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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Dali (also Daal or Dæl; Georgian: დალი) is a goddess from the mythology of the Georgian people of the Caucasus region. She is a hunting goddess who serves as the patron of hoofed wild mountain animals such as ibexes and deer. Hunters who obeyed her numerous taboos would be assured of success in the hunt; conversely, she would harshly punish any who violated them. She is most prominently attested in the stories of the Svan ethnic subgroup in northwestern Georgia. Other groups in western Georgia had similar figures considered equivalent to Dali, such as the Mingrelian goddess Tkashi-Mapa (Mingrelian: ტყაში-მაფა).

She was usually described as a beautiful nude woman with golden hair and glowing skin, although she sometimes took on the form of her favored animals, usually with some marking to differentiate her from the herd. She was said to reside in a cavern high in the mountains, where she kept watch over the hoofed game animals who live on the cliffs. Dali was styled with a variety of regional epithets reflecting her different roles and associations. (Full article...)

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...that the Tigmamanukan, a Philippine mythological bird, can be a good or bad omen depending on the direction of its flight?

... that in Hindu mythology, the demoness Putana (pictured, centre) tried to kill the infant-god Krishna by breastfeeding him poisoned milk?

... 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, Arion (or Areion) was an extremely swift immortal horse that could talk?

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Illustration of a winged, fire-breathing dragon by Friedrich Justin Bertuch from 1806

A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in Eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of reptilian, mammalian, and avian features. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing (from List of mythological objects)
Image 2Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov (from List of mythological objects)
Image 3The 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 4The Argo (c. 1500 – 1530), painting by Lorenzo Costa (from List of mythological objects)
Image 5Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a Chinese God with his spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 6Thor's Fight with the Giants (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge. Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. (from Myth)
Image 7The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 8Jug from Lydian Treasure Usak (from List of mythological objects)
Image 9The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (from List of mythological objects)
Image 10"Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from List of mythological objects)
Image 11A 19th-century drawing of Sun Wukong featuring his staff (from List of mythological objects)
Image 12Opening 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 13Väinämöinen, 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 14Image 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 15Killing of Ravana Painting by Brahmstra of Arrow of Brahma (from List of mythological objects)
Image 16Shiva with his Trishula (from List of mythological objects)
Image 17Golem and Loew (from List of mythological objects)
Image 18The Flying Dutchman (from List of mythological objects)
Image 19Several legendary creatures from Bilderbuch für Kinder (lit. 'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)
Image 20Hand of God (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21As 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 22The 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 23Fountain of Youth (from List of mythological objects)
Image 24Voodoo doll with pins in it, Museum of Witchcraft (from List of mythological objects)
Image 25Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from List of mythological objects)
Image 26An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 27Tissot Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 28Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from List of mythological objects)
Image 29Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 30Achilles wearing his armor (from List of mythological objects)
Image 31Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from List of mythological objects)
Image 32Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from List of mythological objects)
Image 33Fig trees often represent talismans with the udumbara (from List of mythological objects)
Image 34Symbolic power: a dragon in the Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (from Legendary creature)
Image 35Jason returns with Golden fleece (from List of mythological objects)
Image 36The famous sword of Excalibur painted by Howard Pyle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 37Ahimelech giving the sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder. (from List of mythological objects)
Image 38Longinus with his famous Spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 39This 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 40Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 41Vishnu holding his legendary sword Nandaka (from List of mythological objects)
Image 42Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 43Joan of Arc with her famous sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 44Vishnu with his Panchajanya (from List of mythological objects)
Image 45Giza pyramids (from List of mythological objects)
Image 4614th century Goryeo painting of Ksitigarbha holding a cintamani (from List of mythological objects)
Image 47Heracles 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 48Lord 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 49Myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria (1916) (from Myth)
Image 50Ballads of bravery (1877) part of Arthurian mythology (from Myth)
Image 51Holy Robe in Trier (from List of mythological objects)
Image 52Snake and world egg of the inhabitants of Tyre (from List of mythological objects)
Image 53Fortune Wheel (from List of mythological objects)
Image 54The 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 55Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
Image 56Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from List of mythological objects)
Image 57The fall of Icarus (from List of mythological objects)
Image 58Goetia seal of solomon (from List of mythological objects)
Image 59alt=Spiral hieroglyphic inscriptions on the Phaistos Disc (from Comparative mythology)
Image 60Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 61Ancient 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 62Amenonuhoko (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 63"The Fall of Man" by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Tree of Knowledge is on the right (from List of mythological objects)
Image 64Sampo, 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 65The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (from List of mythological objects)
Image 66Veronica holding her veil, Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 67Yama advances to smite Ravana with the weapon of death (from List of mythological objects)
Image 68Houyi, the God of Archery (from List of mythological objects)
Image 69The 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 701929 Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus (from Myth)
Image 71Rectangular tablets passed down by the Hand of God in the 10th century Byzantine Leo Bible (from List of mythological objects)
Image 72seven angels with seven trumpets (from List of mythological objects)
Image 73Ancient Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons (from Comparative mythology)
Image 74Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 75Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from List of mythological objects)
Image 76Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, a mythological painting by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from Myth)
Image 77Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from List of mythological objects)
Image 78The Fall of the Titans (1596–98) by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (from Comparative mythology)
Image 79Pied piper (from List of mythological objects)
Image 80The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune (c. 1689 or 1706) by René-Antoine Houasse, depicting the founding myth of Athens (from National myth)
Image 81Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan (from List of mythological objects)
Image 82Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 83Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from List of mythological objects)
Image 84Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing the Seven-league boots from the Ogre, by Gustave Doré (from List of mythological objects)
Image 85Prometheus (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 86Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from List of mythological objects)
Image 87Surya on His Celestial Chariot (from List of mythological objects)
Image 88The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from List of mythological objects)
Image 89The Crown of Immortality, held by the allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 90Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him the coat of many colors (from List of mythological objects)