Symbolism of Dragons in Ancient Mythology

YourFirstName YourLastName
Instructor's Name
Course Title
26 April 2016

Dragons

Symbolism of Dragons in Ancient Mythology

Introduction

            In every ancient mythology, there are specific motifs which people associated certain cultural meanings with. One of such motifs was the dragon, a legendary creature that commonly appears in many of ancient mythologies. Some of the ancient civilizations believed to have associated themselves with dragons include the Greek, Chinese, Roman, Indian, among other mythologies. Practically, there are some common as well as varying meanings which ancient cultures associated the dragons with. For instance, some mythologies portray dragons as evil creatures which beleaguered human beings for a long time and thereby required a hero to defeat them. On the other hand, some mythologies depict dragons as protectors of human beings from other evil creatures. All the same, dragons in ancient mythology represented power, wisdom and had some religious or spiritual associations which depicted them as supernatural creatures that should be feared and revered at equal measures.

            Arguably, there is no one universal representation of the dragon shared across all ancient traditions. For instance, there are those mythologies which depict dragons as reptile-like creatures that had wings and could fly. On the contrary, most of the Greek mythologies do not speak of dragons which have flying abilities. Consequently, there are mythologies which portray the dragon to have three heads, such as the Russian dragons, while others only have one. Additionally, some mythologies tell of dragons having the ability to breathe fire against their enemies, the Slavic dragons being a good example. Moreover, there are variances on where the dragons lived, some mythologies arguing they lived in water, others in caves, while others in mountains far from where people lived. Despite all the above variances, most of the ancient mythologies agree with the fact that dragons were aggressive and hostile when provoked. (RESOURCES: Dragons Of The Ancient Sea)

            The depiction of dragons having extraordinary features and abilities simply is meant to showcase dragons as powerful creatures that were to be feared by man. For instance, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one gets to learn of Humbaba, a vicious dragon with fire-breathing abilities. Humbaba lived in the Cedar Forest and would attack and kill anyone who would come disturbing its peace or even the forest. (Hines) Basically, dragons were so powerful that it called for heroic prowess for anyone to challenge and defeat them. For instance, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh had to perform heroic stances to defeat Humbaba. Common people were at the mercy of dragons and would do anything just not make them angry. (Hines) Generally, dragons were associated with power in ancient mythology and anyone who could slay or kill a dragon was given heroic praises for protecting his people against evil. This saw many traditional mythologies create legends through representing and celebrating men who could slay and kill dragons.