Mythology and Folklore Writing Prompts

While touring the Greek Islands on a sailboat with your friends, you pull into a grotto. As you leave, a beautiful siren appears, and seductively asks to come aboard you boat. You kindly refuse. In a fury, she demands to know why.

The fourth little pig built his house out of wolf skulls. It wasn't very sturdy, but it sent a message.

One day a priest prayed for a prophet and was answered by God. “I have sent thousands of prophets. They are among the writers, philosophers, activists, and scientists. Yet you have condemned them as heretics and silenced them in one form or another. Why should I send more to be ignored?”

A young fey creature just tricked you into giving them your name. They are now writhing on the ground in agony begging you to take it back. You have no idea what's going on.

You are perfectly immortal. You can't age, you can't get any wounds, you can survive anything, and even if the universe were to end you are immediately taken to another universe. Not because you are demi-god or a wizard, but because the god of death's daughter is in love with you.

"I am sorry, he named it WHAT!?" Said Oedipus before storming towards the afterlife that houses Sigmund Freud

When his champion returned after many years, proudly spouting off his many accomplishments, the God could only stare, dumbfounded. "What the hell do you mean you saved the world? You were supposed to destroy it!"

As the first Mars-born human draws his final breath, the Martian God of Death prepares to argue his case for ownership over his soul.

You're supposed to be the god of death, so naturally, it's a bit awkward when the rest of the gods find out you're expecting a child.

When someone dies, the afterlife they go to is determined by WHERE they died. Dying in Scandinavia sends the soul to Valhalla or Hel, but dying in Greece lands them in Hades, and so on. You have just died in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Tired of love stricken mortals making up a sizable chunk of the underworld’s traffic, Hades decides to help mortals with their love problems before Aphrodite can answer them. It turns out that mortals are a lot more satisfied with Hades’ help than with Aphrodite’s.

Like how Prometheus gave fire to man, you too have followed in his footsteps and gave fire to the corvids.

You are the child of a sea god, and a gang of pirates has just kidnapped you in order to bargain with your father and secure a safe voyage. Little do they know that your father has perished and passed his powers on to you - and the pirates have just angered the only one in charge of their fate.

You are a divorce lawyer, the best in your field. You have just received word that you will representing the Greek goddess Hera in her divorce from Zeus.

Man-eating sirens have plagued these waters for as long anyone can remember. Now, as you sail across the ocean with your crew, siren songs begin to entrance everyone on board. In a desperate move to save the others, you try something no one else has tried before; you sing along with them.

You are a sailor, however a Siren in training is trying to get you as you watch her sisters encouraging her from afar.

You are a great warrior that heroically fell in defence of your city. As a reward the gods resurrected you to be the its eternal defender. Now, centuries later, your city has been abandoned and is nothing more than rubble, but your mission remains. You will defend these ruins with your life.

It was once common knowledge that any sufficiently labyrinthine structure will eventually manifest a Minotaur at its heart. Today, your local IKEA opened its newest extension.

You have been chosen among others to become the gods of a more modern pantheon. After having been unknowingly teleported to some ethereal place, you see everyone else. Each person seems to represent the engraving in front of them perfectly; Gaming, Fast Food, Automobiles… yours reads Internet

Most Princesses and Princes have fairy godmothers to protect them and provide them with magic boons and powers. Your parents never told you about your fairy godmother until the day a tribe of goblins came collectively calling themselves your "gob"mother

A Pirate crew raids a treasure hoard in a cave, finding gold and abnormally sized pearls. The captain decides to examine these pearls and they hatch to reveal baby mermaids, who’s first word is “papa?”

"Pick a god and pray" they said, and you did, praying to every god you knew. And as you did this a name popped into your mind, one you didn't recognize, yet you prayed to them all the same. In response the air stood still, like even the world had forgotten their name.

You're a deity of something small and seemingly unimportant. You're the first one the people stop praying and sacrificing to when things get dire. Oh, what fools they are.

For 10+ years a child goes to a forest to play/talk with the fairies there despite local legends of their sadism/cruelty, and afflicting fates worse than death. So when the now 16 y/o child is abducted, the traffickers find out not all local legends are BS when the fairies come for their "pet".

"I cannot give you riches, fame, bring back the dead, nor give you a blessing. But should you give shelter for the night to a poor, old woman such as me, I can promise that I will serve you in a great time of need."

When the truly ancient gods were rediscovered, they didn't seek vengeance on a world that had forgotten them - rather, they were happy that the humans they were so fond of remembered them once again after untold millenia of loneliness.

You, a trans person, are talking to a fey you met in the woods. You are attempting to get them to pull the fey "can I have you name" prank on you in order to get rid of your deadname, without making the fey suspicious.

A kind and generous Fae is desperately trying to convince a starving guest to eat. The Guest, well aware of the rules of the Fae, is paranoid and constantly worried about falling victim to said Fae.

You are an elder god. Your followers have just summoned you to the mortal realm... to celebrate your birthday.

Adam and Eve wrote the Bible to cover up the real evil they committed that got them kicked out of Eden. This is the story of what really happened.