Paths

Explore by theme

Themed collections

Follow a question across traditions: who guards the dead, who brings fire, who breaks the rules? Begin with a theme and explore the stories behind it.

Begin here · 7 deities · 4 stories

Rulers of the Dead

Meet Osiris, Hel, Hades and other figures associated with the dead. Compare their roles while keeping each tradition’s stories and beliefs in view.

Explore Rulers of the Dead

• 01
  Trickster GodsDivine troublemakers and shapeshifters who use cunning over brute force. These deities blur the lines between chaos and creation.7 deities · 4 stories
• 02
  Sky FathersSupreme rulers who command thunder, lightning, and cosmic order. These father figures often head their pantheons.7 deities · 4 stories
• 03
  Gods of LoveDeities who govern passion, desire, beauty, and the bonds between hearts. Their influence shapes mortal and divine relationships alike.8 deities · 2 stories
• 04
  Divine WarriorsGods and goddesses of battle, strategy, and martial prowess. Some embody brutal warfare, others disciplined combat.8 deities · 4 stories
• 05
  Children of the SunRadiant deities who drive the sun across the sky, bringing light, warmth, and the cycle of days.7 deities · 4 stories
• 06
  Lords of the DeepRulers of oceans, rivers, and all waters. They command storms at sea and the creatures of the deep.7 deities · 2 stories
• 07
  Keepers of WisdomDeities of knowledge, learning, arts, and civilization. They gift humanity with writing, medicine, and sacred mysteries.7 deities · 3 stories
• 08
  In the BeginningStories of how the cosmos came to be - from primordial chaos to ordered creation, featuring the first gods and the birth of worlds.7 deities · 5 stories
• 09
  The Great FloodsCataclysmic deluges that washed away the old world. These universal stories explore divine judgment and humanity's resilience.4 deities · 2 stories
• 10
  Divine MothersNurturing earth mothers and protective maternal figures who embody fertility, nature, and the cycles of life.8 deities · 2 stories
• 11
  The Forge GodsMaster smiths and artisans who create divine weapons, magical artifacts, and wonders of craftsmanship.6 deities · 2 stories

These collections bring related subjects together. A similar role does not by itself mean two figures share an origin or were historically identified with one another.

Follow a route

Guided journeys

Travel with a hero or a god from stop to stop. Earthly voyages are drawn on a map; journeys through the otherworld follow their realms in order.

Greek

The Odyssey

Odysseus · 14 stops

Odysseus's legendary 10-year journey home from the Trojan War, facing monsters, gods, and temptations along the way.

Greek

Quest for the Golden Fleece

Jason · 15 stops

Jason and the Argonauts' epic voyage aboard the Argo to retrieve the Golden Fleece from Colchis, facing countless dangers and adventures.

Greek

The Twelve Labors

Heracles · 12 stops

Heracles's legendary twelve labors, assigned as penance for killing his family in a madness sent by Hera. These tasks took him across the known world and into the realm of the gods.

Mesopotamian

The Quest for Immortality

Gilgamesh · 6 stops

Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, loses his beloved friend Enkidu and journeys to the ends of the earth seeking the secret of eternal life from Utnapishtim, the flood survivor.

Mesoamerican

Descent into Xibalba

Hunahpu and Xbalanque · 8 stops

The Hero Twins descend into the Maya underworld of Xibalba, surviving deadly houses and ballcourt trials to avenge their father and defeat the lords of death.

Polynesian

Fishing Up the Islands

Maui · 5 stops

Maui sails with his brothers, baits his ancestral hook Manaiakalani, and hauls a great fish from the deep — land that becomes islands when the brothers carve it too soon.

Norse

The Nine Realms

Odin · 9 stops · otherworld

A circuit of the worlds gathered around the ash Yggdrasil, the realms Odin the Wanderer crosses in the Eddic poems in search of knowledge. The Eddas never give one fixed list or map of the nine worlds; this route follows the list most modern retellings use.

Egyptian

Journey Through the Duat

Ra · 6 stops · otherworld

Follow the sun god's night barque into the Duat and the path the justified dead hoped to share: through guarded gates, to the weighing of the heart before Osiris, and on to the Field of Reeds. The stops combine the New Kingdom underworld books with the Book of the Dead; they are a composite route, not the itinerary of a single text.

Read with sources

Study guides

Short curricula that pair catalog entries with source passages and guided questions.

• Inanna: Text and TempleRead a Sumerian composition alongside a temple foundation object, and distinguish a literary narrative from evidence of worship.
• Ibeji: Objects and RemembranceA focused introduction to Yoruba twin commemoration through one documented object and its museum interpretation.
• Greek Gods Study GuideA short study loop for undergrads and self-taught learners: orient on Olympus, learn the core Olympians, then pressure-test with the family tree and quiz.
• Norse Mythology Study GuideLearn the Aesir/Vanir landscape, Nine Realms map, and Ragnarök arc without drowning in encyclopedia entries.
• Comparative Mythology Study GuideTrain the comparative muscle: same roles across cultures, flood and sun myths, and how to use Mythos tools instead of memorizing catalogs.

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