Portal:Myths

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Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the veracity of a myth is not a defining criterion.

Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. 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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Statuette of Enlil sitting on his throne from the site of Nippur, dated to 1800–1600 BC, now on display in the Iraq Museum

Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms.^[1] He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon,^[2] but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hurrians. Enlil's primary center of worship was the Ekur temple in the city of Nippur, which was believed to have been built by Enlil himself and was regarded as the "mooring-rope" of heaven and earth. He is also sometimes referred to in Sumerian texts as Nunamnir. According to one Sumerian hymn, Enlil himself was so holy that not even the other gods could look upon him. Enlil rose to prominence during the twenty-fourth century BC with the rise of Nippur. His cult fell into decline after Nippur was sacked by the Elamites in 1230 BC and he was eventually supplanted as the chief god of the Mesopotamian pantheon by the Babylonian national god Marduk.

Enlil plays a vital role in the ancient near eastern cosmology; he separates An (heaven) from Ki (earth), thus making the world habitable for humans. In the Sumerian flood myth Eridu Genesis, Enlil rewards Ziusudra with immortality for having survived the flood and, in the Babylonian flood myth, Enlil is the cause of the flood himself, having sent the flood to exterminate the human race, who made too much noise and prevented him from sleeping. The myth of Enlil and Ninlil is about Enlil's serial seduction of the goddess Ninlil in various guises, resulting in the conception of the moon-god Nanna and the Underworld deities Nergal, Ninazu, and Enbilulu. Enlil was regarded as the inventor of the mattock and the patron of agriculture. Enlil also features prominently in several myths involving his son Ninurta, including Anzû and the Tablet of Destinies and Lugale. (Full article...)

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... that the self-decapitated Hindu goddess Chhinnamasta (pictured) standing on a copulating couple signifies that life, death and sex are interdependent?

...that the Two Ladies was a euphemism used for the Ancient Egyptian deities Wadjet and Nekhbet, represented on the royal crowns of the merged Upper and Lower Egypt as a cobra and a vulture, respectively?

...that Maximón, a saint venerated in the highlands of Guatemala, drinks whiskey, smokes cigarettes and grants prayers for revenge?

...that the Ancient Greeks credited Broteas, the ugly son of Tantalus, with an ancient rock-cut cliff-face carving of the Great Mother of the Gods in modern Turkey?

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In Hindu mythology, Keshin (Sanskrit: केशिन्, lit. 'the hairy one/long-haired' IAST: Keśin), also called Keshi (Sanskrit: केशी IAST: Keśī) is a horse-demon, killed by Krishna, an Avatara of Vishnu. The demon was dispatched by Krishna's evil uncle Kamsa, who was destined to die at Krishna's hands.

The tale of the slaying of Keshi is told in the Hindu scriptures of Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana and Harivamsa. Krishna is often praised as Keshava - the slayer of Keshi - in scriptures. (Full article...)

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Vampire Fenrir Ala (demon) Sharabha Ratatoskr Huginn and Muninn Nuckelavee Sea Mither Boobrie Stoor worm Mermaid Dragon Siren (mythology) Hippocampus (mythology) Phoenix (mythology) Centaur Unicorn Serpent (symbolism) Anzû Cerberus

General images

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

Image 1Pied piper (from List of mythological objects)
Image 2The Argo (c. 1500 – 1530), painting by Lorenzo Costa (from List of mythological objects)
Image 3Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from List of mythological objects)
Image 4Fig trees often represent talismans with the udumbara (from List of mythological objects)
Image 5Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from List of mythological objects)
Image 6The 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 7Achilles wearing his armor (from List of mythological objects)
Image 8Ahimelech giving the sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder. (from List of mythological objects)
Image 9Väinämöinen, 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 10Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from List of mythological objects)
Image 11The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (from List of mythological objects)
Image 12Surya on His Celestial Chariot (from List of mythological objects)
Image 13Snake and world egg of the inhabitants of Tyre (from List of mythological objects)
Image 14Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from List of mythological objects)
Image 15Rectangular tablets passed down by the Hand of God in the 10th century Byzantine Leo Bible (from List of mythological objects)
Image 16As 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 17Houyi, the God of Archery (from List of mythological objects)
Image 18Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from List of mythological objects)
Image 19Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from List of mythological objects)
Image 20Shiva with his Trishula (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21This 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 22Goetia seal of solomon (from List of mythological objects)
Image 23Joan of Arc with her famous sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 24King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing (from List of mythological objects)
Image 25The 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 26Prometheus (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 27Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from List of mythological objects)
Image 28Tissot Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 29Golem and Loew (from List of mythological objects)
Image 30Voodoo doll with pins in it, Museum of Witchcraft (from List of mythological objects)
Image 31Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from List of mythological objects)
Image 32Fortune Wheel (from List of mythological objects)
Image 33Longinus with his famous Spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 34Vishnu holding his legendary sword Nandaka (from List of mythological objects)
Image 35The sheyd אַשְמְדּאָי (Ašmodai) in bird-like form, with typical rooster feet, as depicted in Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae 1775 (from Comparative mythology)
Image 36The 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 37Sampo, 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 38The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune (c. 1689 or 1706) by René-Antoine Houasse, depicting the founding myth of Athens (from National myth)
Image 39The Flying Dutchman (from List of mythological objects)
Image 40Vishnu with his Panchajanya (from List of mythological objects)
Image 41Amenonuhoko (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 42The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 4314th century Goryeo painting of Ksitigarbha holding a cintamani (from List of mythological objects)
Image 44seven angels with seven trumpets (from List of mythological objects)
Image 45An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 46Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from List of mythological objects)
Image 47Jason returns with Golden fleece (from List of mythological objects)
Image 48The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (from List of mythological objects)
Image 49Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
Image 50Image 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 51Heracles 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 52"Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from List of mythological objects)
Image 53Symbolic power: a dragon in the Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (from Legendary creature)
Image 54Killing of Ravana Painting by Brahmstra of Arrow of Brahma (from List of mythological objects)
Image 55Several mythical creatures from Bilderbuch für Kinder (lit. 'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)
Image 56Lord 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 57 Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from Myth)
Image 58The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from List of mythological objects)
Image 591929 Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus (from Myth)
Image 60The fall of Icarus (from List of mythological objects)
Image 61Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov (from List of mythological objects)
Image 62Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 63Myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria (1916) (from Myth)
Image 64Veronica holding her veil, Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 65Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 66Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him the coat of many colors (from List of mythological objects)
Image 67The Crown of Immortality, held by the allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 68The famous sword of Excalibur painted by Howard Pyle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 69Ballads of bravery (1877) part of Arthurian mythology (from Myth)
Image 70Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing the Seven-league boots from the Ogre, by Gustave Doré (from List of mythological objects)
Image 71Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan (from List of mythological objects)
Image 72"The Fall of Man" by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Tree of Knowledge is on the right (from List of mythological objects)
Image 73The Fall of the Titans (1596–98) by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (from Comparative mythology)
Image 74Giza pyramids (from List of mythological objects)
Image 75A 19th-century drawing of Sun Wukong featuring his staff (from List of mythological objects)
Image 76Ancient Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons (from Comparative mythology)
Image 77Holy Robe in Trier (from List of mythological objects)
Image 78Fountain of Youth (from List of mythological objects)
Image 79Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 80Ancient 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 81Hand of God (from List of mythological objects)
Image 82Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 83Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a Chinese God with his spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 84Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 85The 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 86Opening lines of one of the Mabinogi myths from the Red Book of Hergest (written pre-13c, 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 87Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 88Jug from Lydian Treasure Usak (from List of mythological objects)