Dragon - Sam - Fourth Hour

Stories of the legendary monsters called dragons have been involved in civilizations throughout history. In some minds, dragons are huge fire breathing beasts that fly and eat humans. In others, dragons are noble, knowledgeable guardians of nature. Even today, there is not one educated person who has not heard of these beasts of legend; where did the dragon stories come from? Every myth contains some form of truth, so perhaps there is some truth behind the story of the dragon. Has there been evidence that proves dragons could not have existed? For me, I would like to believe that dragons have existed. Realistically, I do not believe that dragons exist.

According to the Random House Dictionary a dragon is “a mythical monster generally represented as a huge, winged reptile with crested head and enormous claws and teeth, and often spouting fire.” Namely, the closest animals to a dragon are the water dragons and the Komodo dragon. The story of the dragons seems to have originated from Mesopotamia. The basic storylines of the dragons are “Gods versus monsters (dragons) before creation and heros versus monsters after creation”. In the Babylonian story, the goddess of creation, who is a dragon, becomes mad after her husband is killed and decides to end all creation. Her son turns against her, kills her, and uses her body to form the earth and from death we have life. Stories like this must have spread across countries, across the centuries to where we are today.

There are two different types of dragons. The Western dragons have wings and limbs and are more fairy-tale like. The Eastern dragons have no wings, and the stories vary in each country depending on the number of toes that the dragons have. Their colors also are taken into account in differentiating the different types of dragons. Dragons appear only to those who truly believe in them. Apparently dragons guard the truth and nature, so they only have the will to share themselves with the people who seek truth. In this context dragons have the ability to become invisible to the human eyes; it is no wonder why they are impossible to prove.

I do not believe that dragons exist. There is no archaeological proof or scientific back up behind the idea of these monsters. Although there is a possibility that I am wrong, the possibility that I am right is greater. Dragons have been in stories from the first civilizations and have evolved into greater varieties of storytelling. Although I do not believe that dragons are real, I will not completely shut out the possibility of it because sometimes impossible things happen.

Reference List:

Fig 1.: “What is a Dragon?” April 5, 2009; http://www.draconian.com/whatis/
“What is a Dragon?” April 5, 2009; http://www.draconian.com/whatis/
“A History of Dragons” April 6, 2009; http://www.biopark.org/dragonhistory.html
“Dragon History” April 8, 2009; http://www.dragon-history.com/
“Dragon History - Ancient Accounts” April 8, 2009; http://www.allaboutcreation.org/dragon-history.htm