Women have been depicted as goddesses, creatures, biblical figures, legends and folk tale heroines throughout history – many based in a grain of truth.
The favorite wife of the emperor Ming Huang of the Tang dynasty was the celebrated Yang Gui Fe. She so enchanted him by her beauty that he did whatever she wished him to do. But she brought her cousin to the court, a gambler and a drinker, and because of him the people began to murmur against the emperor. Finally a revolt broke out, and the emperor was obliged to flee. He fled with his entire court to the land of the four rivers.
Once upon a time something happened. If it had not happened, it would not be told.
There was once an emperor who had three daughters; the oldest was beautiful, the middle one more beautiful, but the youngest, Ileane, was so fair that even the sun stopped to gaze at her and admire her charms.
There was once a woman named Affiong Any who lived at ‘Nsidung, a small town to the south of Calabar. She was married to a chief of Hensham Town called Etim Ekeng.
Perhaps the most popular Nigerian legend, mami watas are extremely beautiful, utterly vicious and have the power to lure any man into their grasp.
In Balinese folklore, the Leyak or Leak is a mythological figure in the form of a flying head with entrails (heart, lung, liver, etc.) still attached.
A banshee is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, typically by wailing, shrieking, or keening.
Hearing the news of her husband’s death, she wept so bitterly that a part of the Great Wall collapsed, revealing his bones.
Yennenga was a legendary princess who is considered the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso.
Sioux warrior who counted coup to avenge her brothers, who had been killed in battle.
The daughter of a Basotho chief, Thákane led a band of warriors on a hunt to kill a nanabolele (water-dwelling dragon).