The World of Myth

David Leeming is Emeritus Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut. He is the author or editor of numerous books on world mythology, including The Oxford Companion to World Mythology (2009).

Introduction: The Dimensions of Myth

PART I: COSMIC MYTHS

THE CREATION

EGYPT: Ex Nihilo Beginnings
POLYNESIA (MAORI): The Separation of the World Parents
MESOPOTAMIA: Enuma Elish and the World Parent
ISRAEL: Genesis and the Talmudic Lilith
INDIA: The Sacred Words
IRAN (PERSIA): Aryan and Zoroastrian
CHINA: Cosmic Egg and Yin and Yang
AFRICA (MALI): The Dogon Nummo Twins
GREECE: Hesiod's Theogony
ICELAND (NORSE): The World Parent of the Eddas
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (ONONDAGAN): Star Woman and Earth Divers
MESO-AMERICA (AZTEC-MEXICA): Coatlicue, the World Mother
AFRICA (BOSHONGO-BANTU): Bumba's Creation
AUSTRALIA (ABORIGINE): The Djanggawuls
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (ACOMA): Goddesses and the Emergence
DARWIN: Origins
MODERN PHYSICS: The Big Bang

THE FLOOD

MESOPOTAMIA (SUMER-BABYLON): Utnapishtim's Flood
ISRAEL: Noah's Flood
IRAN (ZOROASTRIAN): Yima's Flood
EGYPT: Hathor and the Blood and Beer Flood
CHINA: Yü and the Flood
INDIA: Manu and the Flood
GREECE-ROME: Deucalion and Pyrrha and the Flood
MESO-AMERICA (MAYAN): The Popol-Vuh Flood
SOUTH AMERICA (INCAN): Viracocha and the Giants and the Flood
MODERN SCIENCE: Climate Change and Rising Waters

THE END OF THE WORLD: THE APOCALYPSE

ASIA MINOR (CHRISTIAN): The Book of Revelation
IRAN (ZOROASTRIAN): The Savior Saoshyant
ARABIA (MUSLIM): End of the World
INDIA: The End of the Kali Age
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (HOPI): Emergence to the Fifth World
ICELAND (NORSE): Ragnarök
MODERN PHYSICS: Entropy and Heat Death

PART II: MYTHS OF THE GODS

THE PANTHEONS

MESOPOTAMIA (SUMER): Gods of the Elements
EGYPT: Death and Resurrection
INDIA: The Trimurti
GREECE: Originators and Olympians
ROME: The Renamed Olympians
ICELAND (NORSE): The Aesir and the Vanir
IRELAND AND WALES: The Family of Don and the Tuatha de Danann
JAPAN: The Kami
AFRICA (YORUBA): The Orishas
NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN (HOPI): The Kachinas

THE GOD AS ARCHETYPE

The Supreme Being
INDIA: Krishna-Vishnu as Brahman
ISRAEL: Yahweh
NATIVE SOUTH AMERICA (UITOTO): Nainema
AFRICA (BUSHMAN): Mantis
CARIBBEAN VOODOO: Bondye
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (CHEROKEE): Sun Goddess
JAPAN: Amaterasu
CENTRAL ASIA: Tengri and Others
MODERN SCIENCE: Immanent Mind

The Great Goddess
IRELAND AND WALES: Danu-Don
AUSTRALIA (ABORIGINE): Kunapipi
AFRICA (YORUBA): Oshun
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (INUIT): Sedna
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (LAKOTA SIOUX): White Buffalo Woman
MEXICO: Our Lady of Guadaloupe
NATIVE SOUTH AMERICA (INCA): Pachamama
INDIA: Devi
MODERN SCIENCE: Gaia as Earth

The Dying God
MESOPOTAMIA (SUMER): Inanna (Ishtar)
EGYPT: Osiris and Isis
GREECE AND ROME: Adonis and Aphrodite
ASIA MINOR (PHRYGIA): Attis
GREECE: Dionysos
ICELAND (NORSE): Odin
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (PENOBSCOT): Corn Mother
AFRICA (MALOZI): Nyambe

The Trickster
MESOPOTAMIA (SUMER): Enki and the Me
GREECE: Hermes Steals the Cattle
GREECE: Prometheus
INDIA: Krishna and the Gopis
ICELAND (NORSE): Loki
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (MAIDA): Coyote
CENTRAL ASIA: Erlik
POLYNESIA (MAORI): Maui
AFRICA (FON): Legba

The Gods as Sexual Beings
MESOPOTAMIA: Inanna and Dumuzi
EGYPT: Horus and Set
GREECE: Zeus and Company
Zeus, Hera, and Tiresias
Narcissus and Echo
Hyacinth and Apollo, Zeus and Ganymede
Zeus and Europa
Zeus and Callisto
JAPAN: Izanami and Izanagi

PART III: HERO MYTHS

NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (TEWA): Water Jar Boy
GREECE: Theseus
GREECE: Herakles (Hercules) and the Twelve Labors
GREECE: Perseus and Medusa
INDIA: The Buddha
IRELAND: Cuchulainn
IRELAND: Fionn
GREECE: Antigone
EUROPE: King Arthur
EUROPE: Parcival and the Holy Grail
GREECE: Jason and the Golden Fleece
ROME: Aeneas
ARABIA: Muhammad and the Night Journey
AFRICA (KIKUYU): Wanjiru
AFRICA (NYANGA): Mwindo
INDONESIA (CERAM): Hainuwele
INDIA: Rama and Sita
INDIA: Draupadi
MESOPOTAMIA: Gilgamesh
GREECE AND ROME: Orpheus and Eurydice
GREECE: Odysseus
ISRAEL: Jesus
IRAN: Zoroaster
MESO-AMERICA (TOLTEC/AZTEC): Quetzalcoatl
EUROPE: Mary
GREECE: Alcestis
ENGLAND: Beowulf
CHINA AND JAPAN: Guanyin (Kannon)

PART IV: PLACE AND OBJECT MYTHS

The World of Afterlife
EGYPT: Osiris
GREECE AND ROME: Lands of the Dead

The Mountain
INDIA: Mount Meru
ISRAEL: Mount Sinai

The City
GREECE AND ROME: Troy
ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Jerusalem
GREECE: Delphi

The Genitals
NATIVE NORTH AMERICA (APACHE): The Vagina Girls

The Stone
ASIA MINOR (PHRYGIA): The Agdos Rock
AUSTRALIA (ABORIGINE): Erathipa
IRELAND: The Giant's Causeway

The Tree
INDIA: The Cosmic Tree
CHINA: Fusang
ICELAND (NORSE): Yggdrasil

The Garden, the Grove, and the Cave
MESOPOTAMIA: Inanna's Garden
ARABIA: Muhammad's Cave

The Labyrinth
GREECE: Daedalus and Icarus
FRANCE: The Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral