The four types of dragon-like creatures known to the Greeks were the Dracones, Cetea, Chimaera and Dracaenae. Welsh dragon legend, information, and history. Susanoo, the god of the sea and storms, is the only one who can stop him. CYCHREIDES (Kykhreides) A dragon which terrorized the island of Salamis. In a way, the dragons-are-ubiquitous theory is kind of circular. The mythical dragon-inspired scope also extends to personal titles with the leaders of Bhutan being addressed as Druk Gyalpo or ‘Thunder Dragon Kings’. The creature was bewitched by Medea so that the hero Jason could steal its treasure. She stole the cattle of Geryon which Heracles was herding through the region and agreed to return them on condition he mate with her. Some of the first appearances of dragons in Japanese mythology were in the Kojiki (680 AD) and Nihongi (720 AD). The ancients imagined that Cetea or sea-monsters populated the distant oceans of the world. In Greek mythology this was another name of the hero Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the New Testament. A government official named Wu Ch’eng-en in his popular novel, Journey to the West, tells the myth about the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.Sun Wukong is the most famous monkey in China. But Perseus slew the beast and released the princess from her chains. When Heracles was traveling through Scythia with the cattle of Geryon, she stole some of the herd when the hero was sleeping. Hydra. Thakane – Dragon-Slaying Princess. 2. Apollo Our first hero was more than just a man, but a god all together. Their dragons are based on stories from Greek mythology that they expanded on and changed the names to Roman names. Female Catalan dragons are named víbria. Dragons play a role in Greek mythology. Hera then placed it in the heavens as the constellation Cancer. The Chinese dragon in mythology. This page provides an overview of the divine and mortal children fathered by the god. [2] The Greek drakōn was far more associated with poisonous spit or breath than the modern Western dragon, though fiery breath is still attested in a few myths. The priestess of the oracle at Delphi became known as the Pythia, after the place-name Pytho, which was named after the rotting (πύθειν) of the serpent's corpse after it was slain. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. Afterwards, Medea herself had dragons pull her chariot. There is also the dracaena or drakaina, the specifically female form or "she-dragon." ETHIOPIAN DRACONES (Drakones Aithiopikoi) Giant serpents which inhabited the land of Aethiopia (that is, sub-Saharan Africa). NIDHUG: Danish form of Old Norse Níðhöggr, meaning "dreaded striker." In Norse Mythology, there was the serpent-like Lindworms with either a single pair of arms or legs but not both. He did so and through her became the ancestor of an ancient line of Scythian kings. PITANIAN DRACON (Drakon Pitanios) A dragon of Pitane in Aeolia (Asia Minor) which was turned to stone by the gods. Dragons are one of the few monsters cast in mythology primarily as a powerful and fearsome opponent to be slain. The first type of Greek dragon was the Dracon whose name was derived from the Greek words "drakein" and "derkomai" meaning "to see clearly" or "gaze sharply." The second type of dragon was the Cetus or "Sea-Monster." It was destroyed by the god Apollo when he seized the shrine. Medieval artists used this creature as the template for the Dragon of Saint George. NILAKANTA: Hindi name meaning "blue-throated." Go to Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons) As one of the oldest living races native to the world, dragons speak one of the most ancient mortal languages. The Lernaean Hydra was a dragon-like water serpent with fatally venomous breath, blood and fangs, a daughter of Typhon and Echidna. This creature is said to be devoted to gold and whatever golden thing it sees it loves and cherishes; thus the fleece in Colchis and the apples of the Hesperides, since they seemed to be of gold, two dracones (serpents) that never slept guarded and claimed as their own. The creature usually featured in myths of a sacrificial princess rescued by a hero. THESPIAN DRACON (Drakon Thespiakos) A dragon which plagued the Boeotian town of Thespaie. MAEONIAN DRACON (1) (Drakon Maionios) A dragon which ravaged the kingdom of Lydia. TROJAN DRACONES (Drakones Troiades) A pair of dragons sent by the god Poseidon to destroy Laocoon of Troy and his sons when he attempted to warn his people of the threat posed by the Wooden Horse. Asian dragons: Chinese dragon: Lóng (or Loong.Lung2 in Wade-Giles romanization. The first … 1 Myths & Legends 1.1 Appearance 1.2 Origins 2 Modern Depictions 2.1 Literature 2.2 … In Celtic mythology, the dragon was believed to be of a world that was parallel to the physical world. The five dragon kings were named Lung Wang. These male dragon names can be used to name your hero of your fictional comic or any other male character of your choice. Dragons (Dovah, or Dov in plural) are a reptilian race from Akavir that were once widespread throughout Tamriel.Although seeming rather beast-like, they are profoundly intelligent, capable of speech, written language, and comprehension of other languages. They were yoked to draw the chariot of the witch Medea. This is the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys.". It was slain by the hundred-eyed giant Argos Panoptes. She gave them to the hero Triptolemos to carry him across the world spreading knowledge of agriculture. The Roman tragedian Seneca catalogues the dragons as he describes the witch Medea calling forth their power with a spell. Let Hydra return and every serpent cut off by the hand of Hercules, restoring itself by its own destruction. Below are some of the major Greek gods. There he preyed upon the tribes of her own people and had power over Tretus of Nemea and Apesas: yet the strength of stout Heracles overcame him. In Japanese, "eight" sometimes means "many," so Yamata no Orochi may have had "many" heads. These legendary creatures were similar to their mythical counterparts. She was a woman from the waist up with a serpent's tail in place of legs. MAEONIAN DRACON (2) (Drakon Maionios) A monstrous dragon which terrorized the kingdom of Lydia. 17 (trans. The four types of dragon-like creatures known to the Greeks were the Dracones, Cetea, Chimaera and Dracaenae. You can also opt for such names to name your pet. OPHIOGENEAN DRACON (Drakon Ophiogeneikos) A dragon which guarded the sacred grove of the goddess Artemis in Mysia. . Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. In one version, the poisoned arrows would eventually prove to be the undoing of his centaur tutor Chiron, who was placed in the heavens as the constellation Centaurus. He is usually envisioned as humanoid from the waist up, serpentine below. In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Io is the chief deity worshipped by dragons, god of dragonkind, balance, and peace. Its origins are still uncertain and we have several academic opinions. Their chief had his abode in the middle. She had the body of a serpent, a hundred serpent "feet," and a scorpion's tale. Dragon name generator . It driven out by the hero Cychreus and fled to Eleusis where it became an attendant of the goddess Demeter. In Sardinian (Italian) Mythology, a dragon named Scultone is mentioned. Though evil demons (called cacodemons) do exist in Greek mythology, they bear no relationship to the giants like the demons in Blood of Zeus do. King Laomedon chained his daughter to the rocks as a sacrifice to appease the creature, but she was \rescued by Heracles and the creature slain. Where better to start really, than with one of the most famous and favored of the Olympians, Apollo, the god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, plague, music, poetry, etc, etc. She was the daughter of a great and powerful chief. Some dragons seem aquatic, but the canonical European dragon isn’t. The name means green dragon i.e. Medousa. Ares was the Olympian god of war, battlelust and manliness. Chinese dragons and Japanese dragons are very similar, probably because much of Japan's dragon mythology derives from China. In Greek, this name means water. It possessed the power of regeneration, producing two new heads for each that was decapitated. CAMPE (Kampe) A monstrous she-dragon which guarded the prison-gates of Tartarus. [11] Unlike other demons, Demogorgon was capable of plane shifting.. Demogorgon was comfortable underwater. Dragons play a significant role in Greek mythology. Western and Asian dragons are very similar in appearance, but not identical, and their mythical roles tend to be even more distinct. Famous Japanese Dragons – Names, Meanings, and Stories. 1. Ladon was given several parentages, each of which placed him at an archaic level in Greek myth: the offspring of "Ceto, joined in love with Phorcys" (Hesiod, Theogony 333) or of Typhon, who was himself serpent-like from the waist down, and Echidna (Bibliotheke 2.113; Hyginus, Preface to Fabulae) or of Gaia herself, or in her Olympian manifestation, Hera: "The Dragon which guarded the golden apples was the brother of the Nemean lion" asserted Ptolemy Hephaestion (recorded in his New History V, lost but epitomized in Photius, Myriobiblion 190). A COMPLETE LIST OF DRAGONS FROM ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY. It was slain by the hero Cadmus who sowed its teeth in the earth to reap a crop of earth-born warriors. The fourth type of dragon was the Dracaena or "She-Dragon," a creature with the upper body of a beautiful nymph and the body of a dracon or sea-monster in place of legs. They stood upright on their tails in the air, snaring birds with a magical breath. . Y Ddraig Goch is Welsh for “the red dragon”, which is why this winged monster is always painted in bright and bold red shades. [7] When Jason went to retrieve the Fleece, the witch Medea put the dragon to sleep with her magic and drugs, or perhaps Orpheus lulled it to sleep with his lyre. Regarding theories of vertical transmission, Ogden argues that they carry "an unspoken assumption that prior to such a transfer the Greeks' own myth-world was a tabula rasa", which he calls absurd; only Typhon's Near Eastern origins are, in his view, plausible.[4]. SYBARIS A she-dragon which haunted a mountain near Delphi devouring shepherds and passing travellers. The last son of Gaia, Typhon was, with his mate Echidna, the father of many other monsters. This name means guardian in Greek. A Chinese dragon, is often known as Long or Lung or even called the Oriental dragon in many legendary Chinese mythology and folklore. The name can also be pronounced “Sei Ryu.” Here a savage serpent drags its huge length along, darts out its forked tongue, and seeks against whom it is to come death-dealing; hearing her incantation, it stops in amaze, knots its swollen body into writhing folds, and settles them into coils . This dragon had the power to kill humans with his gaze, is said it was immortal, resided in rural, undeveloped land or country areas. It was essentially just a giant serpent which was sometimes equipped with rows of sharp teeth, deadly poison or multiple heads. Most of these were connected to him with only a brief genealogical reference and his paternity was usually assigned to emphasize a brutal or warlike nature. ECHIDNA (Ekhidna) The she-dragon wife of the serpent-giantTyphoeus. COLCHIAN DRACON (Drakon Kholkikos) An unsleeping dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece in the sacred grove of Ares at Colchis. Dragon Kings In Chinese Mythology. Four of them were stationed at the cardinal points and ruled the seas. [12], "Snake to Monster: Conrad Gessner's Schlangenbuch and the Evolution of the Dragon in the Literature of Natural History", https://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakainaSkythia.html, "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragons_in_Greek_mythology&oldid=996532768, Articles containing Georgian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 December 2020, at 04:23. And again she bore a third, the evil-minded Hydra of Lerna, whom the goddess, white-armed Hera nourished, being angry beyond measure with the mighty Heracles. ETHIOPIAN CETUS (Ketos Aithiopios) A sea-monster sent by Poseidon to ravage the land of the Aethiopians. he Romans do not have dragons that are unique to them. The Ismenian Serpent, of the spring of Ismene at Thebes, Greece, was slain by the hero Cadmus. 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