WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Ethlinn
Ethlinn is a figure of Irish mythology best known as the mother of Lugh, one of the greatest heroes and divine figures of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She is usually identified with Ethniu or Eithne, the daughter of Balor, a po…
Xulsigiae
Xulsigiae is the name recorded for a group of local goddesses worshipped at Augusta Treverorum, the Roman city now known as Trier in western Germany. Their cult belonged to the religious world of the Treveri, a Celtic-sp…
Nehalennia
Nehalennia is a goddess known from Roman-period inscriptions and votive altars discovered mainly in the coastal Netherlands. Although she is sometimes listed under Norse mythology, the surviving evidence does not place h…
Emain Ablach
Emain Ablach is an otherworldly place in Irish mythology, usually imagined as an island or paradisal realm associated with Manannán mac Lir, the sea-god and powerful figure of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Its name is commonly u…
Athena
Athena is one of the principal goddesses of ancient Greek religion. She is associated with wisdom, strategic warfare, civic order, skilled crafts and the protection of cities, especially Athens, whose name was traditiona…
Consus
Consus was an obscure but significant deity of ancient Roman religion, associated above all with stored grain, agricultural resources and the protection of hidden or secret things. His cult was centred on an underground …
Athamas
Athamas is a king and tragic hero of Greek mythology, best known for the stories of his children Phrixus, Helle, Learchus and Melicertes. He belongs especially to the mythic traditions of Boeotia and Thessaly, although a…
Consualia
Consualia was an ancient Roman festival associated with Consus, an obscure deity connected in Roman tradition with counsel, concealment and possibly stored grain. It was celebrated with public games, especially horse and…
Chedi-bumba
Chedi-bumba is a name associated in some modern accounts with African mythology, but its identity is uncertain. It is not a consistently documented deity or legendary being with a clearly established tradition, language,…
Candit
Candit is a name associated in some English-language accounts with the religious traditions of the Dinka people of South Sudan, especially with rain, fertility and the life-giving power of the sky. The identification is …
Cagn
Cagn is a creator, trickster and culture-bearing figure associated especially with the mythology of the /Xam people of southern Africa. His name appears in several forms, including Kaggen, Kaang, Cagn and Kaggen. In many…
Bumba
Bumba, also written Mbombo in many scholarly and ethnographic accounts, is a creator figure associated especially with the Bushongo, a historically important group within the Kuba cultural world of the present-day Democr…
Thotsakan
Thotsakan is the principal antagonist of the Thai Ramakien, the national epic based on the wider South and Southeast Asian tradition of the Ramayana. He is a powerful yak—a giant or demon-like being in Thai literary and …
Wat Pho
Wat Pho is one of Thailand’s most important Buddhist temples and one of Bangkok’s best-known cultural landmarks. Its formal name is Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan, although it is commonly called W…
Ajysyt
Ajysyt is a female deity or benevolent supernatural being associated with childbirth, fertility and the arrival of new life in the traditional religion of the Sakha people, also known as the Yakuts, of northeastern Siber…
Alklha
Alklha is an obscure name associated in some modern catalogues with Siberian mythology. Unlike better-documented figures such as the Yakut Abaasy, the Altai and Turkic Erlik, or the Chukchi Raven, Alklha does not have a …
Poshaiyankayo
Poshaiyankayo is a name associated in some modern reference works with the traditional religious beliefs of the Havasupai, an Indigenous people of northern Arizona. The figure is often described as a creator or supreme s…
White Buffalo Calf Woman
White Buffalo Calf Woman is a sacred female figure in Lakota religious tradition, especially known for bringing the sacred pipe and important ceremonial teachings to the Lakota people. Her name is commonly rendered in En…
Qamaits
Qamaits is a name associated in some modern references with the traditional religious and mythological heritage of the Quileute people of the north-western Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The identification is not…
Quaayayp
Quaayayp is a name associated in modern mythology references with the Chumash people of coastal central and southern California, especially with death or the realm of the dead. The identification is not as firmly documen…
Ndubdo
Ndubdo is a name associated in some modern compilations with Zapotec mythology, but its identity is uncertain. Unlike well-attested Zapotec deities such as Cocijo, Pitao Cozobi and Pitao Pezelao, Ndubdo does not have a c…
Nohuichaana
Nohuichaana is a name associated with Zapotec religious tradition, especially in modern descriptions of a female water or fertility deity. She is commonly presented as a spirit or goddess connected with rivers, freshwate…
Kedo
Kedo is a name sometimes associated with Zapotec mythology, particularly with earthquakes and the powers of the earth. Its identity, however, is uncertain. Unlike better-documented Zapotec deities such as Cocijo, the god…
Mbaz
Mbaz is a name sometimes presented as belonging to Zapotec mythology, but its identity is uncertain. Unlike better-documented Zapotec figures such as Cocijo, the deity associated with rain and lightning, or Coqui Bezelao…
Ayar
Ayar is the name associated with a group of ancestral brothers in one of the best-known Inca origin traditions. In the story, four brothers and their female companions emerge from a sacred place, travel through the centr…
Ayar Auca
Ayar Auca is one of the ancestral figures in the Inca origin traditions of the Cusco region. He is usually described as one of four Ayar brothers who emerged from a sacred place called Pacaritambo and travelled toward th…
Ayar Cachi
Ayar Cachi is a powerful ancestral figure in Inca origin traditions, especially in narratives about the emergence of the Inca people and the founding of Cusco. He is usually described as one of four Ayar brothers who cam…
Ayar Manco
Ayar Manco is a founding figure in Inca origin traditions, especially the narrative in which four Ayar brothers and their female companions emerge from a sacred place and travel toward the valley of Cusco. In many versio…
Dreamtime
Dreamtime is a widely used English term for the religious traditions, ancestral narratives and continuing cultural laws of Aboriginal peoples in Australia. Many Aboriginal communities prefer the term the Dreaming, or use…
Eingana
Eingana is a primordial creator figure associated in published accounts with the Gunwinggu people of western Arnhem Land in northern Australia. She is commonly described as a vast ancestral snake and as the mother of liv…
Erathipa
Erathipa is a figure or sacred conception site associated in ethnographic records with the Arrernte-speaking peoples of Central Australia, formerly often called the Aranda or Arunta. It is commonly described as a stone o…
Gnowee
Gnowee is an ancestral woman associated with the Sun in the traditions of the Wotjobaluk people of western Victoria, Australia. In a well-known story, she searches for her lost child while carrying a burning object that …
St. Pancras
St. Pancras is a Christian martyr traditionally believed to have died in Rome during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian, probably in the early fourth century. He is remembered as a very young saint, often describe…
Duma
Duma, also written Dumah or Dūmā, is an angelic figure found primarily in Jewish religious and mystical traditions. His name is associated with silence, the dead, judgment, and the regions beyond ordinary human life. Dum…
St. Pantaleon
Saint Pantaleon, also known as Saint Panteleimon, is a Christian martyr traditionally remembered as a physician who treated the sick without charge and died during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Di…
Dubbiel
Dubbiel is a named angelic figure in Jewish religious and interpretive tradition, generally understood as the heavenly prince or patron of Persia. He is associated especially with the angelic “princes” of nations describ…
Uvall
Uvall, also written Vual or Voval, is a spirit described in early modern European demonological grimoires. He is best known from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon, where he is presented as th…
Vine
Vine is a spirit listed among the seventy-two demons of the Ars Goetia, the first section of the early modern grimoire commonly known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. In that text, Vine is described as both a king and an ea…
Vepar
Vepar is a demon of early modern European grimoire tradition, best known from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful duke who appears in the form of a mermaid and ex…
Vassago
Vassago is a spirit listed in early modern European grimoires of ceremonial magic, most famously in the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful prince who reveals things tha…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.