Ancient Religions & Mythology, HEC-JAP
What did our ancestors believe in? What myths and stories did they use to explain the world around them and find meaning in it? How have their beliefs influenced modern religion and spirituality? Explore these questions and more while discovering notable traditions, figures, and legends that figured prominently in ancient religion and mythology.
Ancient Religions & Mythology Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Hecuba
Hecuba, in Greek legend, the principal wife of the Trojan king Priam, mother of Hector, and daughter, according......
Heimdall
Heimdall, in Norse mythology, the watchman of the gods. Called the shining god and whitest skinned of the gods,......
heka
heka, in ancient Egyptian religion, the personification of one of the attributes of the creator god Re-Atum; the......
Hel
Hel, in Norse mythology, originally the name of the world of the dead; it later came to mean the goddess of death.......
Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy, in Greek legend, the most beautiful woman of Greece and the indirect cause of the Trojan War. She......
Helenus
Helenus, in Greek legend, son of King Priam of Troy and his wife Hecuba, brother of Hector, and twin brother of......
Helios
Helios, in Greek religion, the sun god, sometimes called a Titan. He drove a chariot daily from east to west across......
Hellen
Hellen, in Greek mythology, king of Phthia (at the northern end of the Gulf of Euboea), son of Deucalion (the Greek......
Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion, any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of eastern Mediterranean peoples from......
hellhound
hellhound, a dog represented in mythology (such as that of ancient Greece and Scandinavia) as standing guard in......
Hengist and Horsa
Hengist and Horsa, (respectively d. c. 488; d. 455?), brothers and legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers......
Hephaestus
Hephaestus, in Greek mythology, the god of fire. Originally a deity of Asia Minor and the adjoining islands (in......
Heqet
Heqet, in ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, a goddess who personified regeneration, rebirth, and fertility.......
Hera
Hera, in ancient Greek religion, a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, sister-wife of Zeus, and queen of the......
Heracles
Heracles, one of the most famous Greco-Roman legendary heroes. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and......
herm
herm, in Greek religion, sacred object of stone connected with the cult of Hermes, the fertility god. According......
Hermaphroditus
Hermaphroditus, in Greek mythology, a being partly male, partly female. The idea of such a being originated in......
Hermes
Hermes, Greek god, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Maia; often identified with the Roman Mercury and with Casmilus or......
Hermes Trismegistus
Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek name applied to the Egyptian god Thoth as the reputed author or source of the Hermetic......
Herne The Hunter
Herne The Hunter, phantom hunter who haunts Windsor Great Park, impersonated by Falstaff in Shakespeare’s The Merry......
hero
hero, in literature, broadly, the main character in a literary work; the term is also used in a specialized sense......
Hero and Leander
Hero and Leander, two lovers celebrated in Greek legend. Hero, virgin priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos, was seen......
Heruka
Heruka, in the Vajrayana Buddhism of Tibet and Central Asia, a fierce protective deity. He is an emanation of the......
Hesperides
Hesperides, in Greek mythology, clear-voiced maidens who guarded the tree bearing golden apples that Gaea gave......
Hesperus
Hesperus, in Greco-Roman mythology, the evening star; although initially considered to be the son of Eos (the Dawn)......
Hestia
Hestia, in Greek religion, goddess of the hearth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and one of the 12 Olympian deities.......
Hevajra
Hevajra, in northern Buddhism, a fierce protective deity, the yab-yum (in union with his female consort, Nairatmya)......
Hiawatha
Hiawatha, (Ojibwa: “He Makes Rivers”), a legendary chief (c. 1450) of the Onondaga tribe of North American Indians,......
hierophant
hierophant, (“displayer of holy things”), in ancient Greece, chief of the Eleusinian cult, the best-known of the......
hieros gamos
hieros gamos, (Greek: “sacred marriage”), sexual relations of fertility deities in myths and rituals, characteristic......
High God
High God, in anthropology and the history of religion, a type of supreme deity found among many nonliterate peoples......
high place
high place, Israelite or Canaanite open-air shrine usually erected on an elevated site. Prior to the conquest of......
Hilaria
Hilaria, in Roman religion, day of merriment and rejoicing in the Cybele-Attis cult and in the Isis-Osiris cult,......
Himiko
Himiko was the first known ruler of Japan and the supposed originator of the Grand Shrine of Ise, still considered......
hippogriff
hippogriff, a legendary animal that has the foreparts of a winged griffin and the body and hindquarters of a horse.......
Hippolytus
Hippolytus, minor divinity in Greek religion. At Athens he was associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love;......
hitogami
hitogami, (Japanese: “man-god”), a way of distinguishing certain characteristics of Japanese religion by focusing......
Ho-musubi
Ho-musubi, in the Shintō religion of Japan, a god of fire. His mother, the female creator Izanami, was fatally......
Holy Fire
Holy Fire, flame lit at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday, the Saturday before Easter, as calculated......
Holy Grail
Holy Grail, object sought by the knights of Arthurian legend as part of a quest that, particularly from the 13th......
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, in Christian belief, the third person of the Trinity. Numerous outpourings of the Holy Spirit are......
Homer
Homer was the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although these two great epic poems of ancient Greece......
Honos
Honos, ancient Roman deified abstraction of honour, particularly as a military virtue. The earliest shrine of this......
Hora
Hora, in Greco-Roman mythology, any one of the personifications of the seasons and goddesses of natural order;......
Horatii and Curiatii
Horatii and Curiatii, in Roman legend, two sets of triplet brothers whose story was probably fashioned to explain......
Horatius Cocles
Horatius Cocles, Roman hero traditionally of the late 6th century bc but perhaps legendary, who first with two......
Horus
Horus, in ancient Egyptian religion, a god in the form of a falcon whose right eye was the sun or morning star,......
Hotei
Hotei, in Japanese mythology, one of the Shichi-fuku-jin (“Seven Gods of Luck”). This popular figure is depicted......
Hou Ji
Hou Ji, in Chinese mythology, Lord of Millet Grains, who was worshipped for the abundant harvests that he graciously......
Hou Tu
Hou Tu, in Chinese mythology, the spirit of the earth, first worshipped in 113 bce by Wudi, a Han-dynasty emperor.......
Hou Yi
Hou Yi, in Chinese mythology, the Lord Archer whose prowess with a bow earned him undying fame. With his bow and......
How long was Odysseus gone?
Odysseus was gone from his kingdom of Ithaca for a total of 20 years. The first 10 years of his absence were spent......
How many Hindu gods are there?
Hinduism comprises a wide array of traditions and beliefs and has varied across more than 3,000 years of history,......
How was Stonehenge built?
Stonehenge was constructed over six stages between 3000 and 1520 bce using a sophisticated post-and-lintel system,......
Hu, Sia, and Heh
Hu, Sia, and Heh, in Egyptian religion, deified abstractions personifying, respectively, “creative command” (or......
Huaca
Huaca, ancient Inca and modern Quechua and Aymara religious concept that is variously used to refer to sacred ritual,......
Huangdi
Huangdi, third of ancient China’s mythological emperors, a culture hero and patron saint of Daoism. Huangdi is......
Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli, Aztec sun and war god, one of the two principal deities of Aztec religion, often represented in......
Hung Vuong
Hung Vuong was the legendary founder of the first Vietnamese state—Van Lang (the Land of the Tattooed Men)—probably......
Hyacinthus
Hyacinthus, in Greek legend, a young man of Amyclae in Laconia. According to the usual version, his great beauty......
Hyades
Hyades, in Greek mythology, daughters of the Titan Atlas and the Oceanid Aethra, the five (or more) sisters of......
Hydra
Hydra, in Greek legend, a gigantic, many-headed, serpentlike monster that inhabited the marshes of Lerna, near......
Hygieia
Hygieia, in Greek religion, goddess of health. The oldest traces of her cult are at Titane, west of Corinth, where......
Hylas
Hylas, in ancient Greek legend, son of Theiodamas (king of the Dryopians in Thessaly), favourite and companion......
Hymen
Hymen, in Greek mythology, the god of marriage, whose name derives from the refrain of an ancient marriage song.......
Hymir
Hymir, in Norse mythology, giant who was the father of the god Tyr. Hymir owned a large kettle and it was to get......
Hyperborean
Hyperborean, in Greek religion, one of a mythical people intimately connected with the worship of Apollo at Delphi......
Hypnos
Hypnos, Greco-Roman god of sleep. Hypnos was the son of Nyx (Night) and the twin brother of Thanatos (Death). In......
Hypsipyle
Hypsipyle, in Greek legend, daughter of Dionysus’s son Thoas, king of the island of Lemnos. When the women of Lemnos,......
Hārītī
Hārītī, in Buddhist mythology, a child-devouring ogress who is said to have been converted from her cannibalistic......
Iacchus
Iacchus, minor deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, the best known of the ancient Greek mystery religions.......
Iasion
Iasion, in Greek mythology, according to Homer and Hesiod, Cretan youth loved by Demeter, the corn goddess, who......
Icarus
Icarus, in Greek mythology, son of the inventor Daedalus who perished by flying too near the Sun with waxen wings.......
Idomeneus
Idomeneus, in Greek legend, son of Deucalion, grandson of Minos and Pasiphae, and king of Crete. Because he had......
Idun
Idun, in Norse mythology, the goddess of spring or rejuvenation and the wife of Bragi, the god of poetry. She was......
Iliad
Iliad, ancient Greek epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the poet Homer and was likely composed in......
Illyés, Gyula
Gyula Illyés was a Hungarian poet, novelist, dramatist, and dissident, a leading literary figure in Hungary during......
Ilmarinen
Ilmarinen, one of the chief deities in Finno-Ugric religion, functioning both as creator deity and as weather god.......
Ilos
Ilos, in Greek mythology, the founder of Ilion (Troy). Ilos (or Zacynthus, a Cretan name) has been identified either......
Imbolc
Imbolc, (Middle Irish, probably literally, “milking”), ancient Celtic religious festival, celebrated on February......
Imhotep
Imhotep was a vizier, sage, architect, astrologer, and chief minister to Djoser (reigned c. 2592–c. 2566 bce),......
Inari
Inari, in Japanese mythology, god primarily known as the protector of rice cultivation. The god also furthers prosperity......
Inca religion
Inca religion, Inca religion, religion of the Inca civilization in the Andean regions of South America. It was......
Indra
Indra, in Hindu mythology, the king of the gods. He is one of the main gods of the Rigveda and is the Indo-European......
Inti
Inti, in Inca religion, the sun god; he was believed to be the ancestor of the Incas. Inti was at the head of the......
Io
Io, in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus (the river god of Argos) and the Oceanid Melia. Under the name of Callithyia,......
Iolaus
Iolaus, ancient Greek hero, the nephew, charioteer, and assistant of Heracles. He was the son of Iphicles, himself......
Iphigeneia
Iphigeneia, in Greek mythology, eldest daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and his wife Clytemnestra. Her father......
Iranian religion, ancient
ancient Iranian religion, diverse beliefs and practices of the culturally and linguistically related group of ancient......
Iris
Iris, in Greek mythology, the personification of the rainbow and (in Homer’s Iliad, for example) a messenger of......
Ishkur
Ishkur, in Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian god of the rain and thunderstorms of spring. He was the city god of......
Ishtar
Ishtar, in Mesopotamian religion, goddess of war and sexual love. Ishtar is the Akkadian counterpart of the West......
Isis
Isis, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word......
Itzamná
Itzamná, principal pre-Columbian Mayan deity, ruler of heaven, day, and night. He frequently appeared as four gods......
Ixchel
Ixchel, Mayan moon goddess. Ixchel was the patroness of womanly crafts but was often depicted as an evil old woman......
Ixion
Ixion, in Greek legend, son either of the god Ares or of Phlegyas, king of the Lapiths in Thessaly. He murdered......
Izanagi and Izanami
Izanagi and Izanami, the central deities (kami) in the Japanese creation myth. They were the eighth pair of brother-and-sister......
Jagannatha
Jagannatha, Hindu god worshipped in the Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal and by the Odia community (people......
Janus
Janus, in Roman religion, the animistic spirit of doorways (januae) and archways (jani). Janus and the nymph Camasene......
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology, body of stories compiled from oral traditions concerning the legends, gods, ceremonies, customs,......