Dragons in Western and Eastern Cultures - Essay Example

Dragons in Western and Eastern Cultures Dragon is one of the most sophisticated, complex, and ancient mythological creatures. History of dragons goes as far as history of written language itself because they appear in early Sumerians mythology. Dragons are traditionally described as lizards or other reptile-like creatures with huge pterodactyl-like wings possessing mystical or magical, supernatural abilities. The difference between oriental and western, especially medieval dragons is crucial. On the one hand, in European mythology and in Christian tradition dragons are always evil, violent, greedy, and fearful creatures that abduct princesses, kill brave warriors and knights, and destroy villages. On the other hand, Chinese people compare themselves with dragons whom they consider their protectors. Dragon is the main character of Asian mythology, he is a god-like creature which represents nobility, honor, and power. These dragons do not threat simple people. Eastern dragons are believed to bring luck nevertheless. Medieval and oriental dragons (which are the most popular kinds of dragon) do not only contrast each in terms of behaviour but they also look in a different way. Chinese dragons are traditionally described as long serpent-like and sometimes colorful creatures, whereas medieval dragons look darker, have wings, often breeze flame and have more in common with real lizards and snakes. In my opinion, there are two most interesting stories with western kind of dragons, which will serve as a good example of them. The first one is about Saint George and the Dragon. This story is classic dragon-story and is also one of the reasons why western dragons are portrayed as savage beasts. During the story the Warrior (St. George) kills beast that lived in the lake near the city because of dragon’s terror and horrible actions towards the dwellers of the city. Of course there were a princess and a mad king, mad because he thought he could calm the dragon down by feeding him with some amount of people from time to time and eventually was forced to give away his daughter, the beautiful princess. But hungry and greedy beast is defeated by a brave hero and the princess is saved. That is a story which becomes a cliché for further stories (Lippincot 16). The other story is about the dragon named Fafnir who is a character of Scandinavian and German tales and fables, he also plays a necessary role in the Nibelungs Saga. In this story Fafnir the Dragon protects golden treasure which he thinks is his. That is his main and the only agenda, he is sitting on gold and killing whoever is willing to take it from him. Pretty good motivation for a greedy beast, except for the fact that Fafnir was not a real dragon but a man transformed after his father`s murder. Fafnir also had brother who was weaker but his brother became a trained a warrior named Sigurd who killed Fafnir but he did not take the gold because it was cursed (Dragons in Western and Eastern Cultures). There are different kinds of dragon in ancient Asian mythology, different dragons from different religious traditions responsible for various natural mechanisms and things like prediction of people’s fate, wars, the laws of nature etc. In Buddhism and Dzen traditions saints are described as being lifted to heavens by a flying dragon. Thus, dragon as a symbol is the most cherished, known and respected character of oriental mythological tradition. One of the many examples is common dragon constructions which can be seen everywhere on China during the New Year celebration (Lippincot 14) So what is the reason of such contrast? Because, as you can see the difference is really huge, almost from black to white. I honestly think that there are no direct answers. Anyway, it only makes the question more interesting, isn’t it? In Chinese calendar we sure as heck can see a year of Snake. But knowing the dominant western religious tradition, we also know that Snake or Devil is a master of all evil and tormentor of the human kind. Not only snakes but almost all reptiles are named ”cattle” in Bible which is not a very pleasant name, because things which crawls, in the western opinion, simply just can’t be good or noble. In Chinese calendar a snake stands for wisdom, one of the most important features in both eastern and western cultural and religious traditions. In my opinion Chinese people often compare power with nobility and honor, maybe that is one of the reasons why such enormously big and incredibly looking creatures couldn’t be bad in the eyes of these people (Dragons I Western and Eastern Cultures). Maybe western civilization needed something big to scare sinners and help villains instead of letting people know that not always big means bad, maybe it is because whole medieval philosophy teaches us not to fear and believe only in ourselves, while western Christian tradition always had their God looking not only merciful and full of love but also as scary leader and supreme commander of everything and everywhere. And if we ask ourselves what God is there in Asian countries, we surely and easily will come up with answer that there is no such a phenomenon in the East. That means that you need someone by your side and it is better be someone who can bring you luck (Dragons in Western and Eastern Cultures). But whatever the true answer is, it is sure and clear as day that dragons all over the world in all cultures and mythological tales have always been symbols of what general public wanted them to be and it is even more important than the fact that dragon in the Bible is one the names of Satan, while in text of Buddhism you can see dragon as people’s friend . Dragons are like dinosaurs but it’s much simpler for them to fit in the movie. And they are good for movies because of many reasons, amongst which are their huge role in phantasy genre and epic sagas. Maybe the most critically acclaimed and generally accepted movie piece with dragons for the past few years were two animated films: How to Train Your Dragon and its sequel. It is not only an interesting cartoon but also a whole different point of view on the subject of dragons in western culture. Why? Because this film is about people making friends with dragons and they are not just simple people but cruel Viking warriors. Another movie-franchise is film-adaptations of G. R. Tolkin “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit”. A lot of dragons appear in these films, I must say. But here we have a whole different (and old) story about big bad and evil fire-breathing greedy monsters. But of course it is all very incredibly looking and creates effective action-scenes with explosions and battles. Dragons are good for movies because they look spectacular. And if you are afraid of dragons and not living in Asia, you better watch How to Train Your Dragon, believe me you’re not going regret it. Works Cited Dragons in Western and Eastern Cultures. MingJade. 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.mingjade.com/jade-legends/dragons-in-western-and-eastern-cultures/ Lippincot, W. The Unnatural History of Dragons. Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, 1998. Vol. 77, No. 334. Read More