Monday, December 17, 2007

Give me a Puff (Dragon Breath)


The Lair of Totality,
Home of the Dragon:



Ljubljana, Dragon Bridge







Cadmus
Cadmus and the dragon, black-figured amphora from Euboea, ca. 560-550 BC, Louvre (E 707)



Main Entry:
drag·on Listen to the pronunciation of dragon
Pronunciation:
\ˈdra-gən\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French dragun, from Latin dracon-, draco serpent, dragon, from Greek drakōn serpent; akin to Old English torht bright, Greek derkesthai to see, look at
Date:
13th century
1 archaic : a huge serpent 2: a mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws 3: a violent, combative, or very strict person 4: capitalized : draco 5: something or someone formidable or baneful

see also: Leviathan (fire breathing Bible Beast) and Behemoth

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dragon





Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's teeth, by Maxfield Parrish, 1908



What is the origin of dragons? The Collective Unconscious, where else?
A look at a few famous dragons should show how these archetypal creatures arose from the mind's creative juices.

Lernaean Hydra
Hydra (A picture of the Lernaean Hydra)


Hercules slew the multi-headed Hydra as one of his labors, while Jason took on a dragon with poisonous breath and fire breathing bulls to win the Golden Fleece:

Jason disgorged by the Dragon, with Athena | Greek vase, Athenian red figure kylix

M20.1 IASON & THE DRAKON

Museum Collection: Museo Gregoriano Etrusco Vaticano, Vatican City
Catalogue No.: Vatican 16545
Beazley Archive No.: 205162
Ware: Attic Red Figure
Shape: Kylix
Painter: Attributed to Douris
Date: ca 500 - 450 BC
Period: Late Archaic

SUMMARY

The Drakon of Kholkis disgorges the hero Jason. Behind it the Golden Fleece hangs from a tree. Athene oversees the scene, holding a small owl and wearing her gorgon-headed aigis. This version of the story is from the lost work of an unknown ancient Greek poet.

My favorite Dragons:




Quetzalcoatl
Beowulf's dragon
the multi-colored Chinese Dragons
The Loch Ness Monster
Merlin's Dragon

Puff The Magic Dragon

Here's an extensive list from Wikipedia:

List of dragons in mythology and folklore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of dragons in mythology and folklore. For dragons that originate in fiction, see List of fictional dragons.

See also








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