Rethinking Scale

You know how there were those dudes over in Greece that had a hundred hands? Contemplate this: They weren't big guys, their hands were just tiny. Good for needlework.

Instant Profundity

The novice: "I'd better avoid giving characters and items in my story random names from mythology and such! People will get confused!"
The professional: "If I sprinkle random names from mythology and stuff around, people will theorize about the significance even though there isn't any. I'll secretly start up a wiki for my own work to get things started."

Addendum

Phoenikes also say "phoenix," but a lot else is different. For instance, they say "pop" and "bubbler."

Fantasy Dialects

When you think about it, sphinxes probably ended all their sentences in "sphinx," right? Same with phoenices, nagas, rocs, and on and on, mutatis mutandis.

Addendum

"A man can be eaten but once, but a pummeling may be profitably multiplied." - an evil wizard deciding whether to give his horrible creations extra heads or arms

Anatomical Musings

In the light of day, thousands of years later, I'm starting to think that having multiple heads doesn't make a monster any scarier than it would be otherwise.

Addendum

Similarly, if you make a chimera in your magical lab, your atelier if you prefer, it isn't mythological, but it remains a chimera. Fortunately the category of bioweapons is universally recognized, but many would find it offputting to hear a work described as "bioweapon fantasy." For now.

Addendum

As for the other myths, the internet has made their meaning obvious. For thousands of years people wondered about the symbolic significance of, for instance, Cronos and his devouring of his children. Turns out it's just fetish stuff. All of it. We just didn't know people existed who liked that kind of thing.

Mythological Interpretation

Certain myths have the obvious purpose of explaining why a place or thing has the name it does. The Hellespont, for example. However!!?!?!! If that's the case, why do so many names not have myths appended? Do we just not have them? Were the sources of most names widely known or obvious similar to the approximately 5,000 places called Newcastle after translation? The likeliest cause is that the Hellespont was actually named after or at least by somebody a persuasive mythographer didn't like and wanted to erase. The second-likeliest is that mankind came here from another world and carried over most names from there but needed a few new ones. Third-likeliest is that all such myths, when put together and interpreted, tell us where the treasure is, and that's the one on which I'm banking.

Compelling Fantasy Mythology

The main problem with crafting detailed mythologies for your setting is that you could have just set the story in those instead. That's why you should include a brief conversation along the following lines:

"'This reminds me of that possibly legendary story.'
'I know just the one you mean, and of course there is no need to elaborate.' He looked at the camera and winked."

It's Time to Start Remaking Books

Movies are remade all the time. You might think that has something to do with the medium, but way back when, everybody wrote his own version of the Argo's travels or King Arthur's rise and fall. What changed? Nothing that can't be changed back, especially when we revise those darn intellectual property laws in the interests of mankind's survival.

Monster Q&A Corner

Q. Why are centaurs partly human?
A. The human ones killed all the goblin ones. Don't feel too bad for them, though. They took out the lizard ones first.
Q. Why are manticores seldom depicted with human faces?
A. Because it looks dumb. God Emperor of Dune is a similar case.
Q. Aren't most manticores in fiction really just chimeras?
A. Hold on, let's not pass over "in fiction." Or "really." Tell us what you know.
Q. Gotta go!

Addendum

The wings should also be baleful.

The Core Pegasus Fault

Pegasuses don't look tough enough. They should have eight wings and baleful eyes.

Speaking of Minotaurs

Riding a minotaur into battle is a waste of a good minotaur, so just ride a bull or a warcow instead. Don't forget to equip your warcow with a helmet that has more horns on it.

Inspirational Phrase of the Day

"Prismatic Minotaur"

History and Mythology Corner

Historically, plenty of people were willing to believe that certain gods and heroes were the same people as other gods and heroes in a different language. Far too willing, really.

Mythology Corner

Janus is the god of doors, so make sure to buy new doors and prop them against a wall somewhere. "I'll install those eventually," you say, knowing it to be a lie.

Exploring Mythology

Did you know there were these dudes that had 100 hands? That's too many. In your next fantasy story, or scifi if it involves extensive bodily modification, eight hands will do.

Be Careful With Names

Watch out for how your readers will interpret names. For instance, if your character Mandy Core doesn't turn into either a manticore or a giant space complex the heroic spaceship has to destroy, people will be disappointed. To fix this, have one of those two things happen.