Portal:Myths

Inscription of lines 468–473, Book I. 400–500 AD, from Egypt. On display at the British Museum

The Iliad (/ˈɪliəd/ ^ⓘ; Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, romanized: Iliás, [iː.li.ás]; lit. '[a poem] about Ilion (Troy)') is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Odyssey, the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the siege's final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The Iliad is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were likely written down in Homeric Greek, a literary mixture of Ionic Greek and other dialects, probably around the late 8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's authorship was infrequently questioned in antiquity, but contemporary scholarship predominantly assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently and that the stories formed as part of a long oral tradition. The poem was performed by professional reciters of Homer known as rhapsodes. (Full article...)

• ...that the tiyanak is an infant-like creature from Philippine mythology that is said to attack tourists with its fangs and claws?

• ... that the supreme god of the southern African Bushmen is Cagn, a trickster who shapeshifts into a praying mantis?

• ...that in Colombian folklore the legendary Alligatorman (Hombre Caiman) is said to be a fisherman converted by the spirit of the Magdalena River into an alligator, that returns every year on St. Sebastian´s Day to hunt human victims?

• ...that Apaliunas, a Luwian deity of Wilusa (Troy) attested among gods in a treaty inscription, ca. 1280 BCE, is a likely precursor of Apollo of Greek mythology?

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Centauress, by John La Farge

A centaur (/ˈsɛntɔːr, ˈsɛntɑːr/ SEN-tor, SEN-tar; Ancient Greek: κένταυρος, romanized: kéntauros; Latin: centaurus), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (Ancient Greek: Ἰξιονίδαι, romanized: Ixionídai, lit. 'sons of Ixion'), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version of the myth, the centaurs were named after Centaurus, and, through his brother Lapithes, were kin to the legendary tribe of the Lapiths.

Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being as wild as untamed horses, and were said to have inhabited the region of Magnesia and Mount Pelion in Thessaly, the Foloi oak forest in Elis, and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia. Centaurs are subsequently featured in Roman mythology, and were familiar figures in the medieval bestiary. They remain a staple of modern fantastic literature. (Full article...)

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