Galahad McCloud
09-09-2005, 08:26 AM
This is mythology from FF11 that i found on one of my LS webpages at guildportal, and many other Final Fantasy games as well...
Greek Mythology
Titan
In Greek mythology, the Titans are a race of godlike giants who were considered to be the personifications of the forces of nature. They are the twelve children (six sons and six daughters) of Gaia and Uranus. Each son married, or had children of, one of his sisters. They are: Cronus and Rhea, Iapetus and Themis, Oceanus and Tethys, Hyperion and Theia, Crius and Mnemosyne, and Coeus and Phoebe.
Aspidochelone
Mentioned in the Illiad and the Odyssey, the Aspidochelone or otherwise known as the Asp turtle or the shield turtle is a gigantic monster. It uses deception, it lives in the oceans, its shell when sleeping is out of the water and can be easily mistaken for that of a small island.
There are a few reports of these beasts the first was by Alexander the great in India. A group of his most trusted men went out to an island that was said by locals to have a hoard of a dead king. The island sank within an hour of the men landing upon it. A few days later Alexander saw the huge tusked beast that they had thought was land.
Sinbad also encountered one on his adventures. Sinbad and his crew had lit a cooking fires on a small island, when suddenly the island shook the monster awoke and dived under the surface Sinbad and some of his men didn't make it back to the boats and were dragged under with the pull of the beast diving. Sinbad was later washed ashore a real island.
There is also another report of one of these creatures from a group of Irish monks on a sea voyage to America they wrote that they had encountered a creature, which looked like an island but vanished under the waves of the sea.
Argus
Homer's Odyssey (c. 800 BCE) alludes to the story of Argus by referring to Hermes as 'the guide, the slayer of Argus' (8.332). Similar references to Argus appear in Hesiod's Works and Days (c. 750-700 BCE) and many of the Homeric Hymns, including those to Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, and Demeter (c. 700-500 BCE). Hermes's epithet 'Argeiphontes' (ar-jee-fon-teez) means 'slayer of Argus.'
The myth's outline is that Zeus had seduced Io when Hera arrived on the scene. Zeus transformed Io into a cow to hide his infidelity, but Hera was not deceived. When Hera asked, Zeus was obliged to give her the cow. Hera appointed her servant Argus to guard the cow, and Hermes, at Zeus' command, killed Argus. The detail omitted in this summary varies depending on which source is referenced. Two prominent sources of the myth of Argus's death are Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound (c. 500 BCE) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (c. 8 CE).
In Prometheus Bound Io, as a cow, has been wandering all over Greece desperately fleeing from a stinging gadfly ever since Hermes killed Argus. She comes upon Prometheus and relates her story in exchange for a prophecy. According to Aeschylus, the ghost of "Argus --that evil thing-- / The hundred-eyed- / Earth born herdsmen" (617-9) was the gadfly sent by "Hera's curse... [to pursue Io] ever on [her] endless round" (657-8) Little else is revealed about Argus in the play, as Io focuses on her wanderings. The play presents the myth in a manner that suggests it should be familiar to the audience, revealing only the details that are pertinent to the themes of the play.
Unlike Aeschylus, who assumes knowledge of the myth and omits details such as Argus' death at the hand of Hermes, Ovid tells a complete narrative of one version of this myth in the Metamorphoses. According to Ovid, Argus had "the hundred eyes / All watching and on duty round his head, / Save two which took in turn their sleep and rest" (I.625-7). The following lines tell that Zeus dispatched Hermes to slay Argus and set Io free. Hermes sang Argus to sleep, used his magic wand to seal Argus's eyes shut, and decapitated Argus. Hera was furious about the death of her servant Argus, and "Juno [Hera] retrieved those eyes to set in place / among the feathers of her bird and filled / his tail with starry jewels" (I.721-3), creating the eyes of the peacock. Furthermore, Hera, "before her rival's [Io's] eyes and in her mind... set a frightful Fury" (I.725-6).
Sources with different details for the same myth are characteristic of Greek myth, which is rooted in oral transmissions. Notice that in Ovid's tale Hera does not dispatch the ghost of Argus to torment Io as a gadfly. Hera calls upon a Fury as she does in an episode in Virgil's Aeneid that recounts Hera enlisting a Fury to torture the wife of Latinus. In Prometheus Bound, Argus is the child of Gaia, but Ovid is silent on the issue of Argus's lineage. While Ovid and Aeschylus give Argus one hundred eyes, other traditions, according to Pierre Grimal, attribute one eye or four eyes to the monster Argus. Just as there are differences in the literary preservation of this myth, representations of Argus in the plastic arts may differ. For example, Ovid describes Argus with one hundred eyes in his head, but an Attic vase (c. 490 BCE) depicts Argus with eyes all over his body (Powell 375).
Charybdis
Charybdis was once a nymph-daughter of Poseidon and Gaia who flooded lands for her father's underwater kingdom until Zeus turned her into a monster and have her suck in and out water three times an day. She lived in a cave at one side of the Strait of Messina, opposite the monster Scylla, the two of them forming a dangerous threat to passing ships.
Norse Mythology
Fafnir
The great worm who, in the Old German Tale of the Volsungs, guards the treasures of light, and is slain by Sigurd.
Nidhogg
In Norse myth, Nidhogg ("tearer of corpses") is a monstrous serpent that gnaws almost perpetually at the deepest root of the World Tree Yggdrasil, threatening to destroy it. The serpent is always bickering with the eagle that houses in the top of the tree. Nidhogg lies on Nastrond in Niflheim and eats corpses to sustain itself. It is not the only serpent whose task it is to destroy the World Tree; other serpents include Graback, Grafvolluth, Goin and Moin.
Fenrir
Fenrir (or Fenris) is a gigantic and terrible monster in the shape of a wolf. He is the eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods learned of a prophecy which stated that the wolf and his family would one day be responsible for the destruction of the world. They caught the wolf and locked him in a cage. Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to feed and take care of the wolf. When he was still a pup they had nothing to fear, but when the gods saw one day how he had grown, they decided to render him harmless.
However, none of the gods had enough courage to face the gigantic wolf. Instead, they tried to trick him. They said the wolf was weak and could never break free when he was chained. Fenrir accepted the challenge and let the gods chain him. Unfortunately, he was so immensely strong that he managed to break the strongest fetters as if they were cobwebs.
After that, the gods saw only one alternative left: a magic chain. They ordered the dwarves to make something so strong that it could hold the wolf. The result was a soft, thin ribbon: Gleipnir. It was incredibly strong, despite what its size and appearance might suggest. The ribbon was fashioned of six strange elements: the footstep of a cat; the roots of a mountain; a woman's beard; the breath of fishes; the sinews of a bear; and a bird's spittle.
The gods tried to trick the wolf again, only this time Fenrir was less eager to show his strength. He saw how thin the chain was, and said that was no pride in breaking such a weak chain. Eventually, though, he agreed, thinking that otherwise his strength and courage would be doubted. Suspecting treachery however, he in turn asked the gods for a token of good will: one of them had to put a hand between his jaws. The gods were not overly eager to do this, knowing what they could expect. Finally, only Tyr agreed, and the gods chained the wolf with Gleipnir. No matter how hard Fenrir struggled, he could not break free from this thin ribbon. In revenge, he bit off Tyr's hand.
Being very pleased with themselves, the gods carried Fenrir off and chained him to a rock (called Gioll) a mile down into the earth. They put a sword between his jaws to prevent him from biting. On the day of Ragnarok, Fenrir will break his chains and join the giants in their battle against the gods. He will seek out Odin and devour him. Vidar, Odin's son, will avenge his father by killing the wolf.
Jormungand
In Norse mythology, Jormungand is one of the three children of the god Loki and his wife, the giantess Angrboda. The gods were well aware that this monster was growing fast and that it would one day bring much evil upon gods and men. So Odin deemed it advisable to render it harmless. He threw the serpent in the ocean that surrounds the earth, but the monster had grown to such an enormous size that it easily spans the entire world, hence the name Midgard Serpent. It lies deep in the ocean where it bites itself in its tail, and all mankind is caught within his coils.
At the destruction of the universe, Jormungand and Thor will kill each other.
Hindu Mythology
Shiva
The third deity of the Hindu triad of great gods, the Trimurti. Shiva is called the Destroyer, but has also the aspect of regeneration.
As destroyer he is dark and terrible, appearing as a naked ascetic accompanied by a train of hideous demons, encircled with serpents and necklaces of skulls. As au****ious and reproductive power, he is worshipped in the form of the Linga, or phallus.
Shiva is depicted as white, with a dark-blue throat, with several arms and three eyes. He carries a trident and rides a white bull. His consort is Parvati (Devi)
Vritra
Vritra was one of the asuras, perhaps the most powerful of them all. His name means "Enveloper." He was a dragon or serpent who was said to be so huge that his coils surrounded mountains, and his head touched the sky. He was the bringer of drought, and his chief enemy was Indra.
In the Rig Veda, Vritra was a terrible fiend who gathered all the waters of the world into himself and cause a drought to cover the whole earth. The world became a wasteland. In a distant land, he hid in his fortress, hording his treasure so that the world drew ever more parched. Finally, Indra, who would become the king of the gods, was born. He took it upon himself to attack the demon and release the waters. Drinking immense amounts of Soma to give him the strength necessary, he set off to find his foe. First Indra stormed Vritra's ninety-nine fortresses, razing each in turn, then he met Vritra himself. The two fought a terrible battle, and in the end, Vritra was destroyed by Indra's thunderbolt. Indra then released the waters to flow back to the world.
In later times, the story changed dramatically, giving Vritra a much more sympathetic part. There was a Brahman named Tvashtri, who had a son named Trisiras. Indra was afraid of Trisiras, and ultimately slew him with his thunderbolt. Tvashtri wanted revenge, and created the demon Vritra to achieve it. Vritra challenged Indra, and was able to defeat the god and swallow him. The other gods were afraid at the loss of their king, and they conceived a plan to free him. They forced the demon to gag, and when he did, Indra sprang forth again and the battle continued. But Indra was still no match for his foe, and was compelled to flee. With the intervention of the rishis and Vishnu, a truce was agreed upon, but only if Indra agreed never to attack Vritra again with any weapon made of wood, metal, or stone, with anything dry or wet, or at any time during the day or night. Indra agreed but still wanted to slay Vritra. One day, he was by the sea. The sun was going down, and in the twilight a huge wave washed up on the shore, spraying a great column of foam. It was, at that time, neither day nor night. Indra realized that the foam from the sea was not wood, stone, or metal, nor was wet or dry. He seized the foam and brought it crashing down on the demon, who fell dead, for the foam was actually Vishnu incarnate.
In another version of the story, Vritra was killed by the mother goddess Sarasvati
Garuda
Garuda is one of the three principal animal deities in the Hindu Mythology that has evolved after the Vedic Period in Indian history. The other two are Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of the goddess Durgha, and Hanuman, the monkey god. It is after Garuda that the Indonesian National Airlines is named. Even today, Garuda is much revered by devout Hindus for his ethics and his strength in applying his ethics to correct evil-doers.
Garuda is the king of the birds. He mocks the wind with the speed of his flight. As the appointed charger of Vishnu he is venerated by all, including humans. Garuda is the son of Kashyap, a great sage, and Vinata, a daughter of Daksha, a famous king. He was hatched from an egg Vinata laid. He has the head, wings, talons, and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man. He has a white face, red wings and golden body. When he was born he was so brilliant that he was mistaken for Agni, the god of fire, and worshipped.
Garuda was born with a great hatred for the evil and he is supposed to roam about the universe devouring the bad, though he spares Brahmins as his parents had forbidden him to eat them. Garuda is also well-known for his aversion to snakes, a dislike he had acquired from his mother, Vinata. There is a story behind this hatred of Garuda's mother. As it is quite interesting it is told hereafter.
Kashyap, Garuda's father, had two wives: Kadru, the elder, and Vinata, Garuda's mother, the younger. There was great rivalry between the
two wives. They could not stand each other. Once, they had an argument over the color of the horse Uchchaisravas, produced during the Churning of the Ocean just after the time of creation. Each chose a color and laid a wager on her own choice. The one who lost would become the other's slave. Kadru proved to be right and, as part of the agreement, imprisoned Vinata in the nether regions, Patala, where she was guarded by serpents. The serpents are, according to another myth, the sons of Kadru herself.
Garuda, on hearing of his mother's imprisonment, descended to Patala and asked the serpents to release Vinata. They agreed to do so and demanded as ransom a cup of amrita (ambrosia). So Garuda set off for the celestial mountain where the amrita was kept. Before he could get to the amrita he had to overcome three hazards set up by the gods to guard the celestial drink. First, Garuda came upon a ring of flames fanned by high winds. They roared and leapt up to the sky but Garuda drank up several rivers and extinguished the flames. Next, Garuda came upon a circular doorway. A very rapidly spinning wheel with sharp spikes on the spokes guarded it. Garuda made himself very small and slipped through the turning spokes. Lastly, Garuda had to defeat two fire-spitting serpents guarding the amrita. He flapped his wings rapidly and blew dust into the eyes of the monsters and blinded them. Then he cut them to pieces with his sharp beak. So Garuda finally reached the amrita and started to fly back with it to the nether regions but the gods anticipated his purpose and gave chase. Indra, king of the gods, struck him with his thunderbolt but Garuda proved a superior warrior and defeated the gods and continued unscathed on his journey to Patala.
When the serpents got the amrita they were overjoyed and released Vinata. Garuda got his mother back but he became an inveterate enemy of the serpents, the sons of his mother's rival Kadru. Also the serpents, the Nagas, symbolized evil and that automatically invoked Garuda's hatred.
As end-piece to this myth it must be told that, as the Nagas were about to consume the amrita Garuda had just brought them, the chasing gods entered Patala and Indra seized and took away the cup of amrita. Anyway, the serpents had just had time enough to lick a few drops of amrita and this was enough to make them immortal. Also, since the celestial drink was very strong, their tongues were split and that is why, to this day, serpents have forked tongues.
Ramuh (or Rama)
In Hindu myth, the seventh incarnation (or avatar) of Vishnu. He is the hero of the Indian Epic "Ramayana" (the story of Rama). Born as the prince of Ayodhya, he faces many tribulations, chief among which is being banished to the forest, due to the machinations of his stepmother. During his exile, his wife Sita is abducted by Ravanaa demon king of the Lanka island (Ceylon). With the aid of Hanuman, Rama rescues Sita and slays Ravana, and is crowned as the king of Ayodhya.
Narasinha
The man-lion, fourth incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu is regarded as a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He is thought as the preserver of the universe while two other major Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva, are regarded respectively, as the creator and destroyer of the universe.
Mesopotamian mythology
Tiamat
In Babylonian myths, Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the personification of the freshwater abyss that lies beneath the Earth. From their union, saltwater with freshwater, the first pair of gods were born. They are Lachmu and Lachamu, parents of Ansar and Kisar, grandparents of Anu and Ea.
In the creation epic Enuma elish, written around 2000 BCE, their descendants started to irritate Tiamat and Apsu so they decided to kill their offspring. Ea discovered their plans and he managed to kill Apsu while the latter was asleep. Tiamat flew into a rage when she learned about Apsu's death and wanted to avenge her husband. She created an army of monstrous creatures, which was to be led by her new consort Kingu, who is also her son. Eventually, Tiamat was defeated by the young god Marduk, who was born in the deep freshwater sea.
Marduk cleaved her body in half, and from the upper half he created the sky and from the lower half he made the earth. From her water came forth the clouds and her tears became the source of the Tigris and the Euphratus. Kingu also perished, and from his blood Marduk created the first humans.
"The Deep" (Hebrew tehom) at the beginning of Genesis derives from Tiamat.
Arabic mythology
Ifrit
Able to take on human or animal appearance, Ifrits are large winged fire beasts. Living in their own tribes and communities, Ifrits lead social lives amongst themselves but can also have relationships with humans. They are impervious to weapons, but they can be harmed by properly used magic.
Bahamut
Floating in a fathomless sea, Bahamut is a gigantic fish. A giant bull, Kujata, lays upon its back, and upon him is a ruby mountain. Upon that is an angel, the six hells, and the earth, with the seven heavens at the top. The Bahamut is so large that human eyes cannot bear it. This is the Arabic version of Bahamut, the name "Bahamut" is included in several other mythologies
Roc
In Arabian legends, the Roc are gigantic birds, often referred to as 'the Great', and capable of carrying off elephants for food. They are found in various stories of 'The Thousand and One Nights', and are also mentioned to by Marco Polo on his travels. Their eggs, according to Sinbad the Sailor, could measure up to 50 paces in circumference.
Hebrew mythology
Leviathan
Literally, "coiled". In the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, the Leviathan is some sort of chaos animal in the shape of a crocodile or a serpent. In other bible texts it is taken to mean a whale or dolphin, because the animal is there described as living in the sea. Later the Leviathan became a symbol of evil, an anti-divine power (some sort of devil) which will be destroyed on Judgement Day.
The Leviathan appears in more than one religion. In Canaanite mythology and literature, it is a monster called Lotan, 'the fleeing serpent, the coiling serpent, the powerful with the seven heads'. It was eventually killed by Baal. The Leviathan is also the Ugaritic god of evil.
"This great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein."
-- Ps. civ, 25-26
Behemoth
In the Old Testament (book of Job, verse 40:10), behemoth is the name for a very large animal, like the hippopotamus or crocodile. They both play a part in the Apocalyptic, as monsters that must be killed. In later Christian religion, the behemoth is identified with Satan.
Persian mythology
Simurgh
In Persian legend Simurgh is a gigantic, winged monster in the shape of a bird; a kind of peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion. Its natural habitat is a place with plenty of water. According to legend, the creature is so old that it has seen the world destroyed three times over. In all that time, Simurgh has learned so much that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all ages.
Egyptian mythology
Serket
"She who causes the throat to breath". An Egyptian scorpion-goddess, and an early a tutelary deity of the Egyptian monarchs. She is one of the goddess who guards the canopic jars containing the viscera of the deceased. From this association she came to be a tutelary goddess of the dead. She is represented as a woman with a scorpion on her head or with a scorpion-shaped headdress, but also with a scorpion body and a human head. Serket was called upon to avert venomous bites and stings.
Japanese mythology
Kirin
The Japanese unicorn, an animal-god who punishes the wicked with its single horn. It protects the just and grants them good luck. Seeing a kirin is considered an omen of extreme good luck - if one is a virtuous person.
Chinese
Suzaku
The red bird of summer, guardian of the south. Suzaku is represented by a Bird (though Suzaku does hint at having properties of the legendary Phoenix which is known to die in its own flames and be reborn anew). Because of its association with the heat and fiery temperatures of summer, Suzaku is usually red in color, and may contribute to some people's conclusion that Suzaku is more like the phoenix than an ordinary bird. Red also has connotations of being a color associated with romance and love, and it is from love that Suzaku draws his strength. Suzaku has a multicolored plume like a peacock's, and is meant to emphasize its rarity and beauty, as well as its virtue as a guardian deity.
Genbu
The black turtle of winter, guarian of the north. The Tortoise is representative of endurance, wisdom, and longetivity, and is also sometimes used in terms of divination. Though in the series Genbu is shown to be greenish in color, its real color is black, due to the fact that Winter was perceived to be the twilight or end of the seasons.
Seiryu
The blue draon of spring, guardian of the east. While at times the color of Spring is usually green, Seiryu is depicted as a blue Dragon in part because Dragons were thought of by the ancient Chinese to be aquatic creatures that reside in the sea. Spring is also thought of to be a rainy season, so the color blue is also indicative of water. As one of the oldest, most powerful, and respected of all Chinese mythological creatures, the dragon was usually symbolic of authority and strength, and was usually worn as such by major figures of power or the royalty.
Byakko
The white tiger of fall, guardian of the west.Tigers in Chinese mythology represent ferocious defense like metal or steel when it comes to soldiering. They were also considered to be natural guardians and the king of all animals (and thus their protector). The white color is possibly from an original myth that stated that a piece of metal left behind at a king's grave supposedly turns into a white tiger to guard it from being defiled. White can also be a part of the symbolism of autumn, as things are still alive, but are growing "old" and gray at this time of the year.
Citipati
Buddhist graveyard demons of Tibet. They are portrayed as dancing skeletons.
Mayan mythology
Zipacna
Zipacna was a great giant in Mayan mythology, written about in the Popul Vuh, a compilation of Mayan myths and legends. He was brother of Cabrakan and son of Vucub Caquix, the Great Macaw. These three were considered by the gods to be the most arrogant of all at that time.
They therefore dispatched the hero twins, Hun-Apu and Ixbalanque to slay them. These two boys were the undoing of this great giant. The creation of the Pleiades star cluster is also attributed to Zipacna.
The story of his death is thus. It started when a band of 400 young men, spurred on by the gods to kill Zipacna, conspired a plan to slay the Titan. They first began to construct a great hut in which they could all live. They then went to a part of the forest, through which they knew Zipacna would have to pass. There, they felled a huge tree and waited for Zipacna to approach. When he finally arrived, he mocked the boys for they complained that their combined strength could not lift this great log. And so in his arrogance, Zipacna lifted the log for them and bid them lead him to their hut.
When they arrived, the 400 bid him go down into a large hole, which the boys had supposedly dug for the log to go to act as the main support for this structure. Zipacna descended with the tree and no sooner had he reached the bottom, when the boys began to hurl rocks, stones and earth down upon him. However, the giant was not as stupid as the boys had thought and he quickly retreated into a side passage the boys had dug as a cellar for their new house. The hole was soon filled with the rubbish and mud the boys had thrown upon the beast and so, thinking the Titan slain, they began to celebrate and became very drunk.
But when the merriment was at its highest, Zipacna struck. He used his mighty strength and rose up from the ground with such force, that he hurled the boys high into the sky and the hut was smashed into pieces. The boys were hurled so high, that they left the earth and now reside in the Pleiades waiting for a chance to return to the Earth. However, this did not stop the hero twins in their quest to slay Zipacna.
The boys decided to trick Zipacna as the 400 had done and so they constructed a huge artificial crab and left it by a river in a small valley. They also undermined a nearby mountain and waited for the giant to pass. When he was nearby, the twins went to him and asked what he was doing. Zipacna replied that he was seeking his daily food. The boys pointed out the great crab to the giant and mentioned that it would provide him with a hearty meal. Zipacna strode into the valley and before he knew what was happening, the twins, with the help of the gods, cast the mountain down upon him. And that was the end of Zipacna.
Aztec mythology
Xolotl
In Aztec and Toltec mythology, Xolotl is the god of lightning who guides the dead to the Mictlan. The Aztec regard him as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. As lord of the evening star and personification of Venus, he pushes the sun at sunset towards the ocean and guards her during the night on her dangerous journey through the underworld. Xolotl is represented as a skeleton, or as a man with the head of a dog.
Celtic Mythology
Faust
Various medeival legends about Faust and his dealings with Mephistopheles(satan). In all the legends Faust ends up losing his soul, as one always tends to do when dealing with the devils.
Others
Carbuncle
English word meaning:
1. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex.
2. A red precious stone.
Ullikummi
An ancient Anatolian demon.
Lioumere
A terrifying demoness from the Caroline Islands. She has iron teeth, which possesses great magical power, if a man could get hold of one.
Greek Mythology
Titan
In Greek mythology, the Titans are a race of godlike giants who were considered to be the personifications of the forces of nature. They are the twelve children (six sons and six daughters) of Gaia and Uranus. Each son married, or had children of, one of his sisters. They are: Cronus and Rhea, Iapetus and Themis, Oceanus and Tethys, Hyperion and Theia, Crius and Mnemosyne, and Coeus and Phoebe.
Aspidochelone
Mentioned in the Illiad and the Odyssey, the Aspidochelone or otherwise known as the Asp turtle or the shield turtle is a gigantic monster. It uses deception, it lives in the oceans, its shell when sleeping is out of the water and can be easily mistaken for that of a small island.
There are a few reports of these beasts the first was by Alexander the great in India. A group of his most trusted men went out to an island that was said by locals to have a hoard of a dead king. The island sank within an hour of the men landing upon it. A few days later Alexander saw the huge tusked beast that they had thought was land.
Sinbad also encountered one on his adventures. Sinbad and his crew had lit a cooking fires on a small island, when suddenly the island shook the monster awoke and dived under the surface Sinbad and some of his men didn't make it back to the boats and were dragged under with the pull of the beast diving. Sinbad was later washed ashore a real island.
There is also another report of one of these creatures from a group of Irish monks on a sea voyage to America they wrote that they had encountered a creature, which looked like an island but vanished under the waves of the sea.
Argus
Homer's Odyssey (c. 800 BCE) alludes to the story of Argus by referring to Hermes as 'the guide, the slayer of Argus' (8.332). Similar references to Argus appear in Hesiod's Works and Days (c. 750-700 BCE) and many of the Homeric Hymns, including those to Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes, and Demeter (c. 700-500 BCE). Hermes's epithet 'Argeiphontes' (ar-jee-fon-teez) means 'slayer of Argus.'
The myth's outline is that Zeus had seduced Io when Hera arrived on the scene. Zeus transformed Io into a cow to hide his infidelity, but Hera was not deceived. When Hera asked, Zeus was obliged to give her the cow. Hera appointed her servant Argus to guard the cow, and Hermes, at Zeus' command, killed Argus. The detail omitted in this summary varies depending on which source is referenced. Two prominent sources of the myth of Argus's death are Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound (c. 500 BCE) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (c. 8 CE).
In Prometheus Bound Io, as a cow, has been wandering all over Greece desperately fleeing from a stinging gadfly ever since Hermes killed Argus. She comes upon Prometheus and relates her story in exchange for a prophecy. According to Aeschylus, the ghost of "Argus --that evil thing-- / The hundred-eyed- / Earth born herdsmen" (617-9) was the gadfly sent by "Hera's curse... [to pursue Io] ever on [her] endless round" (657-8) Little else is revealed about Argus in the play, as Io focuses on her wanderings. The play presents the myth in a manner that suggests it should be familiar to the audience, revealing only the details that are pertinent to the themes of the play.
Unlike Aeschylus, who assumes knowledge of the myth and omits details such as Argus' death at the hand of Hermes, Ovid tells a complete narrative of one version of this myth in the Metamorphoses. According to Ovid, Argus had "the hundred eyes / All watching and on duty round his head, / Save two which took in turn their sleep and rest" (I.625-7). The following lines tell that Zeus dispatched Hermes to slay Argus and set Io free. Hermes sang Argus to sleep, used his magic wand to seal Argus's eyes shut, and decapitated Argus. Hera was furious about the death of her servant Argus, and "Juno [Hera] retrieved those eyes to set in place / among the feathers of her bird and filled / his tail with starry jewels" (I.721-3), creating the eyes of the peacock. Furthermore, Hera, "before her rival's [Io's] eyes and in her mind... set a frightful Fury" (I.725-6).
Sources with different details for the same myth are characteristic of Greek myth, which is rooted in oral transmissions. Notice that in Ovid's tale Hera does not dispatch the ghost of Argus to torment Io as a gadfly. Hera calls upon a Fury as she does in an episode in Virgil's Aeneid that recounts Hera enlisting a Fury to torture the wife of Latinus. In Prometheus Bound, Argus is the child of Gaia, but Ovid is silent on the issue of Argus's lineage. While Ovid and Aeschylus give Argus one hundred eyes, other traditions, according to Pierre Grimal, attribute one eye or four eyes to the monster Argus. Just as there are differences in the literary preservation of this myth, representations of Argus in the plastic arts may differ. For example, Ovid describes Argus with one hundred eyes in his head, but an Attic vase (c. 490 BCE) depicts Argus with eyes all over his body (Powell 375).
Charybdis
Charybdis was once a nymph-daughter of Poseidon and Gaia who flooded lands for her father's underwater kingdom until Zeus turned her into a monster and have her suck in and out water three times an day. She lived in a cave at one side of the Strait of Messina, opposite the monster Scylla, the two of them forming a dangerous threat to passing ships.
Norse Mythology
Fafnir
The great worm who, in the Old German Tale of the Volsungs, guards the treasures of light, and is slain by Sigurd.
Nidhogg
In Norse myth, Nidhogg ("tearer of corpses") is a monstrous serpent that gnaws almost perpetually at the deepest root of the World Tree Yggdrasil, threatening to destroy it. The serpent is always bickering with the eagle that houses in the top of the tree. Nidhogg lies on Nastrond in Niflheim and eats corpses to sustain itself. It is not the only serpent whose task it is to destroy the World Tree; other serpents include Graback, Grafvolluth, Goin and Moin.
Fenrir
Fenrir (or Fenris) is a gigantic and terrible monster in the shape of a wolf. He is the eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods learned of a prophecy which stated that the wolf and his family would one day be responsible for the destruction of the world. They caught the wolf and locked him in a cage. Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to feed and take care of the wolf. When he was still a pup they had nothing to fear, but when the gods saw one day how he had grown, they decided to render him harmless.
However, none of the gods had enough courage to face the gigantic wolf. Instead, they tried to trick him. They said the wolf was weak and could never break free when he was chained. Fenrir accepted the challenge and let the gods chain him. Unfortunately, he was so immensely strong that he managed to break the strongest fetters as if they were cobwebs.
After that, the gods saw only one alternative left: a magic chain. They ordered the dwarves to make something so strong that it could hold the wolf. The result was a soft, thin ribbon: Gleipnir. It was incredibly strong, despite what its size and appearance might suggest. The ribbon was fashioned of six strange elements: the footstep of a cat; the roots of a mountain; a woman's beard; the breath of fishes; the sinews of a bear; and a bird's spittle.
The gods tried to trick the wolf again, only this time Fenrir was less eager to show his strength. He saw how thin the chain was, and said that was no pride in breaking such a weak chain. Eventually, though, he agreed, thinking that otherwise his strength and courage would be doubted. Suspecting treachery however, he in turn asked the gods for a token of good will: one of them had to put a hand between his jaws. The gods were not overly eager to do this, knowing what they could expect. Finally, only Tyr agreed, and the gods chained the wolf with Gleipnir. No matter how hard Fenrir struggled, he could not break free from this thin ribbon. In revenge, he bit off Tyr's hand.
Being very pleased with themselves, the gods carried Fenrir off and chained him to a rock (called Gioll) a mile down into the earth. They put a sword between his jaws to prevent him from biting. On the day of Ragnarok, Fenrir will break his chains and join the giants in their battle against the gods. He will seek out Odin and devour him. Vidar, Odin's son, will avenge his father by killing the wolf.
Jormungand
In Norse mythology, Jormungand is one of the three children of the god Loki and his wife, the giantess Angrboda. The gods were well aware that this monster was growing fast and that it would one day bring much evil upon gods and men. So Odin deemed it advisable to render it harmless. He threw the serpent in the ocean that surrounds the earth, but the monster had grown to such an enormous size that it easily spans the entire world, hence the name Midgard Serpent. It lies deep in the ocean where it bites itself in its tail, and all mankind is caught within his coils.
At the destruction of the universe, Jormungand and Thor will kill each other.
Hindu Mythology
Shiva
The third deity of the Hindu triad of great gods, the Trimurti. Shiva is called the Destroyer, but has also the aspect of regeneration.
As destroyer he is dark and terrible, appearing as a naked ascetic accompanied by a train of hideous demons, encircled with serpents and necklaces of skulls. As au****ious and reproductive power, he is worshipped in the form of the Linga, or phallus.
Shiva is depicted as white, with a dark-blue throat, with several arms and three eyes. He carries a trident and rides a white bull. His consort is Parvati (Devi)
Vritra
Vritra was one of the asuras, perhaps the most powerful of them all. His name means "Enveloper." He was a dragon or serpent who was said to be so huge that his coils surrounded mountains, and his head touched the sky. He was the bringer of drought, and his chief enemy was Indra.
In the Rig Veda, Vritra was a terrible fiend who gathered all the waters of the world into himself and cause a drought to cover the whole earth. The world became a wasteland. In a distant land, he hid in his fortress, hording his treasure so that the world drew ever more parched. Finally, Indra, who would become the king of the gods, was born. He took it upon himself to attack the demon and release the waters. Drinking immense amounts of Soma to give him the strength necessary, he set off to find his foe. First Indra stormed Vritra's ninety-nine fortresses, razing each in turn, then he met Vritra himself. The two fought a terrible battle, and in the end, Vritra was destroyed by Indra's thunderbolt. Indra then released the waters to flow back to the world.
In later times, the story changed dramatically, giving Vritra a much more sympathetic part. There was a Brahman named Tvashtri, who had a son named Trisiras. Indra was afraid of Trisiras, and ultimately slew him with his thunderbolt. Tvashtri wanted revenge, and created the demon Vritra to achieve it. Vritra challenged Indra, and was able to defeat the god and swallow him. The other gods were afraid at the loss of their king, and they conceived a plan to free him. They forced the demon to gag, and when he did, Indra sprang forth again and the battle continued. But Indra was still no match for his foe, and was compelled to flee. With the intervention of the rishis and Vishnu, a truce was agreed upon, but only if Indra agreed never to attack Vritra again with any weapon made of wood, metal, or stone, with anything dry or wet, or at any time during the day or night. Indra agreed but still wanted to slay Vritra. One day, he was by the sea. The sun was going down, and in the twilight a huge wave washed up on the shore, spraying a great column of foam. It was, at that time, neither day nor night. Indra realized that the foam from the sea was not wood, stone, or metal, nor was wet or dry. He seized the foam and brought it crashing down on the demon, who fell dead, for the foam was actually Vishnu incarnate.
In another version of the story, Vritra was killed by the mother goddess Sarasvati
Garuda
Garuda is one of the three principal animal deities in the Hindu Mythology that has evolved after the Vedic Period in Indian history. The other two are Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of the goddess Durgha, and Hanuman, the monkey god. It is after Garuda that the Indonesian National Airlines is named. Even today, Garuda is much revered by devout Hindus for his ethics and his strength in applying his ethics to correct evil-doers.
Garuda is the king of the birds. He mocks the wind with the speed of his flight. As the appointed charger of Vishnu he is venerated by all, including humans. Garuda is the son of Kashyap, a great sage, and Vinata, a daughter of Daksha, a famous king. He was hatched from an egg Vinata laid. He has the head, wings, talons, and beak of an eagle and the body and limbs of a man. He has a white face, red wings and golden body. When he was born he was so brilliant that he was mistaken for Agni, the god of fire, and worshipped.
Garuda was born with a great hatred for the evil and he is supposed to roam about the universe devouring the bad, though he spares Brahmins as his parents had forbidden him to eat them. Garuda is also well-known for his aversion to snakes, a dislike he had acquired from his mother, Vinata. There is a story behind this hatred of Garuda's mother. As it is quite interesting it is told hereafter.
Kashyap, Garuda's father, had two wives: Kadru, the elder, and Vinata, Garuda's mother, the younger. There was great rivalry between the
two wives. They could not stand each other. Once, they had an argument over the color of the horse Uchchaisravas, produced during the Churning of the Ocean just after the time of creation. Each chose a color and laid a wager on her own choice. The one who lost would become the other's slave. Kadru proved to be right and, as part of the agreement, imprisoned Vinata in the nether regions, Patala, where she was guarded by serpents. The serpents are, according to another myth, the sons of Kadru herself.
Garuda, on hearing of his mother's imprisonment, descended to Patala and asked the serpents to release Vinata. They agreed to do so and demanded as ransom a cup of amrita (ambrosia). So Garuda set off for the celestial mountain where the amrita was kept. Before he could get to the amrita he had to overcome three hazards set up by the gods to guard the celestial drink. First, Garuda came upon a ring of flames fanned by high winds. They roared and leapt up to the sky but Garuda drank up several rivers and extinguished the flames. Next, Garuda came upon a circular doorway. A very rapidly spinning wheel with sharp spikes on the spokes guarded it. Garuda made himself very small and slipped through the turning spokes. Lastly, Garuda had to defeat two fire-spitting serpents guarding the amrita. He flapped his wings rapidly and blew dust into the eyes of the monsters and blinded them. Then he cut them to pieces with his sharp beak. So Garuda finally reached the amrita and started to fly back with it to the nether regions but the gods anticipated his purpose and gave chase. Indra, king of the gods, struck him with his thunderbolt but Garuda proved a superior warrior and defeated the gods and continued unscathed on his journey to Patala.
When the serpents got the amrita they were overjoyed and released Vinata. Garuda got his mother back but he became an inveterate enemy of the serpents, the sons of his mother's rival Kadru. Also the serpents, the Nagas, symbolized evil and that automatically invoked Garuda's hatred.
As end-piece to this myth it must be told that, as the Nagas were about to consume the amrita Garuda had just brought them, the chasing gods entered Patala and Indra seized and took away the cup of amrita. Anyway, the serpents had just had time enough to lick a few drops of amrita and this was enough to make them immortal. Also, since the celestial drink was very strong, their tongues were split and that is why, to this day, serpents have forked tongues.
Ramuh (or Rama)
In Hindu myth, the seventh incarnation (or avatar) of Vishnu. He is the hero of the Indian Epic "Ramayana" (the story of Rama). Born as the prince of Ayodhya, he faces many tribulations, chief among which is being banished to the forest, due to the machinations of his stepmother. During his exile, his wife Sita is abducted by Ravanaa demon king of the Lanka island (Ceylon). With the aid of Hanuman, Rama rescues Sita and slays Ravana, and is crowned as the king of Ayodhya.
Narasinha
The man-lion, fourth incarnation of Vishnu. Vishnu is regarded as a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology. He is thought as the preserver of the universe while two other major Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva, are regarded respectively, as the creator and destroyer of the universe.
Mesopotamian mythology
Tiamat
In Babylonian myths, Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the personification of the freshwater abyss that lies beneath the Earth. From their union, saltwater with freshwater, the first pair of gods were born. They are Lachmu and Lachamu, parents of Ansar and Kisar, grandparents of Anu and Ea.
In the creation epic Enuma elish, written around 2000 BCE, their descendants started to irritate Tiamat and Apsu so they decided to kill their offspring. Ea discovered their plans and he managed to kill Apsu while the latter was asleep. Tiamat flew into a rage when she learned about Apsu's death and wanted to avenge her husband. She created an army of monstrous creatures, which was to be led by her new consort Kingu, who is also her son. Eventually, Tiamat was defeated by the young god Marduk, who was born in the deep freshwater sea.
Marduk cleaved her body in half, and from the upper half he created the sky and from the lower half he made the earth. From her water came forth the clouds and her tears became the source of the Tigris and the Euphratus. Kingu also perished, and from his blood Marduk created the first humans.
"The Deep" (Hebrew tehom) at the beginning of Genesis derives from Tiamat.
Arabic mythology
Ifrit
Able to take on human or animal appearance, Ifrits are large winged fire beasts. Living in their own tribes and communities, Ifrits lead social lives amongst themselves but can also have relationships with humans. They are impervious to weapons, but they can be harmed by properly used magic.
Bahamut
Floating in a fathomless sea, Bahamut is a gigantic fish. A giant bull, Kujata, lays upon its back, and upon him is a ruby mountain. Upon that is an angel, the six hells, and the earth, with the seven heavens at the top. The Bahamut is so large that human eyes cannot bear it. This is the Arabic version of Bahamut, the name "Bahamut" is included in several other mythologies
Roc
In Arabian legends, the Roc are gigantic birds, often referred to as 'the Great', and capable of carrying off elephants for food. They are found in various stories of 'The Thousand and One Nights', and are also mentioned to by Marco Polo on his travels. Their eggs, according to Sinbad the Sailor, could measure up to 50 paces in circumference.
Hebrew mythology
Leviathan
Literally, "coiled". In the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, the Leviathan is some sort of chaos animal in the shape of a crocodile or a serpent. In other bible texts it is taken to mean a whale or dolphin, because the animal is there described as living in the sea. Later the Leviathan became a symbol of evil, an anti-divine power (some sort of devil) which will be destroyed on Judgement Day.
The Leviathan appears in more than one religion. In Canaanite mythology and literature, it is a monster called Lotan, 'the fleeing serpent, the coiling serpent, the powerful with the seven heads'. It was eventually killed by Baal. The Leviathan is also the Ugaritic god of evil.
"This great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein."
-- Ps. civ, 25-26
Behemoth
In the Old Testament (book of Job, verse 40:10), behemoth is the name for a very large animal, like the hippopotamus or crocodile. They both play a part in the Apocalyptic, as monsters that must be killed. In later Christian religion, the behemoth is identified with Satan.
Persian mythology
Simurgh
In Persian legend Simurgh is a gigantic, winged monster in the shape of a bird; a kind of peacock with the head of a dog and the claws of a lion. Its natural habitat is a place with plenty of water. According to legend, the creature is so old that it has seen the world destroyed three times over. In all that time, Simurgh has learned so much that it is thought to possess the knowledge of all ages.
Egyptian mythology
Serket
"She who causes the throat to breath". An Egyptian scorpion-goddess, and an early a tutelary deity of the Egyptian monarchs. She is one of the goddess who guards the canopic jars containing the viscera of the deceased. From this association she came to be a tutelary goddess of the dead. She is represented as a woman with a scorpion on her head or with a scorpion-shaped headdress, but also with a scorpion body and a human head. Serket was called upon to avert venomous bites and stings.
Japanese mythology
Kirin
The Japanese unicorn, an animal-god who punishes the wicked with its single horn. It protects the just and grants them good luck. Seeing a kirin is considered an omen of extreme good luck - if one is a virtuous person.
Chinese
Suzaku
The red bird of summer, guardian of the south. Suzaku is represented by a Bird (though Suzaku does hint at having properties of the legendary Phoenix which is known to die in its own flames and be reborn anew). Because of its association with the heat and fiery temperatures of summer, Suzaku is usually red in color, and may contribute to some people's conclusion that Suzaku is more like the phoenix than an ordinary bird. Red also has connotations of being a color associated with romance and love, and it is from love that Suzaku draws his strength. Suzaku has a multicolored plume like a peacock's, and is meant to emphasize its rarity and beauty, as well as its virtue as a guardian deity.
Genbu
The black turtle of winter, guarian of the north. The Tortoise is representative of endurance, wisdom, and longetivity, and is also sometimes used in terms of divination. Though in the series Genbu is shown to be greenish in color, its real color is black, due to the fact that Winter was perceived to be the twilight or end of the seasons.
Seiryu
The blue draon of spring, guardian of the east. While at times the color of Spring is usually green, Seiryu is depicted as a blue Dragon in part because Dragons were thought of by the ancient Chinese to be aquatic creatures that reside in the sea. Spring is also thought of to be a rainy season, so the color blue is also indicative of water. As one of the oldest, most powerful, and respected of all Chinese mythological creatures, the dragon was usually symbolic of authority and strength, and was usually worn as such by major figures of power or the royalty.
Byakko
The white tiger of fall, guardian of the west.Tigers in Chinese mythology represent ferocious defense like metal or steel when it comes to soldiering. They were also considered to be natural guardians and the king of all animals (and thus their protector). The white color is possibly from an original myth that stated that a piece of metal left behind at a king's grave supposedly turns into a white tiger to guard it from being defiled. White can also be a part of the symbolism of autumn, as things are still alive, but are growing "old" and gray at this time of the year.
Citipati
Buddhist graveyard demons of Tibet. They are portrayed as dancing skeletons.
Mayan mythology
Zipacna
Zipacna was a great giant in Mayan mythology, written about in the Popul Vuh, a compilation of Mayan myths and legends. He was brother of Cabrakan and son of Vucub Caquix, the Great Macaw. These three were considered by the gods to be the most arrogant of all at that time.
They therefore dispatched the hero twins, Hun-Apu and Ixbalanque to slay them. These two boys were the undoing of this great giant. The creation of the Pleiades star cluster is also attributed to Zipacna.
The story of his death is thus. It started when a band of 400 young men, spurred on by the gods to kill Zipacna, conspired a plan to slay the Titan. They first began to construct a great hut in which they could all live. They then went to a part of the forest, through which they knew Zipacna would have to pass. There, they felled a huge tree and waited for Zipacna to approach. When he finally arrived, he mocked the boys for they complained that their combined strength could not lift this great log. And so in his arrogance, Zipacna lifted the log for them and bid them lead him to their hut.
When they arrived, the 400 bid him go down into a large hole, which the boys had supposedly dug for the log to go to act as the main support for this structure. Zipacna descended with the tree and no sooner had he reached the bottom, when the boys began to hurl rocks, stones and earth down upon him. However, the giant was not as stupid as the boys had thought and he quickly retreated into a side passage the boys had dug as a cellar for their new house. The hole was soon filled with the rubbish and mud the boys had thrown upon the beast and so, thinking the Titan slain, they began to celebrate and became very drunk.
But when the merriment was at its highest, Zipacna struck. He used his mighty strength and rose up from the ground with such force, that he hurled the boys high into the sky and the hut was smashed into pieces. The boys were hurled so high, that they left the earth and now reside in the Pleiades waiting for a chance to return to the Earth. However, this did not stop the hero twins in their quest to slay Zipacna.
The boys decided to trick Zipacna as the 400 had done and so they constructed a huge artificial crab and left it by a river in a small valley. They also undermined a nearby mountain and waited for the giant to pass. When he was nearby, the twins went to him and asked what he was doing. Zipacna replied that he was seeking his daily food. The boys pointed out the great crab to the giant and mentioned that it would provide him with a hearty meal. Zipacna strode into the valley and before he knew what was happening, the twins, with the help of the gods, cast the mountain down upon him. And that was the end of Zipacna.
Aztec mythology
Xolotl
In Aztec and Toltec mythology, Xolotl is the god of lightning who guides the dead to the Mictlan. The Aztec regard him as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. As lord of the evening star and personification of Venus, he pushes the sun at sunset towards the ocean and guards her during the night on her dangerous journey through the underworld. Xolotl is represented as a skeleton, or as a man with the head of a dog.
Celtic Mythology
Faust
Various medeival legends about Faust and his dealings with Mephistopheles(satan). In all the legends Faust ends up losing his soul, as one always tends to do when dealing with the devils.
Others
Carbuncle
English word meaning:
1. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex.
2. A red precious stone.
Ullikummi
An ancient Anatolian demon.
Lioumere
A terrifying demoness from the Caroline Islands. She has iron teeth, which possesses great magical power, if a man could get hold of one.