WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Lempo
Lempo is a figure of Finnish mythology whose identity changed significantly across time. In older layers of Finnish oral tradition, the name may have been connected with love, sexual attraction, or a powerful spirit of t…
Ran
Rán is a female figure associated with the sea in Norse mythology. She is best known as the wife of Ægir, a personification or divine being connected with the ocean, and as the owner of a net used to seize people who ven…
Goibhniu
Goibhniu is a divine smith of Irish mythology and one of the most important craftsmen of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural people who appear in medieval Irish literature as rulers of Ireland before the coming of the…
Kalevala
The Kalevala is Finland’s national epic and one of the most important written records of Finnic oral poetry. It presents a world of powerful singers, smiths, spirits, enchanted objects and rival communities, especially t…Bacchus
Bacchus is the Roman god associated with wine, ecstatic celebration, fertility, theatre and the loosening of ordinary social boundaries. He is closely identified with the Greek god Dionysus, and Roman writers often use t…
Anticlea
Anticlea is a figure from Greek mythology best known as the mother of Odysseus, the wandering hero of Homer’s Odyssey. She is traditionally described as the daughter of Autolycus, a famous thief and trickster, and the wi…
Auster
Auster is the Roman personification of the south wind. In Latin poetry and natural philosophy, he is associated with the warm, damp air that comes from the south, bringing clouds, rain, storms and, at times, oppressive h…
Anteros
Anteros is a minor figure of Greek mythology associated with returned love, mutual affection and, in some traditions, the punishment of unrequited love. His name is formed from the Greek ant-erōs, a word that can suggest…Oduduwa
Oduduwa is a major ancestral and sacred figure in Yoruba tradition, especially in the origin traditions of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, the ancient Yoruba religious and cultural centre in present-day southwestern Nigeria. Depending on the …
Elegua
Elegua is a widely known name for a complex orisha associated with roads, thresholds, communication, chance and the opening of possibilities. The name is especially familiar in Cuba and other communities shaped by the Yo…
Elusu
Elusu is a little-documented figure associated with Yoruba religious tradition and with the watery realm governed by Olokun. Information about Elusu is considerably less abundant than material about major orishas such as…
Eshu
Èṣù, often written Eshu in English, is a major òrìṣà of Yoruba religious tradition. He is associated with communication, movement, exchange, uncertainty, and the power that allows messages and offerings to reach their de…Hannya
Hannya is one of the most recognizable figures in Japanese theatrical tradition: a female demon with sharp horns, metallic eyes, pointed teeth and an expression that can appear furious, grief-stricken or sorrowful depend…
Heike
Heike is not the name of a single god, monster or spirit. In Japanese tradition, it usually refers to the Taira clan, a powerful warrior family whose defeat in the Genpei War (1180–1185) became the subject of history, ep…
Kagutsuchi
Kagutsuchi is a Japanese kami of fire, best known from the creation myths preserved in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. He is also called Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, “Kagutsuchi of Fire,” and is associated in later religious tradit…
Hiruko
Hiruko is a mysterious figure in early Japanese mythology, best known as the first child of the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami. In the creation narratives preserved in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, Hiruko is described…
Angakok
Angakok is an older English spelling for an Inuit religious specialist more commonly rendered today as angakkuq in Inuktitut and by related forms in other Inuit languages. An angakok was not a god, monster, or single leg…
Anguta
Anguta is a figure associated with Inuit traditions, especially stories from Greenland and parts of the eastern Arctic. He is best known as the father of Sedna, the powerful woman who becomes connected with the sea anima…
Aningan
Aningan is a moon figure in some Inuit traditions, especially those recorded in Greenland and the eastern Arctic. He is commonly described as a male personification of the Moon and as the brother, pursuer, or estranged c…
Arnakuagsak
Arnakuagsak is a figure associated with Inuit religious tradition, especially traditions recorded in Greenland. She is commonly described as a powerful female being connected with food, hunting success and the continued …
Coatlicue
Coatlicue is a major earth and mother deity in Mexica, often called Aztec, religious tradition. Her name is commonly translated as “She of the Serpent Skirt,” referring to the garment of intertwined snakes associated wit…
Cochimetl
Cochimetl is a name associated in some modern reference works with an Aztec or Nahua deity of sleep. The figure is obscure, however, and the surviving evidence is much less substantial than it is for better-documented de…
Coyolxauhqui
Coyolxauhqui is a major figure in Mexica, or Aztec, mythology, best known as the leader of the Centzon Huitznahua and the enemy of the newborn god Huitzilopochtli. In the central myth associated with her, she leads an at…
Eagle Warrior
Eagle Warrior is the common English name for a member of an elite military order of the Mexica, often called the Aztecs, who ruled a powerful state in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest. The term does not usually…
Ibeji
Ibeji refers to the sacred twins of Yoruba religious tradition and, more broadly, to the spiritual importance attached to twins in Yoruba-speaking communities. The name is especially familiar in the Caribbean through Cub…
Inle
Inle is an orisha venerated especially in Cuban Lucumí, the Caribbean religious tradition that developed from Yoruba beliefs carried from West Africa to Cuba. He is commonly associated with healing, medicine, fishing, ri…
Orichas
Orichas are sacred divine beings honoured in Yoruba-derived religions of the Caribbean, especially Cuban Regla de Ocha-Ifá, commonly known outside the tradition as Santería. The word is a Spanish-influenced spelling of t…
Abe Mango
Abe Mango is an obscure and uncertain name associated in some modern lists with South American mythology. Unlike well-attested figures such as Yúcahu, Bochica, Makunaima or Supay, Abe Mango does not have a clearly docume…
Ulanji
Ulanji is a name sometimes presented in modern mythology lists as belonging to an Australian Aboriginal spirit or supernatural being. Its identity, however, is uncertain. Unlike widely documented figures such as the Rain…
Uluru
Uluru is a vast sandstone monolith in the centre of Australia and one of the most important sacred places in the living traditions of the Aṉangu peoples, including the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. It is often disc…
Waang
Waang is a name associated with a crow or raven ancestral being in some Aboriginal traditions of southeastern Australia. The spelling Waang is especially encountered in material connected with Kulin-speaking peoples of V…
Wati-kutjara
Wati-kutjara, also written Wati Kutjara or Wati-kutjara Tjukurpa, is the name commonly translated as “Two Men” in several Western Desert Aboriginal traditions of Australia. The name generally refers not to one individual…
St. Katharine Drexel
St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955) was an American Catholic religious sister, educator, philanthropist and founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Born into a wealthy Philadelphia family, she devoted her inheritan…
Baruchiel
Baruchiel is an angelic name found chiefly in later Christian angelology, especially Eastern Orthodox and related devotional traditions. The name is also written Barachiel, Barakiel, Baraquel or Barchiel. He is commonly …
St. Peter Damian
St. Peter Damian was an eleventh-century Italian Benedictine monk, bishop, cardinal, theologian and writer who became one of the strongest voices for reform in the medieval Latin Church. He lived during a period when pop…
Barquiel
Barquiel is an uncommon name associated with angelological and occult traditions. It is often treated as a variant spelling of Barachiel, Barakiel, or related forms derived from a Hebrew expression meaning “lightning of …
Gusion
Gusion is a demon of European ceremonial magic, best known from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is listed as the eleventh spirit in that hierarchy and is described as a powerful duke wh…
Gremory
Gremory is a demon described in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century grimoire commonly known as The Lesser Key of Solomon. Listed as the fifty-sixth spirit, Gremory is given the rank of a great du…
Glasya-Labolas
Glasya-Labolas is a demon described in early modern European demonological literature, especially the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon. In that tradition, he is presented as a powerful spirit holding the ranks of Pres…
Samigina
Samigina is a demon in the early modern Western grimoire tradition, best known as the fourth spirit listed in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. The name appears in several forms, including G…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.