Portal:Myths

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Myth is a genre of folklore or theology consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. For folklorists, historians, philosophers or theologians this is very different from the use of "myth" which simply meaning something that is not true. Instead, the truth value 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 true accounts of their remote past. In particular, creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form. Other myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified. There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals. (Full article...)

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Chhinnamasta, 19th century lithograph

Chhinnamasta (Sanskrit: छिन्नमस्ता, Chinnamastā, "She whose head is severed"), often spelled Chinnamasta, and also called Ch(h)innamastika and Prachanda Chandika and Jogani Maa (in western states of India), is a Hindu goddess (Devi). She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten goddesses from the esoteric tradition of Tantra, and a ferocious aspect of Mahadevi, the Hindu Mother goddess. The self-decapitated nude goddess, usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple, holds her own severed head in one hand and a scimitar in another. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and are drunk by her severed head and two attendants.

Chhinnamasta is a goddess of contradictions. She symbolises both aspects of Devi: a life-giver and a life-taker. She is considered both a symbol of sexual self-control and an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation. She represents death, temporality, and destruction as well as life, immortality, and recreation. The goddess conveys spiritual self-realization and the awakening of the kundalini – spiritual energy. The legends of Chhinnamasta emphasise her self-sacrifice – sometimes coupled with a maternal element – sexual dominance, and self-destructive fury. (Full article...)

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... that Tamil Hindu parents dedicate their one-month-old children to the goddess Periyachi (pictured), who is depicted ripping a woman's womb?

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

...that according to Inca mythology, lunar eclipses are caused by animals attacking Mama Quilla, the goddess of the moon?

... that the worshippers of Xipe Totec (pictured), the Aztec god of renewal, wore the flayed skins of their sacrificial victims?

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Sharabha (Sanskrit: शरभ, Śarabha) or Sarabha is an eight-legged part-lion and part-bird beast in Hindu religion, who is described as more powerful than a lion or an elephant, possessing the ability to clear a valley in one jump in Sanskrit literature. In later literature, Sharabha is described as an eight-legged deer.

The Shaiva scriptures narrate that the god Shiva assumed the form of Sharabha to pacify Narasimha - the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu worshipped by the Vaishnava sect. This form is popularly known as Sharabeshvara ("Lord Sharabha") or Sharabheshvaramurti. The Vaishnavas refute the portrayal of Narasimha as being destroyed by Shiva-Sharabha and regard Sharabha as a name of Vishnu. Some Vaishnava scriptures suggest that Vishnu assumed the form of the ferocious Gandabherunda bird-animal to combat Sharabha. (Full article...)

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Vampire Fenrir Ala (demon) Ratatoskr Huginn and Muninn Keshi (demon) 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 1Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 2As 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 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 Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 5 Odysseus Overcome by Demodocus' Song, by Francesco Hayez, 1813–1815 (from Myth)
Image 6Hanuman fetches the herb-bearing mountain, in a print from the Ravi Varma Press, 1910's (from List of mythological objects)
Image 7A 19th-century drawing of Sun Wukong featuring his staff (from List of mythological objects)
Image 8Hand of God (from List of mythological objects)
Image 9Heracles 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 10The Fall of the Titans (1596–98) by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (from Comparative mythology)
Image 11Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he built for Phalaris (from List of mythological objects)
Image 12Yama with his famous Yama Pasha (from List of mythological objects)
Image 13"The Fall of Man" by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Tree of Knowledge is on the right (from List of mythological objects)
Image 14Fortune Wheel (from List of mythological objects)
Image 15Ancient 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 16Longinus with his famous Spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 17Fountain of Youth (from List of mythological objects)
Image 18Symbolic power: a dragon in the Imperial City, Huế, Vietnam (from Legendary creature)
Image 19Väinämöinen, 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 20Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr's Hringhorni, illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21The Celestial Chariot, Pushpaka Vimana from Ramayana (from List of mythological objects)
Image 22Hop-o'-My-Thumb stealing the Seven-league boots from the Ogre, by Gustave Doré (from List of mythological objects)
Image 23This 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 24Image 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 25Sampo, 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 26Vishnu holding his legendary sword Nandaka (from List of mythological objects)
Image 27Achilles wearing his armor (from List of mythological objects)
Image 28Holy Robe in Trier (from List of mythological objects)
Image 29Opening 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 30Erlang Shen (二郎神), or Erlang is a Chinese God with his spear (from List of mythological objects)
Image 31The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (from List of mythological objects)
Image 32Prometheus (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 33Several mythical creatures from Bilderbuch für Kinder (lit. 'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)
Image 34The 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 35Greek God Kronos/Saturnus with sickle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 36Edith Hamilton's Mythology has been a major channel for English speakers to learn classical Greek and Roman mythology (from Myth)
Image 37Myths and legends of Babylonia and Assyria (1916) (from Myth)
Image 38Vishnu with his Panchajanya (from List of mythological objects)
Image 39Golem and Loew (from List of mythological objects)
Image 40Veronica holding her veil, Hans Memling, c. 1470 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 41Tissot Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 42The 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 43Azoth, a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy. (Medieval legend) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 44Amenonuhoko (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 45The Argo (c. 1500 – 1530), painting by Lorenzo Costa (from List of mythological objects)
Image 46seven angels with seven trumpets (from List of mythological objects)
Image 47"Tizona", the sword attributed to El Cid, on exhibit in the Army Museum of Madrid (from List of mythological objects)
Image 48Giza pyramids (from List of mythological objects)
Image 49Lord 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 50The famous sword of Excalibur painted by Howard Pyle (from List of mythological objects)
Image 51The fall of Icarus (from List of mythological objects)
Image 52Shiva with his Trishula (from List of mythological objects)
Image 53The Crown of Immortality, held by the allegorical figure Eterna (Eternity) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 541929 Belgian banknote, depicting Ceres, Neptune and caduceus (from Myth)
Image 55Ancient Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons (from Comparative mythology)
Image 5614th century Goryeo painting of Ksitigarbha holding a cintamani (from List of mythological objects)
Image 57Snake and world egg of the inhabitants of Tyre (from List of mythological objects)
Image 58Golden cosmic egg Hiranyagarbha by Manaku (from List of mythological objects)
Image 59Voodoo doll with pins in it, Museum of Witchcraft (from List of mythological objects)
Image 60The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune (c. 1689 or 1706) by René-Antoine Houasse, depicting the founding myth of Athens (from National myth)
Image 61Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov (from List of mythological objects)
Image 62Claíomh Solais on an Ireland stamp printed in 1922 (from List of mythological objects)
Image 63The 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 64The Flying Dutchman (from List of mythological objects)
Image 65Joan of Arc with her famous sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 66Houyi, the God of Archery (from List of mythological objects)
Image 67An angel (Camael) expelling Adam and Eve with a flaming sword (from List of mythological objects)
Image 68Aura, a field of luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (from List of mythological objects)
Image 69Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons (from List of mythological objects)
Image 70Ballads of bravery (1877) part of Arthurian mythology (from Myth)
Image 71Fig trees often represent talismans with the udumbara (from List of mythological objects)
Image 72King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing (from List of mythological objects)
Image 73Goetia seal of solomon (from List of mythological objects)
Image 74Surya on His Celestial Chariot (from List of mythological objects)
Image 75Shield of Achilles (illustration) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 76Pied piper (from List of mythological objects)
Image 77Ahimelech giving the sword of Goliath to David, by Aert de Gelder. (from List of mythological objects)
Image 78Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan (from List of mythological objects)
Image 79Lichas bringing the garment of Nessus to Hercules (from List of mythological objects)
Image 80Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him the coat of many colors (from List of mythological objects)
Image 81Jason returns with Golden fleece (from List of mythological objects)
Image 82Killing of Ravana Painting by Brahmstra of Arrow of Brahma (from List of mythological objects)
Image 83Thor wearing the magic belt Megingjörð (from List of mythological objects)
Image 84Jug from Lydian Treasure Usak (from List of mythological objects)
Image 85Rectangular tablets passed down by the Hand of God in the 10th century Byzantine Leo Bible (from List of mythological objects)
Image 86The Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (from List of mythological objects)
Image 87Adam's Bridge also called as Rama Setu (from List of mythological objects)