TABAKEA
One of the gods of the Gilbert Islands who set the universal process in motion, under the watchful eye of the creator, Nareau.

TAGARO
The wise and benevolent spirit hero of the mythology of the New Hebrides, Tagaro came down from heaven and made men and other things, then went back to heaven again. In the enterprise of creating men, however, Tagaro was opposed by the dark spirit, Suqe-mutua, who wanted men to walk like pigs, whereas the creator wished them to go on two legs. Tagaro won the contest of wills. Another time Tagaro saw winged women flying down from heaven to bathe, and as they removed their wings he stole a pair, and hid them in his house. Then he returned to the spot where the winged women were bathing, and found that they had all flown away except one, Vinmara, whom he married. However, the later scolding of Vinmara by Tagaro's brothers led to her weeping in Tagaro's house, until her tears wore away the earth surrounding the hiding place of her wings. Donning them, she returned to heaven.

TAMAPOULIALAMAFOA
The sky god of Ata, he sent Laufakanaa, the wind god, down to earth as its ruler, and to regulate its winds. "If there is a vessel that has bad winds, " he told the wind god, "and men come to you and ask for your aid, then you must give fair winds to that vessel."

TANE-MAHUTA
In Maori mythology, the father of forests and all that inhabit them, or that are constructed from trees. He separated Rangi, the sky father, from Papa, the earth mother, but lost his place to Tu-matauenga, the god and father of fierce human beings. His chief enemy, however, was the sea god Tangaroa.

TANGAROA
The Polynesian god of fish and reptiles, Tangaroa once sailed to the island of Faumea, who was a woman who had eels in her vagina that killed men, but which Tangaroa had learned to entice outside. The sea god married her and had two children. When one of them was surfing, the demon octopus Rogo-tumu- here seized her and dragged her to the bottom of the ocean. On a hook baited with sacred feathers Tangaroa drew up the octopus to the surface, hacked off tentacle after tentacle, then finally the monstrous head.

The antagonism between Tangaroa and Tane-mahuta stems from the time of the conflict with Tawhiri-ma-tea, when some of Tangaroa's children decided not to follow him to the ocean, but took refuge inland.

Afterwards Tane-mahuta supplied the offspring of Tawhiri-ma-tea with canoes, spears, fish hooks and nets, that they might hunt and destroy the children of Tangaroa. In response to this, the sea god would sink canoes, flood the land, and eat away at the shore.

TAWHIRI-MA-TEA
The storm god of the Maoris, who sided with his father, Rangi, against his brothers and sisters, who, trapped in the womb, wished to slay their parents in order to escape. Though Tu-matauenga could not defeat the storm god, he left him as an enemy of man both on land and on sea.

TAWISCARA
The Huron spirit of evil, Tawiscara was one of the twin grandsons of the moon, the other being Ioskeha. Fighting against his brother for supremacy, Tawiscara could only find a wild rose as a weapon, while Ioskeha used the horns of a wild stag, and so drove off the evil spirit.

TECCIZTECATL
In Aztec mythology, the moon god, depicted as an old man who carried a large white sea shell on his back.

TEFNUT
One of the orginal progenitive gods, Tefnut was the god of moisture. From him came Nutthe mother of the gods.

TELEIA
Another name for Hera

TELIPINU
The Hittite agriculture god, who once stormed off in a temper, and had to be recalled by Hannahanna, the mother goddess, as the earth was withering without his influence. Although both an eagle and a bee failed to induce the god to return, the goddess of spells, Kamrusepas, was able to convince him to come back.

TELESPHOROS
He was looked on as a genius of that secret and mysterious vitality which sustains the convalescent. He was normally represented by the side of Asklepios, as a small barefoot boy, wrapped closely in a mantle, and with a hood on his head.

TEMAUKEL
The supreme god of the Ona, he was without body, wife or children, and the souls of dead people travelled to his realm after death.

TENGRI
The sky god of the Mongols, their creator deity. Tengri was regarded as the author of all things visible and invisible, the controller of destiny, and the ruler of the world.

TESHUB
The Hurrian storm god, Teshub overthrew his father, Kumarbi, but the defeated god married the sea god's daughter and begot the titan Ullikummi, against which Teshub was powerless, and was forced to abdicate. He was, however, reinstated when Ea defeated the giant by cutting off its stone feet.

TERMINUS
God of boundaries, both to the Romans and the Greeks.

TUETATESA
Celtic war god worshipped by the Gauls.

TEZCATLIPOCA
The Aztec trickster god, he was the patron of warriors, and was the original sun god, knocked out of the sky by Quetzalcoatl and turned into a tiger. He was associated with witches, thieves and evildoers in general, and could take or give life.

THAMUATZ
The female calf that accompanied the buffalo Itherther out of the primeval cave, in Kabyl mythology, and whose own calf, Achimi, mated, exiling his father.

THALASSIOS
Another name for Hymen.

THANATOS
The god of death, a son of Night and twin brother of Sleep, it was the task of Thanatos to introduce the whole of humanity to Tartaros. This function led to his being frequently associated with pain, and represented as a powerful figure, with shaggy beard and fierce visage, with great wings flapping at his shoulders, resembling Boreas the wind god. In the case of death coming timely, or welcome, Thanatos was depicted as a quiet pensive youth, winged and standing with his legs crossed, often beside an urn with a wreath on it, and holding an extinguished torch reversed.

THARGELIOS
Another name for Apollo.

THEMIS
A daughter of Uranos and Gaea, she was the personification of that divine law of right which ought to control all human affairs, of that highest and noblest sense of right which is subject to no human influences. She was also viewed as the goddess of the rights of hospitality. She gave the power of prophecy to Apollo, having held the post at Delphi before him. Zeus wooed her for a long time before she consented to become his wife, and to him she bore the Horae, Moerae and Astraea, the goddess of justice.

Because of her great integrity and sense of justice, all the gods consulted Themis when seeking advice. Even Zeus sought her counsel, being warned by her that he should not marry Thetis, as the son who would spring from the marriage would grow up to overthrow his father. Taking her advice, Zeus gave Thetis to the mortal Peleus as his wife.

Themis was represented as a woman of mature age, with large, open eyes, holding a sword and chain in one hand, with a balance in the other, to indicate the severity and the accuracy with which justice is to be meted out and administered.

THOR
Norse god of thunder, Thor was the son of Odin, and commanded the storms and the lightnings. He rode in a chariot drawn by two goats, called Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher, and when the chariot moved its wheels groaned and rumbled like thunder, while sparks struck from the wheels echoed the lightning. Thor possessed the magical hammer Mjollnir, which had been forged for him by the dwarf Brok, and which would destroy anything it was thrown at, always returning to the hand of the caster. It was also used as the symbol for blessing a marriage, the hammer being laid in the bride's lap. Only Thor could wield this sacred weapon, and to do so he needed to put on his iron gloves.

Thor's personal tower in Asgard was Himinbiorg, and his wife was Sif. When the gods of Asgard travelled to their daily meetings at the foot of the root of Yggdrassil, the World Tree, Thor could not cross the Rainbow Bridge Bifrost as did his fellows:his thunderous chariot would destroy the bright bridge. So he walked through the waters of the world to reach the council spot.Thor also possessed a belt of strength, which, when pulled, gave him supernatural strength. He was represented as a huge, muscular figure, with a red beard and flashing eyes. He travelled widely throughout Asgard, occasionally visiting Midgard, though not as often as his father. Some of his adventures are related below.

When Loki and Thor set out to visit Utgard, city of the giants of Jotunheim, they came across a peasant's cottage, and going in were made welcome by the peasant, who unfortunately had not enough food to satisfy the voracious appetite of the thunder god. Thor, however, seeing the problem, killed his goats, and they ate the meat, Thor's strict instructions being that no-one should break any of the bones. The peasant's son, however, a lad called Thialfi, unable to resist, broke a tiny bone and sucked the marrow. When morning came, Thor gathered the bones of his goats together, waved his hammer over them, and they sprang back to life. Thor noticed, however, that one of them limped slightly, and he perceived that his orders had been disobeyed. Furious, he demanded to know who had defied him, and Thialfi admitted that it had been he. Because the lad confessed of his own free will, Thor relented, and took Thialfi with him to Utgard.

On the way there, the trio encountered a huge mansion with five rooms, and they slept in one. During the night, however, they were disturbed by terrible noises, and on awakening the next morning found that the mansion they had slept in was in fact the glove of a huge giant, who introduced himself as Skrymir. The giant's ribbing annoyed Thor, and he cast his hammer three times at Skrymir's head, but the giant just shrugged the blows off contemptuously. Finally he left, advising the three to stay away from Utgard. They went anyway.

Greeted by the king of the city, Utgard-Loki, the three were asked to prove themselves worthy to sit at table with giants, and Thialfi offered to race their fastest youth, but though he ran his fastest, his opponent always outstripped him, sometimes arriving back at the finish line before Thialfi had left. Disheartened, the boy admitted he was defeated, and Loki challenged their best eater. Although he ate like a horse, Loki could not beat his opponent either, who not only ate the meat and bones, but the dishes and table as well. Finally, it was Thor's turn.Given a huge horn to drink from, he was told that their weakest man could empty it in three draughts, but though he drank long and deep, by the time he had taken his third attenpt at emptying it, the horn was still almost full. Next, he was asked to try to pick up Utgard-Loki's cat, but could only move one paw off the ground. Finally, much embarrassed, he challenged the giant's best wrestler, but Utgard-Loki scoffed that his giants would not lower themselves, in the light of how the thunder god had acquitted himself so far. But if he liked, said the king slyly, Thor could wrestle his old grandmother. Dismayed, Thor found himself struggling against the old crone, who in fact forced him down to one knee.

Much ashamed, the trio partook of Utgard-Loki's hospitality, and the next day made to leave.But the king met them at the gate, and explained to them that they should not feel so disheartened:for the youth Thialfi had raced was none other than thought, which no man can beat in speed, Loki's opponent had been fire, which devours everything, and as for Thor! The first of his feats, the lowering of the level in the drinking-horn, Utgard-Loki explained, the horn had had one of its ends in the sea, and the level of the sea in that area had gone down a considerable distance due to the thunder god's massive draught. The cat Thor had tried to lift had been Jormungand, the world serpent, and the giants had been much afraid to see that the thunder god could actually lift one of its feet up! And the old woman had been old age, against which no man has defence. The king of the giant city also admitted that he had been Skrymir, and that he had only avoided serious injury from Thor's hammer by moving a mountain between his head and Mjollnir.Hearing of the deception, Thor hurled his hammer at Utgard-Loki, but the giant had disappeared, as had the city.

Another time, Thor went fishing with the giant Hymir and, wishing to prove himself against the giant, Thor rowed the boat out as far as he could, then, using a boar's head as bait, he caught Jormungand, and was about to deal it a blow of his hammer when Hymir cut the thunder god's line in fright, and the world serpent disappeared back under the water. Thor also battled the giant Hrungnir, who was made of stone. He defeated him, but a chip of whetstone lodged in his forehead.

Another myth concerning Thor tells of the time that the giant Thrymir stole Mjollnir, and Thor, disguised as Freya (at the mischevious Loki's suggestion) travelled to the domain of the frost giant to recover the hammer. Thrymir had demanded the hand of Freya, Odin's wife, in return for the hammer, but Thor recovered it, although his ruse was almost discovered twice:once when the food was brought in, and Thor ate seven oxes whole, an appetite which Loki quickly explained as being the result of a fast that Thor / Freya had been on, due to her anticipation of the wedding day. Similarly, when Thrymir looked into Thor's flashing red eyes, he drew back in fright, but again Loki told the giant that the redness was the result of 'Freya''s not having slept for seven nights. Thrymir was satisfied, and fetched the hammer, to bless the bride, and Thor seized it, leapt up and killed everyone, escaping with Loki and the hammer back to Asgard.

Undoubtedly one of the major heroes of Norse mythology, Thor's role in the dreaded Ragnarok was as crucial as his role in life:the thunder god was to destroy the serpent Jormungand, but at the end fall dead from its poisonous breath.

THOTH
One of the Egyptian gods of the dead, who related the tales of the recently deceased to Osiris, who then judged them as he saw fit.

TILO
God of the Tonga tribes of Zambia and Malawi.

TINIA
The Etruscan storm god, Tinia held boundaries sacred, watched over them and ensured their inviolability.

TISIPHONE
One of the three Erinys, Tisiphone was the avenger of murder.

TITAEA
A goddess of the Earth, who attended the marriage ceremony of Zeus and Hera, and planted there the tree which gave forth the golden apples of the Hesperides.

TLALOC
The rain god of ancient Mexico, Tlaloc was the controller of clouds, rain, lightning and mountain springs. His kingdom received the spirits of those killed by thunderbolts, water, leprosy, and contagious disease.

TLAUIXCALPANTECUHTLI
A destructive Tollan deity.

TLAZOLTEOTL
The goddess of filth, in Aztec mythology, she was associated with witchcraft and the purification of sin, acting as a go-between for the penitent in respect of the god Tezcatlipoca. She was seen as the power behind all forms of unclean behaviour, and her special terror was sex.

TONAPA
One of the divine assistants of Viracocha, the creator deity of Peru, he was bound and set adrift on Lake Titicaca as punishment for having rebelled against his master.

TONATIUH
Another Aztec sun god.

TONENILI
The rain god of the Navaho Indians, he was given to having fun and playing tricks.

TPEREAKLA
Micronesian creator deity, he and his wife, Latmikaik, who rose from a wave-beaten rock, rule the universe together. Tpereakl lived in the sky, while his wife had her residence under the sea.

TRIFORMIS
Another name for Hecate.

TRIMURRTI
The Hindu Trinity, made up of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva.

TRITOGENEIA
Another name for Pallas-Athene.

TRITON
The son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, Triton was a minor marine god, and the herald of his father, Poseidon. When the sea was tossed by storms he was supposed to be blowing on a long twisted shell which he used as a horn, and when the storm had passed he would sound a gentle note. When Poseidon travelled on the waves, it was Triton who announced his approach, and gathered the rest of the marine deities. His own servants were the Tritons, who looked like him, and performed similar duties.In the war against the giants he rendered considerable service to Zeus by raising such a din with his shrill trumpet that the giants, fearing the approach of some great sea monster, fled in fright.Triton and his Tritons were depicted as of human form as far as the waist, covered with small scales, holding in hand a sea shell, their lower half that of a dolphin. Triton himself sailed across the sea in a chariot drawn by horses.

TRIVIA
Another name for Hecate.

.TSAO CHUN
The Chinese kitchen god, he is portrayed as a kindly old man surrounded by children.

TSOHANOAI
The sun god of the Navaho Indians.

TULUNGUSAQ
One of the creator deities of the Eskimos, Tulungusaq the crow father was given aid in the creation of the world by a swallow.

TU-MATAUENGA
The fierce god of human beings, in Maori myth. Trapped inside the womb by their parents, the gods sought to escape by slaying their parents, and Tu-matauenga was left to fight Tawhiri-ma- tea, alone, for the storm god opposed the slaying of his parents. In rage, Tu-matauenga consumed the rest of the gods. Ever afterwards, Tu-matauenga and Tawhiri-ma-tea were eternal enemies.

TYCHE
The goddess of luck and chance, Tyche (also called Fortuna) was a daughter of Zeus, and sister to the Moerae. She was believed to have guided the careers of men, whether for good or bad. She was often represented as winged, with her eyes bound, and holding a double rudder in her hands, to steer the lives of men through one of two courses. She was also depicted standing on a ball or a wheel, to show that luck rolls this way and that, beyond the control of men.

TYPHO
The Greek name for Seb.

TYPHON
The father of destructive winds.

TYR
The Norse god of war, Tyr lost one of his hands when the other gods were in the process of binding the Fenris Wolf. The monster would only allow itself approached if one of the gods would put his hand in the animal's mouth, as security. Tyr did so, and when the Wolf realised that it had been tricked, it bit his hand off.

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