Greece and Rome

One of the most famous mythologies, and often denoted as "classical mythology", the mythology of the Greeks and Romans has spread throughout our culture. They viewed dragons as vicious creatures and minions for the gods.

• Boa
• Cetus
• Chimera
• Lernean Hydra
• Python
• Footnotes

History: Boa was the cross between a dragon and a huge snake, as described by Pliny in Historia Naturalis in 77 CE¹. Boa was said to drink cattle dry before eating it. The name was said to be derrived from a word meaning "cow" due to his eating habits.

Symbolism: Unknown

Physical Description: Boa was said to have purple and green scales and a forked tail. In addition, he possed long fangs².

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History: Cetus was created by the gods, responding only to Poseidon, god of the water. He had the head of a greyhound, body of a dolphin, and a forked tail.

Cassiopea thought that she and Andromdea were the most beautiful creatures of the world. She believed that their beauty even surpassed that of Nereids.

When Nereids hear this, she became greivously angried. She went straight to Poseidon to ask him to fix the matter by punishing the two people.

Due to Cassiopea's error, Poseidon order her daughter, Andromeda, to be chained to a rock near the sea so that Cetus could consume her. Perseus, however, saw her and fell in love with her.

This same Perseus was the one who slew the gorgon Medusa, and he still had with him her head. Thus, he turned poor Cetus into a pile of stone, killing him.

Symbolism: Cetus is a sort of ward against gluttony. While it really wasn't Cetus' fault for doing what Posiedon told him to, Cetus did not think a human could kill him.

Physical Description: He had the head of a greyhound, body of a dolphin, and a forked tail. He is often depicted with peices of him sticking up from the water rather than his entire body be showing.

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History: Chimera, or "young she-goat" as the name means, was a mix of a lion, goat, and a snake. Her head was that of the lion, tail is that of the snake, and body is that of a goat⁴. Sometimes this creature is depicted with dragon wings, and other times it has three heads (one of a lion, another of a goat, another of a serpent) as in Hesoid's Theogony⁵.

The hydra was one of Chimera's siblings, along with Cerberus and the Nemean Lion. Her parents were Echidne and Typhon. She was the "pet" of the king Caria. A less than pleasant creature, the Chimera then tourmented the town of Lycia. Her breath was fiery, and almost none could defeat her. Thus, King Proetos pleaded with Bellerophon to slay the beast⁶.

Bellerophon, working with his fantastical winged horse, Pegasus, agree to carry out this duty. In one version, he flies over the creature and shots arrows at it⁷. In another verion, he uses a block of lead and thrusts it into his throat using a spear. This brings about the end of the beast via suffication, as the lead is melted by his fiery breath⁸.

Symbolism: Unknown

Physical Description: This creature has the head of the lion, and sometimes has the full frontal body of a lion. In addition, it has a head of a goat and the tail of a dragon or snake⁹. It is sometimes depicted with dragon wings and other times is depicted with three heads¹⁰.

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History: It all began when Zues had an affair with Leto and impregnated her with twins Apollo and Artemis. Hera was quite angry, and sent Python, a huge serpent, to tourment Leto. The only place that would give her refuge was Delos, a floating island.

Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, and thanked Delos by giving it four pillars to keep it in one place. Apollo was very angry over the fact that Python was after his mother, so he slew the creature.

Zues was not pleased with Apollo, for Python was a child of Gaia, the Earth. Even after he demanded him to be purified at the temple, Apollo did so at Crete. He served as a slave to King Admetus for nine years, then returned to Delphi, where he had killed Python.

Symbolism: Perhaps, Python is the bane of birth? Certainly, the fact that no one would shelter Leto tells that Python was a powerful creature.

Physical Description: A huge serpent, but not descibed any further.

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1. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
2. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
3. A Diversity of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey
4. The Book of Dragons & Other Mythical Beasts by Joseph Nigg
5. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
6. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
7. The Book of Dragons & Other Mythical Beasts by Joseph Nigg
8. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
9. Chimaera: The Origins of the Myth
10. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose
11. Giants, Monsters, & Dragons by Carol Rose

For more information, see the Bibliography