與海有關的神話研究，向來較受忽略。學者以為先民最初居處西北平原，距海遙遠，且中國自古重視陸權、發展內陸文明，因此與海有關的神話原本不甚發達。然而，《山海經》裡，原始海神正以凌厲樸野的形象鎮守海陸交界，而與海有關的變形神話以及紛繁羅列、珍怪奇偉的海外異域與海上樂園，更反映初民對茫茫大海的情思寄託與奇幻想像。本文試從神話原型理論及宗教現象學觀點，探索集蛇鳥於一身的海神形塑可能蘊藏的原始海洋信仰內涵；並自大海意象的原型內蘊與宗教象徵切入，重探精衛填海及海上姑射、蓬萊等神話主題意蘊。除藉此抉發古代海洋神話的特色與內涵，並希望能賦予古老神話以新的詮釋向度。

There has not been much research done on sea myths in the past. Most scholars are of the opinion that since China’s earliest inhabitants lived in the northwestern plains, far from the sea, from very early times they tended to focus on land power and develop a mainland culture. As a consequence, myths about the sea are assumed to be relatively undeveloped. However, in the Shanhai jing 山海經, we find primitive sea -gods fiercely and wildly protecting the boundary between land and sea. We also see versions of myths relating to the sea and collections of strange and marvelous myths about overseas lands and oceanic paradises that show that those early inhabitants invested the vast seas before them with considerable sentiment and imagination. This paper looks at the beliefs behind the half-snake, half-bird image of the sea god from the perspectives of mythical archetypes and religious phenomenology; we will also examine the myths of the jingwei bird filling the sea with stones 精衛填海, the oceanic Guie 姑射 mountain, and the mystical Penglai 蓬萊 mountain in terms of archetypal images of the sea and religious phenomenology. Besides bringing out the characteristics and content of these ancient sea myths, we also hope to take a look at these ancient myths from a new interpretive perspective.