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The Phoenix, a creature with links to Egyptian mythology, was a bird that resembled a fiery eagle, with red and gold plumage. Its mythology primarily focused on its death and subsequent rebirth. In the most familiar account, it would live for 500 years, after which it would burn itself on the altar of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis ...
In Chinese mythology, Sun Wukong (孫悟空), also known as the Monkey King, is a trickster god who plays a central role in Wu Cheng’en’s adventure novel Journey to the West. Wukong is blessed with unmatched superhuman strength and the ability to transform into 72 different animals and objects. Each of his hairs have transformative powers ...
Amaterasu is the great and glorious goddess of the sun. An embodiment of the rising sun and Japan itself, she is the queen of the kami and ruler of the universe. The Japanese Imperial Family claims to have descended from her, and this is what gives them the divine right to rule Japan. She is the center of Shinto, and Japanese spiritual life.
Europa was a Phoenician princess, the daughter of either Phoenix or Agenor. Zeus fell in love with her and, in the form of a flying bull, carried her off to the island of Crete. There, Europa bore Zeus Minos and Rhadamanthys as well as (in later accounts) Sarpedon before marrying the Cretan king Asterius. Europa was given marvelous gifts by ...
Quetzalcoatl (pronounced Ket-zal-ko’-wat) was the Aztec version of the Feathered Serpent god that permeated Mesoamerican mythologies. Though he originated as a vegetation god, Quetzalcoatl’s role in the Aztec mythos expanded over time. By the time the Spanish arrived in the New World, Quetzalcoatl was regarded as the god of wind, patron of ...
Juno (or Iuno in Latin) was the queen of the Roman gods and the wife of Jupiter, the king of the gods. She served as a champion and protector of women, especially in their domestic roles of marriage and motherhood. Juno’s mythology and iconography were mostly adopted from the Greek goddess Hera. Juno was one of the most important gods of the ...
Overview. In Chinese mythology, Guanyin (觀音) is the goddess of mercy and considered to be the physical embodiment of compassion. She is an all-seeing, all-hearing being who is called upon by worshipers in times of uncertainty, despair, and fear. A Ming official from the 14th century composed the following poem to praise the goddess:
Griffins were mythical creatures with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. They probably originated in Near Eastern art and mythology, though they arrived in Greece at a very early period. According to the Greeks, the Griffins lived at the very edge of the world, where they hoarded gold and battled the legendary race of the ...
Cadmus was a prince and hero born in the eastern Mediterranean. As a young man, he was forced to leave home in search of his sister (or niece) Europa, who had been carried off by Zeus. After Cadmus had scoured the earth and finally exhausted his search, he decided to settle in Greece. On a fertile site in the region of Boeotia, he fought and ...
Avi Kapach is a writer, scholar, and educator who received his PhD in Classics from Brown University. Hecate, daughter of Asteria and Perses, was a powerful but mysterious goddess usually associated with magic, witchcraft, and the Underworld. Though often an object of dread, Hecate was sometimes seen as a kind goddess and a protector of justice.