A famous Japanese hero, son of Yoshitomo who was murdered by a member of the Taira clan. Intent on avenging his father, Yoshitsune went into the woods where he was instructed in all the martial arts by the King of the Ten-gu demons. When he returned to society, he annihilated to Taira clan.
A famous Japanese hero. When a monster was discovered on top of the emperor’s palace, he slew it and was rewarded with of Lady Ayame’s hand. He also received the famous sword called shishi-o (”Master of Lions”).
A Japanese prince and a famous hero, son of King Keiko. He is accredited with the slaying of many brigands as well as the dangerous serpent of Omi.
The Valkyries (”Choosers of the Slain”) are beautiful young women, mounted upon winged horses and armed with helmets and spears. Odin needs many brave warriors for the oncoming battle of Ragnarok, and the Valkyries scout the battlefields to choose the bravest of those who have been slain. They escort these heroes, called the Einherjar to [...]
Theseus was a king of Athens famous for many exploits, and appearing in works by many authors and on countless vases. There is some confusion about Theseus’ parentage, some say he is the son of Aegeus and Aethra, and others the son of Poseidon and Aethra. Apollodoros and Hyginus say Aethra waded out to Sphairia [...]
Telephus appeared in the Homeric Cypria, one of the so-called epic cycles which relate events left out of the Homeric epics. His story is later retold many times by Greek and Roman dramatists, notably Euripides and the Roman Ennius. The story of Telephus exhibits many features common in world mythology.
He was the son of Heracles [...]
Telemachus was the son of Odysseus and Penelope. When he was an infant, his father pretended to be insane in order to avoid going to the Trojan War. Palamedes placed Telemachus in front of his father’s plow, and Odysseus revealed his sanity by swerving to avoid injuring the child.
As a young man, Telemachus was much [...]
Sigurd (Siegfried) was the greatest hero in Germanic legend, and central character of the Saga of the Volsungs. He was the foster-son of Regin, who sent him to recover a fabulous hoard of gold. Regin’s father Hreidmar had first acquired this treasure, which once belonged to the dwarf Andvari. To get their hands on the [...]
The most famous hero of the great Persian Epic of the Kings, Shahname, by Firdaus (completed in 1010 CE/400 AH). Rustam was the son of Zal who was born with gray hair and educated at the court of King Minuchihir. When the boy was ten years old, the white elephant of the shah broke loose, [...]
When in 778 the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army was withdrawing from a campaign in Spain to battle a rising among the recently conquered Saxons of Germany, they were attacked at Roncesvalles by the Basques and the Gascons. The Basques and the Gascons annihilated them, and among the fallen was the Frankish commander Roland. Legend embroidered [...]
