Heracles, meanwhile, is the slayer of a water dragon with many heads called the Hydra of Lerna. In Ancient Greek mythology, a dragon-like monster called Typhon who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire is slain by Zeus, whilst the similarly named Python, who is depicted as a serpent or a dragon that lives at the centre of the earth, is slain by Apollo with poisoned arrows. In Revelations, the author describes a creature he calls the Great Red Dragon, which has seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail. In the Book of Psalms, the sea dragon called Leviathan is slain by Yahweh as part of the creation of the world. Tiamat is enraged and creates the first dragons, filling their bodies with venom instead of blood.ĭragons are even depicted in the Bible. Together they create the younger gods, who later kill Abzu to usurp his role as lord of the universe. In ancient Babylonian mythology, the goddess of the salt sea is depicted as a gigantic sea serpent called Tiamat, who mates with the god of the fresh waters called Abzu or Apsu, who is depicted as a lion-like winged creature. Ušumgallu means "great dragon" in Sumerian and he is usually described as a dragon-lion demon, Bašmu means "venomous snake" and he is described as a horned snake with two forelegs and wings, and Mušmaḫḫū means "exalted serpent" and he is described as a hybrid of serpent, lion, and bird.
In Akkadian and Mesopotamian mythology Ušumgallu, Bašmu and Mušmaḫḫū are three dragons or serpents. Dragons are also associated with fire, and often dwell in deep bodies of water - two more natural threats to our safety. When we lived in trees hundreds of thousands of years ago, these predators were our biggest threats, and fear of them is programmed deep into our DNA. They resemble big cats, venomous snakes, and predatory birds all at once. Why are myths about dragons so universal in human cultures? According to anthropologist David E Jones, it's because dragons are an imaginative amalgam of all of our natural predators.
The dragon artwork is by an awesome artist friend of mine called Jamie Carr, who was part of that epic Dungeons and Dragons campaign! Dragon Names in Mythology We wanted to build something that made names suitable for the epic Dungeons and Dragons campaign we were playing with our friends, but that would also work for World of Warcraft and other online RPGs.
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