From Ancient Mesopotamia to Shakespeare to Arnhem Land, humans have been telling tails of mermaids for millennia.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Mythology
Displaying 1 - 20 of 45 articles
Ancient Greece and Rome may have handed down the image of rosy-cheeked Cupids, but their myths about him explore the messier – sometimes scarier – sides of love.
The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
Like all members of the category of ‘fey’, or the beings of the preternatural world, including fairies, elves, and pixies, goblins are renowned for being tricksy. In other words, best avoided.
Instead of displaying myths, Samburu rock art reveals real-life stories and is made as a leisure activity.
Enormous, scaly, fire-breathing dragons have fascinated civilizations for centuries. A scholar who studies monsters explains their power and appeal.
The ‘Disneyfication’ of fairies has helped us forget their darker origins.
From Fiji to France to Central Australia, stories abound of lands lost beneath the sea. Some are likely founded on millennia-old memories of coastal submergence, offering us clues today.
People tell tales to explain what they see – centuries later, scientists try to map handed-down myths onto real geological events.
China’s space culture is unique and deeply rooted in the country’s traditions.
‘WandaVision’ reimagines stories from Egyptian and Greek mythology, as well as Buddhist tradition.
His life’s work was asserting the humanity and history of the Bantu people, while proposing that the soul was able to bring knowledge of the past and of the future into the present.
Is making sense of a story more important than getting at its truth? Looking at the treatment of myth in ancient Greece may help us navigate what is true, and whether that matters.
Authors sometimes put deeper meanings into their stories, but really, it’s the reader who decides.
An ad alluding to the vulva is sparking controversy, but there are few objections to phallic symbols. What explains this difference in treatment?
Our dreams of the afterlife need to challenge the idea that only the appearance of youth is worthy.
The Santa myth tells us more about adults than children.
Enheduanna’s name means ‘Ornament of Heaven’. She wrote hymns and myths more than 4000 years ago, studied the stars and yet is almost entirely unknown in the present day.
With his beard, trident, and status as Atlantean ruler, the superhero Aquaman borrows many traits from the sea gods of mythology.
All monsters make their mark on the communities they haunt. Some are cheeky and mischievous, some are mysterious, others are downright evil.
Top contributors
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Honorary Research Associate, University of Sydney
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University of Newcastle
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Professor of Geography, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Visiting Researcher in Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University
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Associate Professor of Research, University of Hertfordshire
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PhD student, University of Newcastle
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Senior Lecturer in English and Writing (children's literature), University of New England
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PhD Candidate - Classics, University of Newcastle
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Director, Centre for Religious Studies, Monash University
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Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
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Doctoral Candidate, University of Cambridge
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Professor and Tutorial Fellow in English, University of Oxford
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Assistant Professor, Film; Department of Theatre, Film & Communication Arts, Whittier College
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Head of the Marketing Innovation and Distribution Program at EMLV, Pôle Léonard de Vinci
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Emeritus professor of biology, UCL
