WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Kipu Tytto
Kipu-Tyttö, also written Kiputyttö or translated as “Pain Girl,” is a little-known figure associated with Finnish folk belief and healing incantations. The name appears to personify pain as a female being, but Kipu-Tyttö…
Rind
Rind, also recorded in Old Norse as Rindr and in Latinised Scandinavian tradition as Rinda, is a little-known female figure associated with Odin and the birth of Váli, the son who avenges the death of Baldr. She belongs …
Mac Cécht
Mac Cécht is a name associated with more than one figure in medieval Irish literature. Most often, it identifies a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural people who appear in Ireland’s mythological history, and…
Kivutar
Kivutar is a female figure associated with pain, illness and suffering in Finnish mythic and incantation traditions. She belongs especially to the supernatural world described in Finnish healing charms, where diseases an…Amphitryon
Amphitryon is a mortal king and heroic figure in Greek mythology, best known as the husband of Alcmene and the social father of Heracles. His place in the myth is shaped by a deception: while Amphitryon is away from home…
Angita
Angita, also written Angitia, is a goddess or sacred female figure associated with the Marsi, an ancient people of central Italy. Her tradition belongs to the religious landscape of the Apennines, where local Italic cult…
Amphitrite
Amphitrite is a goddess of the sea in Greek mythology, best known as the wife and queen of Poseidon. In early Greek tradition she belongs to the Nereids, the fifty sea nymphs born to the ancient sea god Nereus and the Oc…
Angerona
Angerona was a little-known Roman goddess associated with silence, secrecy, and the relief of distress. Her name appears in the forms Angerona and Angeronia, and she was honoured at a Roman festival called the Angeronali…
Olokun
Olokun is a powerful divinity in Yoruba religious tradition, associated above all with the sea, its immense depths, its hidden riches and the forces that lie beyond ordinary human understanding. The name is commonly writ…
Onile
Onile is a name associated with the earth in Yoruba religious thought and folklore. It is usually understood from the Yoruba expression onílẹ̀, meaning “owner of the earth” or “owner of the land.” In some accounts, Onile…
Orishas
Orishas (Yoruba: òrìṣà; also written orisa, òrìṣá or orisha) are sacred powers and divine beings in the religious traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa. Yoruba communities are concentrated especially i…
Orunmila
Orunmila is a central orisha in Yoruba religious tradition, especially associated with Ifá, the divination system through which knowledge, guidance and insight are sought. He is linked with wisdom, human destiny, moral c…
Izanami
Izanami, also known as Izanami-no-Mikoto, is one of the principal creator kami of Japanese mythology. She appears most prominently in the Kojiki, compiled in 712, and the Nihon Shoki, completed in 720. In these early myt…
Jo
Jo is not a securely identifiable god, spirit, monster or hero in the surviving corpus of Japanese mythology under that spelling alone. The name appears to be an abbreviated or incomplete romanization, a transliteration …
Jurojin
Jurojin is a Japanese god of longevity and one of the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods. Usually portrayed as an elderly man with a long white beard, a staff, and a scroll, he represents a long life guided by wisdom, h…
Sanbo-kojin
Sanbō Kōjin (also written Sanbo Kojin or Sambō Kōjin) is a Japanese deity associated with fire, the hearth, the kitchen and the protection of the household. The name is usually translated as “the Rough Deity of the Three…
Nootaikok
Nootaikok is a little-known figure associated in some modern accounts with Inuit traditions concerning icebergs, ice, and the northern landscape. Unlike widely documented figures such as Sedna, Sila, or Nanook, Nootaikok…
Pukkeenegak
Pukkeenegak is a figure associated in some English-language accounts with Inuit traditions of childbirth, fertility, pregnancy and the care of children. Her name and role are not documented through a single pan-Inuit myt…
Sedna
Sedna is one of the best-known figures in Inuit religious traditions: a powerful woman associated with the sea, marine animals and the continuing relationship between human communities and the natural world. In many trad…
Tekkeitsertok
Tekkeitsertok is a figure associated primarily with Greenlandic Inuit traditions and with the caribou on which many northern communities depended. He is commonly described in English as a master or guardian of caribou, a…
Macuilcozcacuahtli
Macuilcozcacuahtli is a little-known figure associated with Aztec and wider Nahua religious tradition. His name is usually translated as “Five Vulture” or “Five [the] Vulture,” from macuil, “five,” and cozcacuahtli, a Na…
Huehueteotl
Huehueteotl is the Nahuatl “Old God,” a venerable fire deity associated with the religious traditions of central Mexico, especially those of the Mexica, often called the Aztecs. He is usually represented as an elderly, w…
Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli was a major deity of the Mexica, the Nahua-speaking people who founded and ruled the city-state of Tenochtitlan in central Mexico. He was associated with warfare, the sun, rulership, sacrifice and the Mex…
Huixtocihuatl
Huixtocihuatl—also written Uixtocihuatl, Uixtociuatl and in other spelling variants—was a goddess associated with salt in Mexica, often called Aztec, religious tradition. Her name is commonly translated as “Salt Woman,” …Aroteh
Aroteh is an uncertain name associated in some modern mythology lists with South American tradition. Its identity, cultural origin and meaning are not securely established in the surviving historical and ethnographic rec…
Aunyaina
Aunyaina is a name sometimes presented in English-language mythology directories as that of a South American, and more specifically Guarani, goddess of fire. The identification is uncertain, however. Unlike major figures…
Bachue
Bachué is a founding mother in the traditional religious world of the Muisca, an Indigenous society that lived mainly in the high plateaus and valleys of what is now central Colombia. Her story is closely associated with…
Bochica
Bochica is a culture hero and sacred teacher of the Muisca, an Indigenous people who lived mainly on the high plateaus of the central Colombian Andes before and during the period of Spanish conquest. In Muisca traditions…Wuraka
Wuraka is a name associated in some modern lists with Australian Aboriginal mythology, but its identity is not securely established in the surviving record. Unlike better-documented figures such as Baiame, Bunjil, Daramu…
Yalungur
Yalungur is a name associated in some modern reference works with an Australian Aboriginal water or serpent being. The available information is limited, and the name is not supported by a single, widely documented tradit…
Yara-ma-yha-who
Yara-ma-yha-who is a dangerous blood-drinking being associated with Aboriginal tradition in Australia. In commonly repeated accounts, it is a small red figure that waits in a fig tree and attacks people who come within r…
Yhi
Yhi is a name commonly used in modern accounts of Australian Aboriginal mythology for a female being associated with the sun, light, warmth and the awakening of life. Stories connected with Yhi describe light entering a …St. Philip
Saint Philip is traditionally remembered as one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. He appears especially in the Gospel of John, where he brings Nathanael to Jesus, participates in the feeding of the multitude, and a…
Barakiel
Barakiel is an angelic name found in later Jewish, Christian and esoteric traditions, although its spelling, status and assigned duties vary considerably. The figure is especially associated with Eastern Christian angelo…
St. Philip Neri
St. Philip Neri (1515–1595) was an Italian priest, mystic and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. Remembered as the “Apostle of Rome,” he played an important role in the Catholic renewal of the sixteenth century,…
Baradiel
Baradiel is an obscure angelic name associated, in some later angelological traditions, with hail and other forms of severe weather. Unlike Michael, Gabriel, Raphael or Uriel, Baradiel does not belong to the small group …Eligos
Eligos, also written Eligor or Abigor, is a demon in the ceremonial magic tradition commonly known as the Ars Goetia. He is listed as the fifteenth spirit in its catalogue and is ranked as a Great Duke of Hell. The descr…
Decarabia
Decarabia is a demon listed in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century grimoire known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. In that tradition, Decarabia is the sixty-ninth spirit and holds the rank of a marq…
Dantalion
Dantalion is a demon listed in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the early modern grimoire known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful duke who appears with many human faces and carries a book. W…
Caim
Caim—also spelled Camio or Caym—is a demon of early modern European ceremonial demonology. He is best known as the fifty-third spirit in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon, where he is describ…Mythology and the Stories of Ancient Civilizations
Mythology is the collection of stories, beliefs and traditions that ancient cultures used to explain the world around them. Long before modern science, myths offered answers to fundamental questions about the creation of the universe, natural phenomena, human existence, death and the forces believed to govern destiny.
Every civilization developed its own mythological tradition. Greek mythology tells of powerful Olympian gods, heroic warriors and terrifying monsters. Norse mythology describes a universe of interconnected worlds inhabited by gods, giants, elves and legendary creatures. Egyptian mythology revolves around divine kingship, the journey into the afterlife and the eternal struggle between order and chaos.
Beyond the most familiar traditions, thousands of myths emerged across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and the ancient Middle East. Hindu mythology contains vast cycles of gods, avatars and cosmic events. Japanese folklore is filled with kami, spirits and mysterious beings, while Celtic traditions preserve stories of warriors, magical lands and supernatural powers.
Although these traditions developed independently, many share recurring themes. Creation myths, great floods, journeys to the underworld, divine battles and heroic quests appear in cultures separated by enormous distances.
Gods and goddesses often represented the forces that shaped everyday life. Some ruled over storms, oceans, war or agriculture, while others protected families, cities or the dead.
Mythical creatures also played an essential role in these stories. Dragons, giants, spirits, shapeshifters, demons and hybrid beasts could act as enemies, guardians, warnings or symbols of forces beyond human control.
Myths were not simply invented as entertainment. They were connected to religious rituals, social customs, political power and cultural identity.
Many mythological stories survive today through literature, art, cinema, television and video games. However, modern adaptations often differ considerably from the original traditions.
At WorldMythos, you will find articles organised by mythology, culture and subject. Our aim is to present legendary stories in a clear and engaging way while distinguishing between ancient sources, folklore, historical interpretation and modern popular culture.