The Titans were the 12 gods who ruled the world before the Olympians |
Titans |
Some of their children, like Atlas or Prometheus, are counted as Titans too |
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Cronus, King of the Titans, ate his children so that they would not usurp him |
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The Titans were overthrown by the Olympians after a great war of gods |
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The word "Titan" has come to mean powerful, strong or big |
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"Heaven" for Vikings was Valhalla. It was only for warriors who died in battle |
Norse Myth |
Vikings believed that rainbows were bridges between Midgard and Asgard |
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The Christian Hell is named after the Norse Hel which was dark and cold |
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Wednesday is named after Wodan, the Anglo Saxon name for Odin |
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The Norse world will end with Ragnarok, a climactic battle between the gods |
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The Olympians were the most important Greek gods. Their king was Zeus |
Olympians |
The Olympians take their name from Mount Olympus where they lived |
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Not all Olympians though. Hades had the underworld and Poseidon the sea |
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Zeus and his brothers drew lots to decide who would rule where |
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Zeus was the father of 7 of the 12 Olympians, mostly with different mothers |
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In Abrahamic myth all humans are descended from Adam and Eve |
Abrahamic Myth |
One of the most famous Christian myths is that of St George and the dragon |
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The Tower of Babel myth explains why humans speak different languages |
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Islamic myth has three races besides humans: angels, demons and jinn |
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In the flood myth God killed all humans except for Noah and his family |
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Rome is named after its mythical founder Romulus |
Roman Gods |
Romans believed they were descended from the Trojan hero Aeneas |
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Juno was the patron goddess of Rome. She is based on the Greek Hera |
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The Romans believed that their emperors were gods |
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Much of Roman mythology is "borrowed" from the Ancient Greeks |
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In Powhatan myth the world was created by a hare |
Amerindian Myth |
The Pima disagree. To them the creator was a butterfly |
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The Aztecs had many different gods, devoted to art, corn and other things |
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Manco Cápac was the mythological founder of Inca civilisation |
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In Mayan myth humans made a deal with rats, to let them eat excess crops |
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The most famous British mythical hero is King Arthur |
Heroes |
Väinämöinen is a Finnish hero. He is old and wise with a magical voice |
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The Jewish hero Noah is largely borrowed from Sumerian myth |
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The myth of Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving pieces of Old English |
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The most famous of all heroes has to be Heracles |
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Chang’e is the Chinese moon goddess |
Eastern Myth |
In Korean myth the world began when Mireuk split heaven and earth |
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In Hittite myth the mountain Zaliyanu was the god of the weather |
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The Mahabharata is a mythological epic in Hindu culture |
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Ahriman was the Persian god of destruction and evil |
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Endymion became immortal. However, his eternal life is spent forever asleep |
Immortals |
Tithonus was also given eternal life, but he was turned into an insect! |
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In Christian myth the Wandering Jew was cursed with eternal life |
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Nicolas Flamel was a scribe who allegedly found the secret to immortality |
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In Hindu myth Mahavatar Babaji is a sage who will never die |
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In Bushmen myth men and animals once lived in harmony underground |
African Myth |
Ethiopia's royal family claims descent from the mythical Queen of Sheba |
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In Ashanti myth Anansi is a trickster god who takes the form of a spider |
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Taweret was the Egyptian fertility goddess. She took the form of a hippo |
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Nyami Nyami is the snake-like river god of the Zambezi |
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