Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman WorldsDrakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds is the first substantial survey to be focally devoted to the 'dragon' or the supernatural serpent, the drakon or draco, in Greek and Roman myth and religion. Almost every major myth cycle of the Greek and Roman worlds featured a dragon-fight at its heart, including the sagas of Heracles, Jason, Perseus, Cadmus, and Odysseus. Asclepius, the single most beloved and influential of the pagan gods from the late Classical period until Late Antiquity, was often manifest as a giant serpent and even in his humanoid aspect carried a serpent on his staff. Detailed and authoritative, but lucidly presented, this volume incorporates analyses of all of antiquity's major dragon-slaying myths, and offers comprehensive accounts of the rich sources, literary and iconographic. Ogden also explores matters of cult and the initially paradoxical association of dragons and serpents with the most benign of deities, not only those of health and healing, like Asclepius and Hygieia, but also those of wealth and good luck, such as Zeus Meilichios and Agathos Daimon. The concluding chapter considers the roles of both pagan dragon-slaying narratives and pagan serpent cults in shaping the beginnings of the tradition of the saintly dragon- and serpent-slaying tales we cherish still, the tradition that culminates in our own stories of Saints George and Patrick. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Drakontes Pure | 26 |
Drakontes Composite | 68 |
3 Fights with K275t275 SeaSerpents | 116 |
4 The World of the Slain Drakontes | 148 |
5 Masters and Mistresses of Drakontes | 192 |
6 The Symmetrical Battle between Drakon and Slayer | 215 |
7 Drakontes Earth and the Dead | 247 |
8 Drak333n Gods of Wealth and Good Luck | 271 |
9 Drak333n Gods of Healing | 310 |
10 A Day in the Life of a Sacred Snake | 347 |
11 The Birth of the Christian Dragon | 383 |
427 | |
461 | |
Other editions - View all
Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds Daniel Ogden No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Aelian Aelian Nature Aeneid Aeschylus Agathos Daimon Alexander Amphiaraus ancient Andromeda anguiform anguipede Apollo Apollodorus Apollodorus Bibliotheca Argonautica Aristophanes Asclepieion Asclepius Athene battle bearded Cadmus cave cent century BC Cerberus Chimaera coils creature cult Diodorus Discussion draco drakon Echidna Ericthonius Euripides FGrH fiery fig fight figure find fine fire first Fontenrose 1959 fourth century Gorgons Gourmelen 2004 Greek head Heracles Hesiod Hesiod Theogony Hesperides Homer Iliad humanoid Hydra Hygieia Hyginus Hyginus Fabulae iconography identified kétos killed Kotansky Ladon Lamia Laocoon LIMC Herakles Lucian Lycophron Lycophron Alexandra Medea Mitropoulou 1977 monster motif myth narrative Nonnus Nonnus Dionysiaca Ogden ophis Ovid Ovid Metamorphoses pagan pair Palaephatus Pausanias Perseus Pherecydes Philostratus Pindar Pliny Natural History Plutarch Psylli Python relief sacred snakes sacrifice sanctuary schol Scylla serpent significance specifically tale tells temple Theogony tradition TrGF Typhon Tzetzes underworld vase Vatican Mythographer venom Virgil Aeneid whilst Zeus Zeus Meilichios