Holy Grail - Myth Encyclopedia
According to medieval legend, the Holy Grail was the vessel from which Jesus Christ drank at the Last Supper, his final meal with his followers. Many works of literature describe the search for the Grail, which was believed to have sacred and mysterious powers.
Homer - Myth Encyclopedia
Homer is considered to be the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epics of ancient Greek literature.
Horatii - Myth Encyclopedia
According to Roman legend, the Horatii were triplets who defended Rome against Alba Longa. To avoid a costly battle, the two cities decided to settle their dispute with a duel between champions from each side.
Horatius - Myth Encyclopedia
Horatius, also called Horatius Cocles (meaning "one-eyed"), was a mythical Roman hero credited with saving Rome from Etruscan invaders in the 500s B.C. According to the legend, Horatius led a group of warriors who were defending the Sublician Bridge, which led across the Tiber River into Rome.
Horus - Myth Encyclopedia
Horus was one of the earliest and most important Egyptian gods. He was originally portrayed as a hawk or falcon and worshiped as a sun god and creator of the sky.
Huehuetcotl - Myth Encyclopedia
Huehueteotl was the Aztec god of fire and also the oldest god in the Aztec pantheon. He is typically shown as an aged man with a hunched back who carries a brazier—a pan for holding burning coals—on his head.
Huitzilopochtli - Myth Encyclopedia
Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war, was associated with the sun. His name, which means "hummingbird of the south," came from the Aztec belief that the spirits of warriors killed in battle followed the sun through the sky for four years.
Hunahpú and Xbalanqúc - Myth Encyclopedia
The twin gods Hunahpú and Xbalanqúe were heroes in the mythology of the Maya, a people of central America. Through bravery and quick thinking, they outwitted the lords of Xibalba, the underworld, and destroyed them.
Hydra - Myth Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a giant water snake with many heads that lived in a swamp near Lerna in the land of Argos. The number of heads is variously reported from as few as 5 to more than 100.
Hypnos - Myth Encyclopedia
The ancient Greeks said that Hypnos, the god of sleep, visited people during the dark of night to ease them into a state of rest. Hypnos hid from the sunlight during the day According to Greek myth, he was the son of Nyx, the goddess of night, and his brother was Thanatos, the god of death.
Idun - Myth Encyclopedia
In Norse* mythology, Idun (Iduna) was the goddess of spring and rebirth. She and her husband, Bragi, the god of music and poetry, lived in Asgard, the home of the gods.
Igaluk - Myth Encyclopedia
Igaluk is one of the names the Inuit people of North America use to refer to the god of the moon. According to Inuit legend, Igaluk was once a man who lived on earth.
Ile-Ife - Myth Encyclopedia
Ile-Ife, also known as Ife or Ife-Lodun, is the holy city of the Yoruba people who live in Nigeria in West Africa. Ile-Ife appears in myths as the birthplace of creation and the location where the first humans took form.
Iliad, The - Myth Encyclopedia
One of the greatest epics of ancient Greece, the Iliad tells of events during the final year of the Trojan War*. Iliad means "poem of Ilios," one of the names of the city of Troy in Asia Minor*.
Inanna - Myth Encyclopedia
An important goddess of the ancient Near East, Inanna was worshiped primarily as the goddess of love and fertility. The daughter of either the sky god Anu or the storm god Enlil, she was also associated with forces of nature such as rain and thunderstorms.
Inari - Myth Encyclopedia
In the mythology of Japan, the god Inari is associated mainly with the growing of rice. Because of the importance of this crop as a staple food in Japan, Inari is thought to bring prosperity not only to farmers but also to other groups of people, including merchants and traders.
Inca Mythology - Myth Encyclopedia
The Inca civilization flourished in the Andes mountains of South America during the A.D. 1400S and early 1500s.
Indra - Myth Encyclopedia
Indra was the ruler of the gods in early Hinduism. The son of the sky and the earth, he is a warrior god who protects people and animals and provides rain to water the land.
Inti - Myth Encyclopedia
In Inca mythology, Inti was the sun god and the supreme god of the Inca pantheon. The Incas believed that Inti was the ancestor of their people, linking him with the Inca emperor who was known as the "Son of the Sun." From the early 1400s to the mid-1500s, the Inca empire included much of western South America.
Io - Myth Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, Io was a young woman who was loved by Zeus, king of the gods. His attentions toward her aroused the jealousy of his wife, Hera *, and both deities used their powers in various ways to try to gain control over Io.
Iphigenia - Myth Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, Iphigenia appears in legends about the Trojan War*. She was killed by her father, Agamemnon, leader of the Greek forces, in exchange for favorable wind from the gods.
Ishtar - Myth Encyclopedia
In the ancient Near East, Ishtar was an important and widely worshiped mother goddess for many Semitic* peoples. The Sumerians* called her Inanna, and other groups of the Near East referred to her as Astarte.
Isis - Myth Encyclopedia
The great mother goddess of ancient Egypt, Isis was the sister and wife of the god Osiris*. Together these two deities played a major role in many stories in Egyptian mythology, particularly in myths about rebirth and resurrection.
Itzamná - Myth Encyclopedia
Itzamná was one of the most important deities of Mayan mythology. The ruler of the heavens and of day and night, he was often shown in Mayan art as a pleasant, toothless old man with a large nose.
Ivan the Terrible - Myth Encyclopedia
Ivan Vasilyevich, better known as Ivan the Terrible, was the first tsar of Russia. Crowned in 1547, he ruled Russia until his death in 1584.