Yijie Lu

Marie La Fond
CLAS 430 A

29 July 2024

Image Evolution of "Dragon" from Ancient Greek Mythology to Modern Films

Cuncun Qian, Image Evolution of "Dragon" from Ancient Greek Mythology to Modern Films, 2000, Overseas English, published in Hefei, Anhui Province, China, with support from various donors.

     The article “Image Evolution of ‘Dragon’ from Ancient Greek Mythology to Modern Films” mentions that dragons have different meanings in both Eastern and Western cultures. Well in ancient Greek mythology, dragons were typically considered to have a variety of complex symbolism that, while not entirely evil, tends to always be against us. For example,  the story of Cadmus and the dragon, a descendant of Ares, provide an intriguing story. This dragon, a powerful creature, was the offspring of Ares, the god of war. Cadmus killed the dragon to access a spring, but he was later required to make a redemption for this act. This story shows that dragons in ancient Greek mythology were not just symbols of evil. Killing a dragon was not simply a heroic deed, as the dragons carried more complex meanings. Through this example, we can see that dragons in Greek mythology were not just monsters but still is negative

image. However, over time, especially in modern films, the image of dragons has become more diverse and the overall impression has become increasingly positive(Qian,  p.226-227). Now, dragons are not only represented as evil; sometimes they are even portrayed as friendly and protective creatures. This change reflects a shift in people's perceptions of dragons. Nowadays, we all believe dragons are no longer just scary monsters, but magical creatures with many personalities.

     In ancient Greek mythology, dragons were often portrayed as fearsome and powerful creatures, not a positive impression on us. For example, in video 5 of Lesson 8, it is mentioned "For his second labor Heracles faced the Lernaean Hydra which was a multi-headed dragon. Heracles tried to chop off the hydra’s heads but found that for every head that was removed two more would grow in its place. Heracles (simultaneously fighting a giant crab sent by Hera) managed to slay the hydra by having his nephew  Iolaus cauterize the stump of each head as he cut it off. The hydra’s blood was poisonous so after slaying it Heracles dipped arrows in the blood to create poisoned arrows(Video 5, Lesson 8, 00:0:16-00:16:09)”. I think it is a classic example. The Lernaean Hydra, one of Hercules' twelve missions, is a many-headed dragon that lives in the swamp. And whenever one of its heads is severed, Two new heads will grow, making it almost impossible to kill.  Lernaean Hydra not only symbolizes evil but it is also considered unbeatable because of its regenerative abilities. Another example is Tiamat, the dragon from “Enuma Elish” mentioned in lesson2 , who represents the primordial ocean, who tries to destroy the gods by giving birth to monsters, but is ultimately defeated by Marduk (Video 2, Lesson 2, 00:5:12-00:6:32). All of these stories represent the fact that dragons were powerful and not positively portrayed in ancient stories. But now, the image of the dragon in modern movies and television has become more diversified and is no longer just a symbol of evil. In many modern films, dragons are sometimes portrayed as friendly or righteous characters, and even can be brave protectors, rather than the evil monsters of ancient Greek mythology. For example, my favorite computer anime movie "How to Train Your Dragon" tells us a story of the confrontation between humans and dragons at the beginning, and later because of the protagonist Hiccup and his dragon Toothless, humans begin to accept and change their negative views on dragons. In my opinion, the process of this film is very similar to reality. In the beginning, humans fought against the dragon for generations, which means that the dragon was always regarded as an evil and powerful symbol in ancient Greece. In the later story of the film, the peaceful coexistence between humans and the dragon also represents that people's view of the dragon is becoming more and more positive.

     I also saw that for our Virtual Museum Milestone assignment, there is a project that explains the game  "God of War video" related to ancient Greek mythology that interested me a lot. That is because I used to have played this game, and I remember there was a dragon named Fafnir in the game(Santa Monica Studio). Fafnir was originally a human but became a dragon because of greed and a curse. In the game, Fafnir is not only an enemy, but also has its own story background and motivation, but also mainly reflects the negative image of the dragon in ancient Greek mythology. However, I think their project's explanation of the game, dragon Fafnir in the game, is very relevant to the project I want to study and discuss.

     So no matter whether it is from our article "Image Evolution of 'Dragon' from Ancient Greek Mythology to Modern Films," or for modern movies and games, such as "How to Train Your Dragon" or the game" God of War ", all of them can reflect the transformation of people's views on dragons from ancient Greek culture to modern society, and dragons are no longer just a symbol of evil.

Citation:

Qian, Cuncun. Image Evolution of "Dragon" from Ancient Greek Mythology to Modern Films.

Published in Overseas English, Anhui Science and Technology Press, 2000. Santa Monica Studio. God of War. Sony Computer Entertainment, 2024.

La Fond, Marie. “Video #5 - Man, Hero, God: Heracles.” Lesson 8: Video Lectures. University of Washington, July 2024, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1729190/pages/lesson-8-video-lectures?module_item_id=21246325