Dragons

[bdoon]

Good grief some changes trying to find a forum to post a question about dragons .... the gamers have taken over the term "dragon"

Why have ancient cultures independently reported dragons?

Is it something to do with dinosaurs? Did they find dino bones, look at lizard bones and extrapolate?

Or is our science all wrong and did remnants of dinos walk the earth while homo-sapiens exist?

Is it coincidence or some archetypical memory in our genes?

I am obsessed about this momentarily as I just saw a tv show about dragons and they even said that some ancients and even early middle age folks said they fought dragons (Romans, Greeks, Sumerians, Babylonians, etc.).

What gives?

Thanking you in advance for your input.

bdoon (in Wash DC)

[+DieChecker]

I think multiple cultures created similar creatures because humans all have the same primal fears, and dragons are a amalgam of most of them.

Humans Fear = Giant Animal

Humans Fear = Reptiles

Humans Fear = Poisonous

Humans Fear = Fire

Humans Fear = Flying Animals

Humans Fear = Magic

Dragon = Magical Flying Giant Reptile (With some being poisonous and some fire related.)

[+Noteverythingisaconspiracy]

Maybe someone long ago made up a story with a dragonlike creature, and the story travelled far and wide, because you know, dragons are cool !

There have been trade routes between the Middle East and China for thousands of years, so maybe the stories spread via those , and from there to Europe and Japan ?

[Vance665]

I like to think some dinosaur fossils were found and that's where the stories got started. Makes the most sense to me at least.

[+DieChecker]

I think European dragons are Biblical/Middle Eastern in origin, being scaled and gigantic and fire breathing. Oriental dragons were more of a spiritual creature, that were long and sinuous, like the rivers they were spirits of. And the American dragons were feathered, like the head dresses of their gods.

I don't think it was till Europeans came in contact with the Americans and the Asians till all the various "dragons" worldwide started to be lumped together, and cross pollinated features to all.

[aquatus1]

Good grief some changes trying to find a forum to post a question about dragons .... the gamers have taken over the term "dragon"

Why have ancient cultures independently reported dragons?

Well, it depends largely on what you mean by dragon. Most ancient cultures had some kind of reptile based monster, sure.

By the way, welcome to the forum! Hope to see you become a regular poster.

Is it something to do with dinosaurs? Did they find dino bones, look at lizard bones and extrapolate?

There is an interesting proposition along those lines, but not for dragons. Mostly for other mythological animals, the griffin from a Triceratops skull being the classic example.

Or is our science all wrong and did remnants of dinos walk the earth while homo-sapiens exist?

Pretty unlikely. A mistake that big would be reflected in scores of other scientific fields.

Is it coincidence or some archetypical memory in our genes?

I am obsessed about this momentarily as I just saw a tv show about dragons and they even said that some ancients and even early middle age folks said they fought dragons (Romans, Greeks, Sumerians, Babylonians, etc.).

What gives?

Thanking you in advance for your input.

bdoon (in Wash DC)

You've actually touched on your own answer there. It isn't so much an archetypal memory as it is an inherited fear of the different, and few things come more different than reptilians. In the same way that humans are fascinated by giant anythings, be they dinosaurs, women, and certainly animals, giant lizards, particularly ones that can fly and do magical things, will wrap themselves around your imagination and not come loose easily. This happened to people in ancient Mesopotamia, it happened to people in the MIddle Ages, and it continues to happen today.

Personally, I consider it similar to the search for the Amazons, a search that pretty much extended till humans walked the planet from end to end. Ultimately, it was a search for something normally innocent grown so large and powerful it could overcome even the strongest of men. It is something of an imbedded instinct. Dominatrixes make a decent living out of it.

[Crabby Kitten]

Yes, I'm certain ancient people stumbled across dinosaur fossils. How they interpreted them as reptiles, not sure. But people had myths and legends about other creatures such as huge monsters and giants. The cyclops cave from Greek mythology was discovered to contain bones of extinct woolly rhino.

[Jilliman]

You can never rule out that they may have indeed saw some dragons. Dragons haven't proven to be real yet but there is nothing really to disprove them either.

You know, I've always had a theory that maybe dragons were real and died out. They could have lived on mountain peaks and had hollow bones which would have helped with flight. Maybe if they died in harsh terrain with the combination of hollow bones their traces could have never been found.

As far as with Native American myths, I think that vultures and hawks are our dragons their. Some can look pretty monstrous.

As far as biblical dragons go I believe dragons are representations of struggle and obstacles. I think they are pure symbolism.

And I'm sure finding dinosaur bones inspired a lot of cultures to believe in dragons.

[+DieChecker]

Biblical dragons are always satanic/demonic.

I don't believe there has ever existed a 6 limbed species of vertibrate on Earth, so the 4 legged, winged dragons are right out. The two winged variety is more likely, but they would also be very small, or have a tremendous wingspan. And would be very fragile in terms of fighting a heavily armed and armored human. Oriental dragons didn't even have wings, as far as I know.

[Skep B]

maybe they were 4 legged w/ flying squirrel type skin so they really just glided.

.....the **** am I saying?

[theotherguy]

Komodo dragons, bearded dragons, dragonfish, dragons left behind a good legacy.

But the European dragon, a large, four-legged, winged reptile, probably is a combination of campfire stories (or whatever they had back then) and overactive imaginations, with a good hit of religious symbolism. Round it out with some big bones (even an elephant skeleton would serve for this) and you get a new legend.

[JedI734]

I tend to give our ancestors more credit than most. I of course dont believe ever story from antiquity but when its as wide spread as dragons or other creatures that are generally thought of as fairy tale. It makes me think maybe they saw something or even coexisted with animals we just havent found evidence of yet for whatever reason.

[magikgoddess]

I've always assumed dragons and dinosaurs went hand and hand. The awe inspiring size of the fossils must have given rise to the legends of dragons. But that's just my take on it.