Papers

Where Do Dragons Come From?

Sparta as the Dragon's Eye of the World

Manolis Tsongas

Are there dragons in the Bible? Does the Quran mention them? Why do so many unrelated cultures have a giant serpent, and why do so many of those serpents sit on gold and refuse to move? This paper answers those questions from the texts themselves, in the original languages, and then argues that all of it started in one place.

Chapters 1 to 7 are comparative work and every claim can be checked. Chapters 8 to 10 argue for a Greek origin. The editors have added a note at the end recording their disagreement with the second half, and readers are encouraged to reach it before making up their minds.

Contents

1. Chapter 1. Where Do Dragons Come From? The Two Usual AnswersAlmost everyone gives one of two answers to this question. Both of them fall apart when you check them against what the old texts actually say.
2. Chapter 2. The Claim: Dragons Come From GreeceThe argument of this study, stated plainly before any of the evidence, is that the dragon is a Greek invention and that every other culture got it from Greece.
3. Chapter 3. What a Greek Dragon Actually WasThe Greek word for dragon comes from their word for staring. Their dragons guard things, stay awake, and work for somebody, and two of them fly.
4. Chapter 4. The Best Evidence: A Spartan ScrollOne text describes a dragon with every feature the other cultures have between them, and it is the only text anywhere that explains why dragons sit on gold.
5. Chapter 5. Are There Dragons in the Bible?Eleven passages, one Hebrew word, and four different English translations of it depending on the translator's mood. There is also a spring in Jerusalem named the Dragon's Eye.
6. Chapter 6. Does the Quran Mention Dragons?No. Not once. And the way it avoids them is more interesting than a mention would have been.
7. Chapter 7. Viking Dragons, Indian Serpents, Chinese DragonsThree more cultures, three more partial copies. Scandinavia kept the fire and the gold, India kept the withheld water, China kept the weather and threw away the hostility.
8. Chapter 8. How the Greek Dragon TravelledFour routes out of Greece, three of them uncontroversial, and one that requires the Dorians to have gone home again.
9. Chapter 9. Every Objection, AnsweredSeven objections have been raised against this argument, including two serious ones. Each is answered here, and each turns out to support the case rather than damage it.
10. Chapter 10. What This MeansIf the story had to reach Egypt and India when it did, Greece has to be older than anyone thinks. The conclusion, and a note from the editors, who do not agree with it.