Mechanical by Bruno Flexer

Mechanical by Bruno Flexer
Mechanical by Bruno Flexer

Friday, November 15, 2013

Dragon Slayers in Ancient Myths, the original Science Fiction and Fantasy stories




















Dragon Slayers in Ancient Myths, the original Science Fiction and Fantasy stories:



They come with as many types, sizes and shapes as dragons themselves come. Some of them are might demigods while others are humble peasants. They use everything from guile to magic weapons to simple tricks to try to overcome their mortal enemies.

Whenever there's a dragon, there usually is an accompanying hero, or dragon slayer.

Hercules was perhaps one of the mightiest dragon slayers recorded in myth. The son of Zeus, the king of the gods, Hercules started his career by killing two serpents sent to his cradle by the jealous Hera, Zeus's wife. Hercules's mightiest feat involving dragons was the slaying of the Hydra, the nine headed dragon. Hercules, though possessing strength no other mortal possessed, nevertheless found it was insufficient to perform the task, since every dragon head he killed, two new heads sprang up. Hercules had to use his head. He cauterized with fire every neck stump of the dragon and thus made sure it could not rise again.


In a Japaneses tale, Susanoo, a son of the mighty Sun Goddess, also found that power, even the power of a god, was insufficient to kill a might dragon with eight heads and eight tails. Sunsanoo had to use his head. He constructed an elaborate trap and tricked the dragon, where simple force would not have been sufficient to finish that mighty monster.

Hercules was finally killed by a cloak wet with blood poisoned by the Hydra's blood, thus making that nine headed dragon an accomplice in the demise of the demigod.


Though Susanoo was victorious over the might dragon with eight heads and eight tails, Japan still suffered because the dragon returned and stole the grass cutter sword, one of three artifacts given to the Japanese people by the Sun Goddess herself.

Of course, Apollo was also a victim of a dragon, Python, but this will be told in another post.

From these examples we can learn that sometimes it takes a demigod to best a dragon, but beware! Even a dead dragon can sometimes have its revenge.  Of course, this is the place really good science fiction and fantasy will have their field day ...

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