. 'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)
Image 16Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from List of mythological objects)
Image 17Symbolic power: a dragon in the Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (from Legendary creature)
Image 181929 Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus (from Myth)
Image 19The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (from List of mythological objects)
Image 20Vishnu with his Panchajanya (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21The Fall of the Titans (1596–98) by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (from Comparative mythology)
Image 22Ancient Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons (from Comparative mythology)
Image 23Ballads of bravery (1877) part of Arthurian mythology (from Myth)
Image 24Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, a mythological painting by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from Myth)
Image 25Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from List of mythological objects)
Image 26Shiva with his Trishula (from List of mythological objects)
Image 27Surya on His Celestial Chariot (from List of mythological objects)
Image 28The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune (c. 1689 or 1706) by René-Antoine Houasse, depicting the founding myth of Athens (from National myth)
Image 29Pied piper (from List of mythological objects)
Image 30Amenonuhoko (天沼矛 or 天之瓊矛 or 天瓊戈, "heavenly jeweled spear") is the name given to the spear in Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, Onogoro-shima, from the sea (from List of mythological objects)
Image 31The famous sword of Excalibur painted by Howard Pyle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 32Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
Image 33Image showing the sacred tree to the right of the temple, from Olaus Magnus' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (1555). To the right of the tree is a depiction of a man being sacrificed in the spring (from List of mythological objects)
Image 34Goetia seal of solomon (from List of mythological objects)
Image 35Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov (from List of mythological objects)
Image 36"Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from List of mythological objects)
Image 37Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from List of mythological objects)
Image 38Prometheus (1868) by Gustave Moreau. In the mythos of Hesiodus and possibly Aeschylus (the Greek trilogy Prometheus Bound, Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus Pyrphoros), Prometheus is bound and tortured for giving fire to humanity. (from Myth)
Image 39The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) at the Hill of Tara, once used as a coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland (from List of mythological objects)
Image 40As is usual in bestiaries, the lynx in this late 13th-century English manuscript is shown urinating, the urine turning to the mythical stone Lyngurium (from List of mythological objects)
Image 41The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 42Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing the Seven-league boots from the Ogre, by Gustave Doré (from List of mythological objects)
Image 43Killing of Ravana Painting by Brahmstra of Arrow of Brahma (from List of mythological objects)
Image 44Vishnu holding his legendary sword Nandaka (from List of mythological objects)
Image 45The fall of Icarus (from List of mythological objects)
Image 46seven angels with seven trumpets (from List of mythological objects)
Image 47Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from List of mythological objects)
Image 48Väinämöinen, the wise demigod and one of the significant characters of Finnish mythological 19th-century epic poetry, The Kalevala (Väinämöinen's Play, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, 1866) (from Myth)
Image 49Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 50Yama advances to smite Ravana with the weapon of death (from List of mythological objects)
Image 51King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing (from List of mythological objects)
Image 52Rectangular tablets passed down by the Hand of God in the 10th century Byzantine Leo Bible (from List of mythological objects)
Image 53Fountain of Youth (from List of mythological objects)
Image 54Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from List of mythological objects)
Image 55Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 56Thor's Fight with the Giants (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge. Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. (from Myth)
Image 57Fig trees often represent talismans with the udumbara (from List of mythological objects)
Image 58Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 59Jason returns with Golden fleece (from List of mythological objects)
Image 60Heracles would use arrows dipped in the Hydra's poisonous blood to kill other foes during his Labours, such as Stymphalian birds and the giant (from List of mythological objects)
Image 61Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 62Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him the coat of many colors (from List of mythological objects)
Image 63Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a Chinese God with his spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 64Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 65Jug from Lydian Treasure Usak (from List of mythological objects)
Image 66Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from List of mythological objects)
Image 67Opening lines of one of the Mabinogi myths from the Red Book of Hergest (written pre-13th century, incorporating pre-Roman myths of Celtic gods):
Gereint vab Erbin. Arthur a deuodes dala llys yg Caerllion ar Wysc...
(Geraint the son of Erbin. Arthur was accustomed to hold his Court at Caerlleon upon Usk...) (from Myth)
Image 6814th century Goryeo painting of Ksitigarbha holding a cintamani (from List of mythological objects)
Image 69Myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria (1916) (from Myth)
Image 70"The Fall of Man" by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Tree of Knowledge is on the right (from List of mythological objects)
Image 71Voodoo doll with pins in it, Museum of Witchcraft (from List of mythological objects)
Image 72The Flying Dutchman (from List of mythological objects)
Image 73The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (from List of mythological objects)
Image 74Veronica holding her veil, Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 75Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from List of mythological objects)
Image 76Giza pyramids (from List of mythological objects)
Image 77The Argo (c. 1500 – 1530), painting by Lorenzo Costa (from List of mythological objects)
Image 78alt=Spiral hieroglyphic inscriptions on the Phaistos Disc (from Comparative mythology)
Image 79Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan (from List of mythological objects)
Image 80Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 81Hand of God (from List of mythological objects)
Image 82The third gift — an enormous hammer (1902) by Elmer Boyd Smith and the ring Draupnir is visible among other creations by the Sons of Ivaldi (from List of mythological objects)
Image 83An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 84The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from List of mythological objects)
Image 85Joan of Arc with her famous sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 86This panel by Bartolomeo di Giovanni relates the second half of the Metamorphoses. In the upper left, Jupiter emerges from clouds to order Mercury to rescue Io. (from Myth)
Image 87The Deluge, frontispiece to Gustave Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of Noah's Ark, this engraving shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs. (from Comparative mythology)
Image 88Sampo, a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by Ilmarinen that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, in the Finnish epic poetry Kalevala (The Forging of the Sampo, Joseph Alanen, 1911) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 89Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from List of mythological objects)
Image 90Fortune Wheel (from List of mythological objects)