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Greek: .·• Argus • Hecatonchires • Anthropomorphic Gods • Centaurs • Satyrs • Nymphs • Cyclops • Fauns • Brownies • Kobolds • Griffin • Harpies • Gaea • Hydra • Sirens • Greek Sphinx • Cerberus • Triton • Pan • Cecrops • Chimera • Minotaur • Pegasus • Chrysomallus • Gorgon •·.
Egyptian: .·• Half Animal Gods • Apis • Anubis •·.
Hindu: .·• Garuda • Apsaras •·.
Middle East: .·• Dagon •·.
Scandinavian: .·• Trolls •·.
General: .·• Unicorn •·.

Greek Characters

Gaea - Mother Earth: Grew in Chaos
Uranus - Lord of the Universe, God of the Sky: Gaea's son
The Titans: Oceanus, Hyperion, Themis, Rhea, Thethys, Mnemosyne, Coeus, Crius, Theia, Phoebe, Iapetus, Cronus; Children of Chronus and Gaea
Cyclopes - Great Builders and Smiths: Son of Cronus and Rhea
Hecatoncheires - Guards of the Titans: Son of Cronus and Rhea

The Gods & Goddesses

Hestia - Goddess of the Hearth: Daughter of Cronus and Rhea
Demeter - Goddess of the Harvest, Grain, and Fertility: Daughter of Cronus and Rhea
Persephone: Daughter of Demeter; Wife to Hades
Hera - Goddess of Marriage and Children: Daughter of Cronus and Rhea; Wife of Zeus
Hades - God of the Underworld (Has a Helmet of Darkness grants invisibility.): Son of Cronus and Rhea; Husband to Persephone
Poseidon - God of the Sea and Earthquakes, Creator and unofficial lord of Horses (Has a Trident that can split the seas.): Son of Cronus and Rhea; Husband of the sea goddess Amphitrite
Zeus - King of the Gods, God of Heaven & Earth. (Has Thunderbolts that can shake the heavens.): Son of Cronus and Rhea; Husband of the Titan daughter Metis, & Hera
Aphrodite - Goddess of Love and Beauty: Rose from the Sea on a cushion of Foam; Wife of Hephaestus
Iris - Messenger of the Gods (Has her own rainbow path to Earth.)
Hephaestus - God of Fire and Blacksmiths: Son of Zeus and Hera; Husband of Aphrodite
Eros - God of Love: Rumored to be the son of Aphrodite and Ares
Ares - God of War: Son of Zeus and Hera
Athena - Goddess of Wisdom, War, and Arts and Crafts: Daughter of Zeus and Metis; No time for Marriage
Hermes - Messenger of Zeus, Herald of the Gods: Son of Zeus and the nymph Maia
Apollo - God of the Sun, Music, Poetry, Archery, Healing, and Prophecy: Son of Zeus and the goddess Leto, Twin to Artemis
Artemis - Goddess of the Moon, Wildlife, Hunting, and Chastity: Daughter of Zeus and the goddess Leto, Twin to Apollo
Dionysus - God of Wine and Vegetation: Son of Zeus and the mortal princess Semele

Mythical Beings (Mostly Greek)

100-Eyed Giant

Argus, in Greek mythology, a 100-eyed giant, also called Panoptes (Greek for "the all-seeing"). Argus was assigned to guard Io, the mistress of Zeus, by Zeus's jealous wife Hera, after Zeus had changed Io into a heifer to conceal her from Hera. The god Hermes, dispatched by Zeus to rescue Io, slew Argus by lulling him to sleep with music and then severing his head. In one version of the story, Argus subsequently became a peacock; in another, Hera transplanted his eyes onto the peacock's tail.

Argus was also the name of the builder of the Argo, the ship that carried the Greek hero Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece (see Argonauts). Also known by the name Argus was the old dog of Odysseus, Greek leader during the Trojan War. When his master returned to Ithaca after 19 years, Argus recognized him and promptly died.

100-Handed, 50-Headed

Cronus, in Greek mythology, ruler of the universe during the Golden Age. He was one of the 12 Titans and the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, the personifications of heaven and earth. The first sons of his parents were the three Hecatonchires, the 100-handed, 50-headed monsters whom Uranus had imprisoned in a secret place. Gaea sought to rescue them and appealed for help from her other offspring, including the Cyclopes. Cronus alone accepted the challenge. He attacked Uranus and wounded him severely; Cronus thus became the ruler of the universe.

Anthropomorphic Gods

Anthropomorphism (Greek anthropos,"human being"; morphe,"shape"), attribution of human form or qualities to that which is not human. In the history of religion, anthropomorphism refers to the depiction of God in a human image, with human bodily form and emotions, such as jealousy, wrath, or love. Whereas mythology is exclusively concerned with anthropomorphic gods, other religious thought holds that it is inappropriate to regard an omnipotent, omnipresent God as human. In order to speak of God, however, metaphorical language must be employed. In philosophy and theology, seemingly anthropomorphic concepts and language are used because it is impossible to think of God without attributing to him some human traits. In the Bible, for example, God is endowed with physical characteristics and human emotions, but at the same time he is understood to be transcendent. In art and literature, anthropomorphism is the depiction of natural objects, such as animals or plants, as talking, reasoning, sentient, humanlike beings.

The earliest critique of anthropomorphism in the West was made by Xenophanes, a Greek philosopher of the 5th century BC. Xenophanes observed that whereas the Ethiopians represented the gods as dark-skinned, the northerners in Thrace depicted the gods with red hair and blue eyes. He concluded that anthropomorphic representations of the gods invariably reveal more about the human beings who make them than they reveal about the divine. The Greek philosopher Plato likewise objected to a human representation of the gods; in the dialogue The Republic, he particularly opposed the attribution of human failings to divine beings. Both Xenophanes and Plato wished to purify religion by eliminating elements that they considered primitive and crude.

Nineteenth-century German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel held that Greek anthropomorphic religion represented an improvement over the worship of gods in the shape of animals, a practice called theriomorphism (Greek therion,"animal"; morphe,"shape"). Hegel also maintained that Christianity brought the notion of anthropomorphism to maturity by insisting not only that God assumed a human form, but also that Jesus Christ was both a fully human person as well as fully divine. Because Christianity incorporates humanity into the very nature of divinity, it has been accused of anthropomorphism by both Jewish and Islamic thinkers.

Centaurs, Satyrs, & Nymphs

Dionysus, god of wine and pleasure, was among the most popular gods. The Greeks devoted many festivals to this earthly god, and in some regions he became as important as Zeus. He often was accompanied by a host of fanciful gods, including satyrs, centaurs, and nymphs. Satyrs were creatures with the legs of a goat and the upper body of a monkey or human. Centaurs had the head and torso of a man and the body of a horse. The beautiful and charming nymphs haunted woods and forests.

(Half goat, and half monkey or human can also be a Satyr.)

Centaurs

Centaurs, in Greek mythology, a race of monsters believed to have inhabited the mountain regions of Thessaly (Thessalia) and Arcadia. They were usually represented as human down to the waist, with the lower torso and legs of a horse. The centaurs were characterized by savageness and violence; they were known for their drunkenness and lust and were often portrayed as followers of Dionysus, the god of wine. The centaurs were driven from Thessaly when, in a drunken frenzy, they attempted to abduct the bride of the king of the Lapiths from her wedding feast. An exception to their bestial behavior was the centaur Chiron, who was noted for his goodness and wisdom. Several Greek heroes, including Achilles and Jason, were educated by him.

Satyrs

Satyrs, in Greek mythology, deities of the woods and mountains, with horns and tails and sometimes with the legs of a goat. The satyrs were the companions of Dionysus, god of wine, and spent their time pursuing nymphs, drinking wine, dancing, and playing the syrinx, flute, or bagpipes.

Nymphs

Nymphs, in Greek and Roman mythology, lesser divinities or spirits of nature, dwelling in groves and fountains, forests, meadows, streams, and the sea, represented as young and beautiful maidens, fond of music and dancing. The nymphs were distinguished according to the part of nature they personified, and included the Oceanids, or daughters of Oceanus, the ocean that flows around the earth; the Nereids, or daughters of the sea god Nereus, nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea; the Potameides, river nymphs; the Naiads, nymphs of springs and freshwater streams; the Oreads, nymphs of mountains and grottoes; and the Dryads, nymphs of the forests.

Cyclops, One-Eyed Giant

Polyphemus, in Greek mythology, a Cyclops, the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and of the nymph Thoösa. During his wanderings after the Trojan War, the Greek hero Odysseus and his men were cast ashore on Polyphemus's island home, Sicily. The enormous giant penned the Greeks in his cave and began to devour them. Odysseus then gave Polyphemus some strong wine and when the giant had fallen into a drunken stupor, bored out his one eye with a burning stake. The Greeks then escaped by clinging to the bellies of his sheep. Poseidon punished Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus by causing him many troubles in his subsequent wanderings by sea. In another legend, Polyphemus was depicted as a huge, one-eyed shepherd, unhappily in love with the sea nymph Galatea.

Fauns

Faunus, in Roman mythology, the grandson of the god Saturn, worshiped as the god of the fields and of shepherds. He was believed to speak to people through the sounds of the forest and in nightmares. Faunus is the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Pan. He was attended by the fauns, creatures half men and half goats, the counterparts of the Greek satyrs. In some legends Faunus was identified as an early king of Latium, who taught his people how to plant crops and breed stock. He was also credited with introducing the religious system of the country and was honored after his death as a god.

Brownies, Kobolds, & Robin Goodfellow

Brownie, in the popular folklore of Scotland, a good-natured, invisible, household goblin who lives in farmhouses and other country dwellings. While the people are asleep, the brownie performs their labors for them. If offered payment for his services, the brownie disappears and is never seen again. Brownies resemble Robin Goodfellow of English folklore. In Germany a similar spirit is called a Kobold.

Part Eagle, Part Lion, Part Serpent or Griffin

Griffin, legendary creature, usually represented in literature and art as having the head, beak, and wings of an eagle, the body and legs of a lion, and occasionally a serpent's tail. The griffin seems to have originated in the Middle East, as it is found in the paintings and sculptures of the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. The Romans used the griffin merely for decorative purposes in friezes and on table legs, altars, and candelabra. The griffin motif appeared in early Christian times in the bestiaries, or beast allegories, of St. Basil and St. Ambrose. Stone replicas of griffins frequently served as gargoyles in the Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages. The griffin is still a familiar device in heraldry and is thought to represent strength and vigilance.

Harpies

Harpies, in Greek mythology, foul creatures with the heads of old women and the bodies, wings, beaks, and claws of birds. They could fly with the speed of the wind, and their feathers, which could not be pierced, served as armor. The Harpies frequently snatched up mortals and carried them off to the underworld, always leaving behind a sickening odor.

One of the many perils to be overcome by the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece was an encounter with these dread, half-human creatures, who were slowly starving a pathetic old man by befouling his food before he could eat it. The Argonauts were on the point of killing the creatures when Iris, goddess of the rainbow, intervened. At her request they merely drove the Harpies away. The Trojan prince Aeneas also came upon the Harpies, but he and his crew put out to sea to escape them.

Personification of Mother Earth

Gaea or Ge, in Greek mythology, the personification of Mother Earth, and the daughter of Chaos. She was the mother and wife of Father Heaven, who was personified as Uranus. They were the parents of the earliest living creatures: the Titans; the Cyclopes; and the Giants, or Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Ones). Fearing and hating the Giants, despite the fact that they were his sons, Uranus imprisoned them in a secret place on earth, leaving the Cyclopes and Titans at large. Gaea, enraged at this favoritism, persuaded her son, the Titan Cronus, to overthrow his father. He emasculated Uranus, and from his blood Gaea brought forth the Giants and the three avenging goddesses the Erinyes. Her last and most terrifying offspring was Typhon, a 100-headed monster, who, although conquered by the god Zeus, was believed to spew forth the molten lava flows of Mount Etna.

Nine-Headed Serpent or Hydra

Hydra (mythology), in Greek mythology, nine-headed monster that dwelled in a marsh near Lerna, Greece. A menace to all of Árgos, it had fatally poisonous breath and when one head was severed, grew two in its place; its central head was immortal. Hercules, sent to kill the serpent as the second of his 12 labors, succeeded in slaying it by burning off the eight mortal heads and burying the ninth, immortal head under a huge rock. The term hydra is commonly applied to any complex situation or problem that continually poses compounded difficulties.

Part Bird, Part Woman

Sirens, in Greek mythology, sea nymphs, who have the bodies of birds and the heads of women, and who are the daughters of the sea god Phorcys. In another version they are the daughters of the river god Achelous. The Sirens had such sweet voices that mariners who heard their songs were lured into grounding their boats on the rocks on which the nymphs sang. The Greek hero Odysseus was able to pass their island in safety because, following the advice of the sorceress Circe, he plugged the ears of his companions with wax and had himself firmly bound to the mast of the ship so that he could hear the songs without danger. According to another legend, the Argonauts escaped the Sirens because Orpheus, who was on board their ship, the Argo, sang so sweetly that he drowned out the song of the nymphs. According to later legends, the Sirens, upset at the escape of Odysseus or at the victory of Orpheus, threw themselves into the sea and perished.

Part Woman, Part Bird, Part Lion

Sphinx, in Greek mythology, monster with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird. Lying crouched on a rock, she accosted all who were about to enter the city of Thebes by asking them a riddle, "What is it that has four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" If they could not solve the riddle, she killed them. When the hero Oedipus solved the riddle by answering, "Man, who crawls on four limbs as a baby, walks upright on two as an adult, and walks with the aid of a stick in old age," the sphinx killed herself. For ridding them of this terrible monster, the Thebans made Oedipus their king.

In ancient Egypt, sphinxes were statues representing deities, with the body of a lion and the head of some other animal or of man, frequently a likeness of the king. The most famous of all Egyptian sphinxes is the Great Sphinx of Giza, near the pyramids. Dating from before 2500BC, the Great Sphinx is about 20 m (about 66 ft) high and about 73 m (about 240 ft) long.

Part Dog, Part Dragon

Cerberus, in Greek mythology, a three-headed, dragon-tailed dog that guarded the entrance to the lower world, or Hades. The monster permitted all spirits to enter Hades, but would allow none to leave. Only a few heroes ever escaped Cerberus's guard; the great musician Orpheus charmed it with his lyre, and the Greek hero Hercules captured it bare-handed and brought it for a short time from the underworld to the regions above. In Roman mythology both the beautiful maiden Psyche and the Trojan prince Aeneas were able to pacify Cerberus with a honey cake and thus continue their journey through the underworld. Cerberus is sometimes pictured with a mane of snakes and 50 heads.

Part Human, Part Fish

Triton, in Greek mythology, trumpeter of the deep, the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and of his wife Amphitrite. He lived with his parents in a golden palace in the depths of the sea, but sometimes went to the coast of Libya, where he once came to the aid of the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. Human in form to the waist, but with the tail of a fish, Triton blew loudly upon his large seashell to raise great storms and blew gently to calm the waves. In later legends, the attendants of the water deities were known as Tritons, and they had a similar appearance.

Part Human, Part Goat - Pan

Pan, in Greek mythology, god of shepherds and flocks. He was believed to be responsible for their fertility. Born in Arcadia, Pan was depicted with human arms and a human torso but with the ears, horns, and legs of a goat. His father was the god Hermes and his mother was either Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, or the nymph Callisto. Pan was especially fond of remote mountains and caves and was believed to be responsible for the sudden, inexplicable fear, or panic, that can overtake travelers in such surroundings.

There are only a few myths concerning Pan. A famous tale relates how he invented the panpipes, or syrinx, when a nymph he was chasing was transformed into a stand of reeds to escape his advances. Pan fashioned the instrument from one of the reeds and named it after the nymph. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Pan appeared to the Athenian courier Phidippides on the eve of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, promising to aid Athens against the invading Persians. After their victory, the Athenians dedicated a shrine to Pan on the slope of the Acropolis. In the 2nd century AD the Greek essayist Plutarch recorded that during the reign of Emperor Tiberius travelers sailing along the west coast of Greece heard a loud voice proclaiming the death of the great god Pan. In Christian legend, this story was associated with the Passion of Christ, which occurred during the reign of Tiberius, and was held to portend the victory of Christ over the pagan gods.

Part Human, Part Serpent

Cecrops, in Greek mythology, the founder of Athens and of Greek civilization. Reputed to have sprung half man, half serpent from the soil, he became the first king of Attica, which he divided into 12 communities. He established marriage and property laws, introduced bloodless sacrifice and burial of the dead, and invented writing. During his 50-year rule he arbitrated a dispute over possession of Athens between Athena and Poseidon, awarding it to Athena.

Part Lion, Part Goat, Part Dragon

Chimera, in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing monster that had the head of a lion, the body of a she-goat, and the tail of a dragon. It terrorized Lycia, a region in Asia Minor, but was finally killed by the Greek hero Bellerophon.

Part Male, Part Female

Hermaphroditus, in Greek mythology, a youth who was transformed by the gods into a being half male and half female, after a nymph, whose love he had rejected, prayed to be forever united with him.

Part Man, Part Bull

Minotaur, in Greek mythology, monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. It was the offspring of Pasiphaë, queen of Crete, and a snow-white bull the god Poseidon had sent to Pasiphaë's husband, King Minos. When Minos refused to sacrifice the beast, Poseidon made Pasiphaë fall in love with it. After she gave birth to the Minotaur, Minos ordered the architect and inventor Daedalus to build a labyrinth so intricate that escape from it without assistance would be impossible. Here the Minotaur was confined and fed with young human victims Minos forced Athens to send him as tribute. The Greek hero Theseus was determined to end the useless sacrifice and offered himself as one of the victims. When Theseus reached Crete (Kríti), Minos's daughter Ariadne fell in love with him. She helped him escape by giving him a ball of thread, which he fastened to the door of the maze and unwound as he made his way through it. When he came upon the sleeping Minotaur, he beat the monster to death and then led the other sacrificial youths and maidens to safety by following the thread back to the entrance.

Winged Horse

Pegasus (mythology), in Greek mythology, winged horse, son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus sprang from Medusa's neck when she was killed by the hero Perseus. Shortly after its birth, the magic steed struck the ground on Mount Helicon, and on the spot a spring, later sacred to the Muses and believed to be a source for poetic inspiration, began to flow. All longed in vain to catch and tame the creature, and this became the obsession of Bellerophon, prince of Corinth. On the advice of a seer, Bellerophon spent a night in the temple of the goddess Athena. As he slept, the goddess appeared to him with a golden bridle and told him that it would enable him to capture Pegasus. When Bellerophon awoke, he found the golden bridle beside him, and with it he easily captured and tamed the winged horse. Pegasus thereafter proved to be a great help to Bellerophon and aided the hero in his adventures against the Amazons and the Chimaera. Bellerophon was overcome by his own pride, however. When he attempted to fly to the top of Olympus to join the gods, the wise horse threw him, leaving Bellerophon to wander disconsolately about, hated by the gods. Pegasus found shelter in the Olympian stalls and was entrusted by Zeus with bringing him his lightning and thunderbolts.

Winged Ram Chrysomallus, Who Bore the Golden Fleece

Golden Fleece, in Greek mythology, the fleece of the winged ram Chrysomallus. The ram was sent by the god Hermes to rescue Phrixus and Helle, the two children of the Greek king Athamas and his wife, Nephele. Athamas had grown indifferent to his wife and had taken Ino, the daughter of King Cadmus, for his second wife. Ino hated her stepchildren, especially Phrixus, because she wanted her own son to succeed to the throne. Realizing that her children were in grave danger because of the jealousy of their stepmother, Nephele prayed to the gods for help. Hermes sent her Chrysomallus, the winged ram, whose fleece was made of gold. The ram snatched the children up and bore them away on his back. Soaring into the air, he flew eastward, but as he was crossing the strait that divides Europe and Asia, Helle slipped from his back and fell into the water. The strait where she was drowned was named for her: the Sea of Helle, or the Hellespont. The ram safely landed Phrixus in Colchis, a country on the Black Sea that was ruled by King Aeëtes. There he was hospitably received and, in gratitude to the gods for saving his life, sacrificed Chrysomallus at the temple of the god Zeus. Phrixus then gave the precious Golden Fleece to Aeëtes, who placed it in a sacred grove under the watchful eye of a dragon that never slept.

Many years later, the Argonauts led by Phrixus's cousin, the Greek hero Jason, recovered the Golden Fleece with the help of the daughter of King Aeëtes, the sorceress Medea who, out of love for Jason, put the dragon to sleep.

Winged, Part Human, Part Dragon, Hair of Snakes

Gorgon, in Greek mythology, one of three monstrous daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his wife, Ceto. The Gorgons were terrifying, dragonlike creatures, covered with golden scales and having snakes for hair. They had huge wings and round, ugly faces; their tongues were always hanging out, and they had large, tusklike teeth. They lived on the farthest side of the western ocean, shunned because their glance turned persons to stone.

Two of the Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale, were immortal; Medusa alone could be killed. The hero Perseus, a gallant but foolish young man, volunteered to kill Medusa and bring back her head. With the help of the deities Hermes and Athena, Perseus cut off Medusa's head. From her blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus, her son by the god Poseidon.

Mythical Beings (Egyptian)

Part Human, Part Animal Gods

The Egyptian gods were represented with human torsos and human or animal heads. Sometimes the animal or bird expressed the characteristics of the god. Ra, for example, had the head of a hawk, and the hawk was sacred to him because of its swift flight across the sky; Hathor, the goddess of love and laughter, was given the head of a cow, which was sacred to her; Anubis was given the head of a jackal because these animals ravaged the desert graves in ancient times; Mut was vulture headed and Thoth was ibis headed; and Ptah was given a human head, although he was occasionally represented as a bull, called Apis. Because of the gods to which they were attached, the sacred animals were venerated, but they were never worshiped until the decadent 26th Dynasty. The gods were also represented by symbols, such as the sun disk and hawk wings that were worn on the headdress of the pharaoh.

Human with Bull Head

Apis, sacred bull of the ancient Egyptians. It was known to them as Hapi and was regarded as the incarnation of Osiris or of Ptah. A court was set apart for Apis in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It was believed that when Apis died, a new Apis appeared and had to be searched out; he would be recognizable by certain sacred marks upon his body, such as his color (mainly black) and a knot under his tongue. Apis is sometimes represented as a man with the head of a bull.

Human with Jackal Head

Anubis, in Egyptian mythology, god of the dead. He was considered the inventor of embalming, the guardian of tombs, and a judge of the dead. The Egyptians believed that at the judgment he weighed the heart of the dead against the feather of truth. In art he is represented as jackal-headed. Anubis was sometimes identified with Hermes in Greek mythology.

Mythical Beings (Hindu)

Part Human, Part Bird

Garuda, in Hindu mythology, a giant bird god often depicted carrying the god Vishnu through the sky. The son of the sage Kasyapa and his wife Vinata, Garuda hatched from an egg laid by Vinata that had been incubated for 1000 years. Garuda appears in many Hindu myths, in one of two main roles: as a devourer of serpents or as the mount of Vishnu, the supreme god and protector of the world. In one myth, Vinata is enslaved by her co-wife and the sons of the co-wife, the nagas (serpents). In exchange for his mother, Garuda (also known as "serpent-slayer") brings the nagas an elixir of eternal life. In another myth, Garuda steals soma (the drink of the gods) for Vishnu, who allows him to be his mount. Garuda symbolically represents the ascent from the material plane to higher spiritual awareness. The serpents he seeks to destroy symbolize spiritual awareness in an earth-bound context. In popular Hindu belief, Garuda protects against snakes and devours all evil things. He is depicted in art as an emerald-colored eagle with golden wings, a falcon, a man with a falcon's beak, or a bird with a human head.

Apsaras

Apsaras (Sanskrit, moving in the water), in Hindu mythology, heavenly nymph of great beauty, often represented as a dancer at the court of the Hindu god Indra in svarga, his heavenly kingdom. In early Hindu sculptures apsarases are frequently depicted with Indra's musicians, the gandharvas, their heavenly consorts. Apsarases also appear in Buddhist art, such as the frescoes at the Ajanta caves, located in central India. The apsarases appear to have been originally water nymphs associated with rivers and seas, and who had superhuman powers and could change form at will. According to the Sanskrit histories of gods and primordial times-the Puranas-Apsarases arose from the sea of milk when it was churned in the dawn of mythical time to produce the magical food amrit for the deities called Devas. In certain mythological stories, Indra sends an Apsaras to earth to distract sages practicing austerities. For instance, in the story of Sakuntala, made famous by a classical Sanskrit play of the 5th-century Indian dramatist Kalidasa, Sakuntala's mother, the apsaras Menaka, is sent from heaven to distract and seduce Visvamitra, a sage who is gaining alarming levels of yogic power through his concentrated meditation. The most famous apsaras is Urvasi, who falls in love with the mortal Pururuvas, and vows to stay with him providing she never sees him naked. They live happily for a while, but the gandharvas, jealous of Urvasi's relationship with a mortal, contrive to trick Pururuvas into rushing out one night to rescue Urvasi's pet lamb, and send a flash of lightning to illuminate his nakedness. Urvasi disappears and Pururuvas is left in despair, until he is finally shown how he can transform himself into a gandharva and is thus reunited with Urvasi in svarga. An Apsaras would also serve as a reward to heroes fallen in combat, rushing to the battle site and carrying them into heaven. The changing perception and role of apsarases, from immortal women with remarkable sexual freedom to seductresses sent by Indra to distract holy men from their meditation, has been the subject of much analysis. In some areas of India, apsarases were worshipped as part of mother-goddess cults, and an association between apsarases and hierodules (temple prostitutes) is apparent in the early stories of Hindu mythology.

Mythical Beings (Middle East)

Part Man, Part Fish

Dagon, god of fertility worshiped by the Philistines and throughout the ancient Middle East. His cult is known to have existed as early as 2500BC, and a number of references to him are made in the Old Testament. The possible derivations of his name are numerous; from the Hebrew word for "grain"; from the Semitic word for "corn"; and from a Hebrew word for "fish." The last of these derivations gave rise to the common image of Dagon as a merman - half man, half fish. Dagon is also regarded as the legendary inventor of the plow.

Mythical Beings (Scandinavian)

Trolls

Troll, in Scandinavian mythology, a powerful giant that was an enemy of humans. Trolls lived in caves or in castles on hilltops, robbing and eating any travelers foolish enough to stray into their domain after dark. Huge, hard-skinned, and virtually indestructible, they could only be vanquished by sunlight, which would either turn them to stone or make them explode.

In later folklore, trolls were less awesome and malevolent. They committed specific acts of malice, such as stealing maidens, and also began to develop semimagical powers such as prophecy and shape-shifting. Outside Scandinavia trolls began to be associated with stories of the so-called little people who lived in mounds on the outer limits of cultivated land and performed acts of mischief.

Trolls are also found in literature. The 19th-century Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen used them in Peer Gynt (1867; English translation, 1892) as symbols of evil. In children's stories, trolls often live beneath bridges, harassing passers-by and exacting tolls. In The Hobbit (1937), by British writer J. R. R. Tolkien, they appear as highly dangerous but essentially slow-witted creatures. In the Moominland children's stories by 20th-century Finnish writer Tove Jansson, the Moomintrolls have metamorphosed into gentle creatures living in a rural paradise.

Mythical Beings (General)

White Horse with Twisted Horn

Unicorn, fabled beast, pure white in color, having the head and legs of a horse and a long, twisted horn set in the middle of its forehead. Symbolic of holiness and chastity, the unicorn was prominent in tapestries of the Middle Ages. It has been widely used in heraldic signs.

Greek Gods

Gaea

The earth, she grew out of a space known as Chaos. She first gave birth to Uranus, the sky. Their first children where the twelve giant Titans: Oceanus, Hyperion, Themis, Rhea, Thethys, Mnemosyne, Coeus, Crius, Theia, Phoebe, Iapetus, & Cronus.

The next where the Cyclopes, strong, one-eyed giants, and the Hecatoncheires, monsters each with a hundred arms and fifty heads.

Gaea was furious when Uranus threw the ugly Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires into Tartaus, the deepest pit in the Underworld, and urged the Titans to overthrow their father. The youngest, Cronus, was the only one who would.

Uranus

Lord of the Universe, God of the Sky. He threw his children the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires into Tartarus, and was later overthrown by his son Cronus, banished from the Earth.

Cronus

One of the Titans. Cronus attacked his father Uranus with a sickle and banished him from the Earth, and became Lord of the Universe. He was a cruel lord, and wouldn't free his brothers from Tartarus. He married his sister Rhea, and she bore him many children. But his was afraid that one of them might overthrow him like he had Uranus. He swallowed all of his

Rhea

One of the Titans, wife of Cronus. She was mortified that Uranus swallowed her children, and hid the youngest, Zeus, in a distant cave for him to be raised by gentle woodland nymphs, and be fed by the nymph-goat Amaltheia, and be guarded by the Curetes who would clash their weapons to hide the sound of his crying. She gave Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket to be swallowed instead of Zeus.

Zeus

Zeus was the youngest of Rhea and Cronus' children, sent away to live with woodland nymphs and nursed from Amaltheia's horn. Grateful, he gave them Amaltheia's horn, and made it into Cornucopia, the horn of plenty which never emptied of food, and placed her image among the stars as Capricorn.

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