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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Prithu chasing Prithvi, who is in the form of a cow

Prithu (Sanskrit: पृथु, Pṛthu, lit. "large, great, important, abundant") is a sovereign (chakravarti), featured in the Puranas. According to Hinduism, he is an avatar (incarnation) of the preserver god—Vishnu. He is also called Prithu, Prithi and Prithvi Vainya, literally, "Prithu — the son of Vena".

Prithu is "celebrated as the first consecrated king, from whom the earth received her (Sanskrit) name, Prithvi." He is mainly associated with the legend of his chasing the earth goddess, Prithvi, who fled in the form of a cow and eventually agreed to yield her milk as the world's grain and vegetation. The epic Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, and the Bhagavata Purana describe him as a part-avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know? - show different entries

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

...that Ugaritic culture hero Danel may have been a model for the Biblical Daniel of Ezekiel?

... that in Mesoamerican folklore, it is believed that a dog (mythical dog pictured) carries the newly deceased across a body of water into the afterlife?

...that the Deluge or "flood myth" is a widespread theme in religion and mythology, with examples such as the story of Noah in the Torah or Gilgamesh flood myth?

More did you know facts

Recognised content

Featured Articles: Ahalya, Ancient Egyptian literature, King Arthur, Ganesha, Iravan, Orion (mythology), Vampire, Vithoba

Featured Lists: List of valkyrie names in Norse mythology

Good Articles: 2012 phenomenon, Æsir–Vanir War, Ala (demon), Anu, Aphrodite, Athena, Ardhanarishvara, Battle of Barry, Bhikshatana, Catalogue of Women, Chamunda, Chhinnamasta, Consorts of Ganesha, Cú Chulainn, Dhumavati, Dumuzid, Einherjar, Eir, Enlil, Fairy Flag, Fenrir, Gerðr, Hel (being), Huginn and Muninn, Iðunn, Ila (Hinduism), Inanna, Kabandha, Kali, Kamadhenu, Kangiten, Keshi (demon), Khandoba, Kratos (mythology) Krishna, Kubera, LGBT themes in Hindu mythology, Manasa, Mandodari, Matangi, Matrikas, Maya Sita, Mohini, Myrrha, Mythology of Carnivàle, Naraka (Hinduism), Ninurta, Prester John, Prithu, Putana, Rati, Ratatoskr, Revanta, Satyavati, Satyr, Sharabha, Shashthi, Shiva, Sif, Tara (Ramayana), Troilus, Tuisto, Valhalla, Valkyrie, Vampire folklore by region, Varaha, Varahi, Veðrfölnir and eagle Zduhać

...Recognised content on Wikipedia

Wikiversity

Mythology portal on Wikiversity

Selected creature - show another

John William Waterhouse, A Mermaid (1900).

In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events, such as storms, shipwrecks, and drownings (cf. § Omens). In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons, or falling in love with humans. (Full article...)

List of selected creatures

General images

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

Image 1Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 2Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
Image 3Yama advances to smite Ravana with the weapon of death (from List of mythological objects)
Image 4Holy Robe in Trier (from List of mythological objects)
Image 5The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from List of mythological objects)
Image 6Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from List of mythological objects)
Image 7Image 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 8Rectangular tablets passed down by the Hand of God in the 10th century Byzantine Leo Bible (from List of mythological objects)
Image 9Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 10Thor's Fight with the Giants (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge. Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. (from Myth)
Image 11Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov (from List of mythological objects)
Image 12The 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 13The 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 14Sampo, 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 15Veronica holding her veil, Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 16Giza pyramids (from List of mythological objects)
Image 17Pied piper (from List of mythological objects)
Image 18Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from List of mythological objects)
Image 19Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 20The Flying Dutchman (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from List of mythological objects)
Image 22Ancient 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 23Lord 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 24Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from List of mythological objects)
Image 25Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from List of mythological objects)
Image 26Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from List of mythological objects)
Image 27Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 28Goetia seal of solomon (from List of mythological objects)
Image 29The 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 30Fortune Wheel (from List of mythological objects)
Image 31Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from List of mythological objects)
Image 32Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from List of mythological objects)
Image 33Ahimelech giving the sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder. (from List of mythological objects)
Image 34Houyi, the God of Archery (from List of mythological objects)
Image 35The Fall of the Titans (1596–98) by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (from Comparative mythology)
Image 36"Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from List of mythological objects)
Image 37This 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 38An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 39As 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 40Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from List of mythological objects)
Image 41Opening 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 42The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (from List of mythological objects)
Image 43Symbolic power: a dragon in the Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (from Legendary creature)
Image 44Longinus with his famous Spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 45Jason returns with Golden fleece (from List of mythological objects)
Image 46The fall of Icarus (from List of mythological objects)
Image 47Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 48Heracles 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 49The famous sword of Excalibur painted by Howard Pyle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 50Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, a mythological painting by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from Myth)