‘Mythology’ Archives
Apollo
Apollo Apollo is the God of prophecy who, as portrayed in classical literature, is the most Greek of deities. However, he is a composite figure, and the earliest records indicate that Apollo was first worshiped outside Greece. One of several distinctive features is that he has close links with a mysterious people called the Hyperboreans, whom [...]
Cassandra
Cassandra In Greek mythology, a daughter of Priam, king of Troy. She received the gift of foreknowledge from Apollo, the god of prophecy. There are two accounts of the way in which this happened. According to one, when she was a child, a birthday feast was held for her and her brother Helenus in a sanctuary of the god. The children fell asleep [...]
Iris
Iris Greek goddess of the rainbow and winged messenger goddess of the Olympian gods. Daughter of Electra (daughter of Oceanus) and Thaumas (son of Gaia and Pontus). Sister to the Harpies, who are also winged. Classical sources are the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (102–114), Apollonius of Rhodes’s Voyage of the Argonauts (2.283– 300, [...]
Brunhild
Brunhild (mythology) In Germanic mythology and literature, a beautiful, powerful princess and warrior. Her story is recorded in the 13th-century Eddaic poems and Volsunga Saga of Iceland and in the medieval German epic poem the Nibelungenlied (circa 1200). In the Icelandic writings, she is called Brynhild; she is Brünnehilde in the German [...]
Titans
Titans In ancient Greek mythology the Titans were giants who once ruled the world. According to legend, they were the children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth). Uranus hated his children, and he shut them up in the Earth. The Titans rebelled against him and took power. Cronus (Saturn) then became the ruler of the Titans. Later Cronus’ [...]
Pleiades
Pleiades Pleiades (mythology), in Greek mythology, seven daughters of Atlas and of Pleione, the daughter of Oceanus. Their names were Electra, Maia, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. According to some versions of the myth, they committed suicide from grief at the fate of their father, Atlas, or at the death of their sisters, the [...]
Asura
Asura In Indian mythology, an asura was a demon. Such creatures became an important part of the imagery of ANGKOR in Cambodia. An asura with a broken spear, indicating his defeat, can be seen on an early relief at the BAKONG temple. A multiple-headed asura also appears on the famous relief of ANGKOR WAT showing the CHURNING OF THE OCEAN OF MILK [...]
Cadmus
Cadmus Cadmus, in Greek mythology, Phoenician prince who founded the city of Thebes in Greece. When his sister Europa was kidnapped by the god Zeus, Cadmus was ordered by his father, the king of Phoenicia, to find her or not to return home. Unable to locate his sister, he consulted the oracle at Delphi and was instructed to abandon his search [...]
Calydonian Hunt
Calydonian Hunt Calydonian Hunt, The, in Greek mythology, a famous episode centered on the life and death of Meleager, the son Althea and Oeneus, king of Calydon. When Meleager was born, the Fates declared that he would live only until a certain brand (piece of wood) on the hearth had burned to ashes. Althea consequently snatched the brand from [...]
Native American Creation Myths
Native American Creation Myths Each of the cultures that inhabited the continents of North and South America before the arrival of the first European settlers had a unique and distinct explanation for the creation and ordering of the world as they knew it. As part of the ORAL LITERATURE that was handed down through generation after generation, [...]
