# List of culture heroes

A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to a group of people (cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.), who changes the world through invention or discovery. A typical culture hero might be credited as the discoverer of fire or agriculture, songs, tradition, law or religion, and is usually one of the most important legendary figures of a people, sometimes as the founder of its ruling dynasty.

## Abenaki mythology

* Bedig-wajo (southern)
* Glooscap
* Ktaden (western)

## Abrahamic mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

* Abraham
* Adam
* Ali
* Joseph
* Dhu al-Qarnayn
* Gabriel
* Husayn ibn Ali
* Moses
* Michael
* Mahdi
* Noah
* Israfil
* David
* Elijah
* The Prodigal Son
* John the Baptist
* Jesus
* Muhammad
* Saint George
* Samson
* Solomon

## Ainu mythology

* Ae-oyna-kamuy

## Albanian mythology

* Drangue

## Armenian mythology

* Anahit
* Aramazd
* Hayk
* Vahagn

## Ashanti mythology

* Anansi
* Omoja
* Kwase Benefo

## Australian Aboriginal mythology

* Bunjil
* I'wai
* Wurrunna

## Aztec mythology

* Ce Acatl Topiltzin
* Quetzalcoatl

## Banks Islands mythology

* Qat

## Buddhist mythology

* Avalokiteśvara/Guanyin
* Bodhisattvas
* Bramha/Sahampati
* Buddha
* Kṣitigarbha
* Maitreya
* Mañjuśrī
* Śakra

## Caroline Islands mythology

* Isokelekel

## Celtic mythology (Irish, Welsh, Scottish)

* King Arthur (Also English/British)
* Bendigeidfran (Welsh)
* Cúchulainn (Irish)
* Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Irish)
* Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn McCool) (Irish)
* Gwydion (Welsh)
* Lugh (Irish) or Lleu Llaw Gyffes (Welsh)
* Oisín (Irish)
* Pryderi (Welsh)
* Pwyll (Welsh)

## Chinese mythology

* Fuxi & Nüwa (first people)
* Suiren (fire)
* Shennong (agriculture, tea, & medicine)
* Shujun (animal husbandry)
* Zhuanxu (sacrifice)
* Chiyou (metal weaponry & Chinese wrestling)
* Ling Lun & Kui (music)
* Yellow Emperor (elegant clothing, zithers, mathematics, astronomy & time-keeping, chariots, kung fu, Chinese culture generally)
* Leizu (silk)
* Cangjie (writing)
* Ning Feng (pottery)
* Hui (揮, Huī) and Yimou (夷牟, Yímóu, archery)
* Yao & Shun (ideal rulership)
* Yu the Great (flood control)
* Duke of Zhou, Confucius, & Mencius (classic texts)
* Zhang Sanfeng (Tai Chi)

## Egyptian mythology

* Anubis
* Bast
* Bes
* Horus
* Isis
* Menes
* Osiris
* Ptah-hotep
* Ra
* Set
* Thoth

## English mythology

* King Arthur (Also Celtic)
* Beowulf
* Hengist and Horsa
* Lud son of Heli (Also Celtic)
* Robin Hood
* Sceafa

## Etruscan mythology

* Tarchon
* Tyrrhenus

## Finnish mythology

* Ilmarinen
* Lemminkäinen
* Väinämöinen

## Greek mythology

* Abderus
* Achilles
* Aeneas
* Ajax the Great
* Ajax the Lesser
* Amphitryon
* Antilochus
* Bellerophon
* Cadmus
* Castor and Pollux
* Cecrops
* Chrysippus
* Daedalus
* Dido
* Diomedes
* Eleusis
* Eunostus
* Ganymede
* Hektor
* Heracles
* Icarus
* Iolaus
* Jason
* Leonidas (king of Sparta)
* Lycaon (king of Arcadia)
* Meleager
* Odysseus (Ulysses)
* Orpheus
* Palamedes
* Pandion
* Parthenope
* Perseus
* Phoroneus
* Prometheus
* Theseus
* Triptolemos
* Zeus

## Hungarian mythology

* Álmos
* Hunor and Magor

## Inca mythology

* Manco Cápac
* Viracocha

## Indian mythology

* Arjuna
* Ashoka
* Barbarika
* Bharata
* Bharat
* Bhima
* Bhishma
* Draupadi
* Ganesha
* Guru Nanak
* Hanuman
* Harishchandra
* Karna
* Krishna
* Mahavira
* Manu
* Mamuni Mayan
* Meghnad
* Nakul
* Parashurama
* Rama
* Rishabha
* Sahadeva
* King Shivi
* Sita
* Vikramaditya
* Yudhishthira

## Ho-Chunk mythology

* Red Horn

## Inuit mythology

* Apanuugak
* Kiviuq

## Japanese mythology

* Amaterasu
* Ame-no-tajikarao
* Fujiwara no Hidesato
* Izanagi
* Izanami
* Emperor Jimmu
* Empress Jingū
* Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto
* Kintarō
* Kotoshironushi
* Minamoto no Yorimitsu
* Minamoto no Yoshimitsu
* Minamoto no Yoshitsune
* Minamoto no Yoshiie
* Miyamoto Musashi
* Momotarō
* Nomi no Sukune
* Emperor Ōjin (Hachiman)
* Ōkuninushi
* Ōmononushi
* Ono no Komachi
* Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
* Susanoo
* Taira no Sadamori
* Takemikazuchi
* Takeminakata
* Takenouchi no Sukune
* Takezaki Suenaga
* Takeda Shingen
* Tsukuyomi
* Ukanomitama (Inari Ōkami)
* Urabe no Suetake
* Urashima Tarō (Urashima-no-ko)
* Usui Sadamitsu
* Watanabe no Tsuna
* Watatsumi
* Yamato Takeru

## Lakota mythology

* Iktomi

## Maya mythology

* Gukumatz
* Kukulkan
* Maya Hero Twins
* Maya maize god

## Mesopotamian mythology

* Enkidu
* Gilgamesh
* Ziusudra

## Muisca mythology

* Bochica

## Navajo mythology

* Changing Woman
* The Diyin Dine
* Nayenezgani

## Norse mythology

* Arngrim
* Bödvar Bjarki
* Egil
* Helgi
* Hothbrodd
* Loki
* Odin
* Ragnar Lodbrok
* Sigurd Fafnersbane
* Starkad
* Svipdagr
* Thor
* Vili and Vé

## Ohlone mythology

* Kaknu

## Ojibwe mythology

* Nanabozho

## Persian mythology

* Ahura Mazda
* Ardashir-e Bābakān
* Arash
* Afrasiab
* Abu Muslim Khorasani
* Amir Arsalan
* Anahita
* Babak Khorramdin
* Banu Goshasp
* Bahram-e Gur
* Bahram Chobin
* Bizhan
* Borzu son of Sohrab
* Darab Shah
* Esfandiyār
* Farhād
* Faramarz
* Fereydun
* Garshasp
* Giv
* Goudarz
* Hushang
* Iraj son of Fereydun
* Jamshid
* Kaveh the Blacksmith
* Kay Kawad
* Kay Kāvus
* Kay Khosrow
* Kay Lohrasp
* Kay Bahman
* Keyumars
* Khosrow Anushiravan
* Khosrow Parviz
* Kush the Tusked
* Mashya and Mashyana
* Mithra
* Nariman
* Rostam
* Sām
* Salm son of Fereydun
* Siyâvash
* Sohrab
* Tahmurath
* Tous son of Nowzar
* Tur son of Fereydun
* Verethragna
* Vishtaspa
* Zarēr
* Zoroaster

## Polynesian mythology

* Atonga
* Māui
* Tangaroa

## Roman mythology

* Aeneas
* Dido
* Egeria
* Caeculus
* Cloelia
* Evander of Pallene
* Founding of Rome
* Gaius Mucius Scaevola
* Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus
* Hercules
* Horatii and Curiatii
* Horatius Cocles
* Lucius Junius Brutus
* Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
* Lucretia
* Manius Curius Dentatus
* Marcus Curtius
* Marcus Furius Camillus
* Marcus Manlius Capitolinus
* Numa Pompilius
* Romulus and Remus
* Romulus/Quirinus
* Scipio Africanus
* Servius Tullius
* Silvius
* Sibylline Books
* Tarpeia
* Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus
* Verginia

## Serbian mythology

* Saint Sava
* Thracian horseman
* Svevlad

## Slavic mythology

* Ivan Tsarevich
* Krakus
* Piast
* Misizla

## Solomon Islands mythology

* To-Kabinana

## Talamancan mythology

* Sibú

## Tibetan mythology

* Gesar

## Ugarit mythology

* Danel

## Ute mythology

* Cin-an-ev

## Vietnamese mythology

* Âu Cơ
* Chử Đồng Tử
* Kinh Dương Vương
* Lạc Long Quân
* Thánh Gióng
* Sơn Tinh
* Thạch Sanh

## Weenhayek mythology

* Ahutsetajwaj
* Tapiatsa

## Zuni mythology

* Ahayuta
* Awonawilona