Thousands of years ago, when human beings didn’t know science and phylosophy, they would try to explain what they were unable to comprehend through myths. Water was such a misterious entity that is no wonder if there are so many stories about it.

From Europe to the Americas, from Asia to Oceania, everywhere these fantastic, old stories were told. Only a part of them has been handed down to us, because most of those myths got lost through oral tradition. We have collected a few of them, noticing that everywhere water is associated to the same things.

At the beginning of the world there was only water… This is how almost every myth about the Creation begins. Water was thought to be the first element in the world, the most important and, consequently, the stuff gods were made of. Water and Creation

Click on the maps to read the myths about every continent:

Once upon a time there was only water and the animals lived above it, so that the sky became soon overcrowded. Willing to know more about it, one day Dayuni'si, the water beetle, volunteered to explore it. He flew over its surface but couldn’t find any solid ground. Then he dived down in the depth, where he found mud which he brought back to the surface. After collecting the mud, it began to grow i ii in size until it became the Earth as we know it. Cherokee legend of creation

So, according to the American Natives, Water was the origin of the world. Not only Cherokee have such legends: there are similar stories even in the Creek or the Iroquois cultures, not to speak of the wonderful examples in Europe and in Asia.

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(creation myth about asia)

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Many legends refer to special powers of water. According to some of them, water bestows eternal youth and life; some others say it makes people invincible. Here is a pair of examples for you. Special powers of water

Click on the maps to read the myths about every continent:

Florida is often referred to as its location, and stories of the fountain are associated with this state. A long-standing story says that Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leòn, first Governor of Puerto Rico, made some researches for the Fountain of Youth when he travelled to present Florida.

According to a Greek legend Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War. He appeared to be invincible, and no man seemed to be able to defeat him. Legend tells us that his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, had tried to make him immortal after birth by dipping him into the River Styx. Unfortunately, she forgot to wet the heel by which she held him, so if ever he would be hit on his heel he could die..

We cannot but saying something about the Great Flood that happened around the 12.ooo B.C. The curious thing about it is that this event is recorded almost by every ancient civilization. We can find it in the Bible, in Greek mythology, in the myth of Gilgamesh, in the Maya and Aztec culture.