Egyptian or Arabian bird that built a special nest of spices and set itself on fire and rose from its own ashes every 500 years.
Women who kept the sacred fire going in the Temple honoring Vesta in the Forum in Rome.
Both the Greek god of fire and the god the Romans later identified with this blacksmith for the gods.
Fire-breathing dragon with a hundred serpents heads.
Titan who stole fire from the gods for man.
River Hephaestus attacked with fire in order to rescue Achilles from drowning.
Fire-breathing monster killed by Bellerophon.
God who rescued Dionysus from the flames that consumed the infant's mother, Semele.
Bronze mechanical man or robot who protected the island of Crete by burning strangers to death.
Mother of Paris who dreamed that she had given birth to a firebrand whose flames destroyed the city.
Underworld river called the river of fire.
Mother who killed her son Meleager by throwing a brand into the fire.
Aztec God of Fire who kept earth and heaven in place. At the end of every 52-year cycle, all fires were extinguished, and his priests gave the people new fire.
Hindu God of Fire, and creater of the sun and stars, represents the essential energy of life in the universe, and carries a fiery spear, and purifies the dead from sin.
In Chinese mythology, he was a magician and fire god who kept 100 firebirds in a gourd; by setting them loose, he could start a fire across the whole country.
In Navajo mythology fire is obtained by man when this animal tricked two monsters that guarded the flames on Fire Mountain; Then he lit a bundle of sticks tied to his tail and ran down the mountain to deliver the fire to his people.
The San of South Africa believe this animal guarded fire under his wing until a praying mantis stole it; Mantis tricked him into spreading his wings and made off with the fire; The fire destroyed Mantis, but from the ashes came two new Mantises.
Indians of the Amazon River basin in Brazil say that this animal rescued a boy and took him to its cave; There the boy watched him cooking food over a fire; The boy stole a hot coal from the fire and took it to his people, who then learned to cook.
Legends in the Caroline Islands of the Pacific link fire to this mythical trickster hero who was the son of the sky god and a mortal woman; As a youth, he forced his way into heaven to see his father; Later he gave fire to human beings by allowing a bird to fly down to earth with fire in its beak.
In Norse Mythology, a Fire Giant who lives with and protects the People of Muspel in Muspelheim, the realm of fire to the south. There he stands ever alert, brandishing his great, fiery sword which shines brighter than the sun.