Dragons, a biography of sorts

[Amani]

Flying, fire-breathing reptiles, is what people think when they hear the word dragon. People in history thought that as well, or some thought of them as water demons. The perspective of dragons has changed throughout history. People either feared them or respected them.
Dragon in the Greek language means, “To see” Which meant the dragon had powerful eyesight, making it impossible for its enemy to hide and taking down the human population, making fear grow whenever someone heard the name. Dragons, like other mythical creatures are made up of more than one animal people know. The dragon usually had the horns of a ram, forelegs of a lion, a scaly reptilian body and tail and the hind legs of an eagle. Most people saw dragons with wings, but others didn’t. Dragons were also believed to have been thought of from the bones of dinosaurs, The serpent was one of the dragons’ first forms. It gradually evolved to a four legged, winged reptile. In Egypt, the dragon was first thought to be the enemy of the sun god and swallowed the sun every night, or fought with the sun, making the moon grow red every once in a while. Later the Egyptians believed the dragon was the god of natural disaster and the wicked were thrown to the fire breathing dragon to be judged if they were going to go to heaven or hell. Greeks started the dragons holding treasures; they needed more publicity, when their heroes came back from killing off a dragon. Dragons living in caves with treasure became popular in the early Christian period and Middle Ages (Cavendish). It is said that the dragon was a great lover of the arts, mostly in gold and silver. Dragons didn’t make the art though. They got it all from the humans. Robbery, looking, barter, trade, and fraud are the ways they got the great treasures for themselves (D.R.A.G.O.N.S.). Since heroes killed the dragons they needed to be paid, not just by the treasure, but by kidnapped princesses, this was started by the middle age Christians. War was a great time for the image of dragons. Persians and Romans built immense figures of the dragon to scare off their enemies. (Richman).
The eastern dragon, or more commonly known as the Chinese dragon, and the western dragon are the two major types of dragon known to man. Each dragon was looked at it different perspectives. In the west, Christians and other people thought of them as enemies. They symbolized destruction and evil, while in the east the Chinese and Japanese believed the dragon as beneficial beings (Cavendish). The eastern dragon was symbolized in the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. They were said to be guardians of the earth (World and I). In Europe, dragons were thought of as a source of plague, starvation and violent deaths. Europeans did not describe the dragons they saw very well, or study them. They described the dragons as a serpent-like beast with scales, claws and teeth and breath and blood that burns. In the east, however, The Chinese and Japanese studied on the dragon more thoroughly. The eastern dragon had the head of a camel, its horns like a deer’s, eyes like a hare, ears like a bull, neck like a snake, belly like a clams, scales like a carps, claws like an eagles, and paws like a tigers. It’s scales numbered eighty-one being nine by nine. Its voice was like a beating of a gong, On each side of its mouth was one long whisker. It had four fingers on each foot, unless it was an emperor’s dragon, then it would have five. The eastern dragons were very well respected and were linked with elemental powers. They were the ones that kept the world in balance. The western dragons, on the other hand, were linked with chaotic powers and destroyed everything in its path. They acted as thieves and looted jewelry, gold and young women. The eastern dragons were categorized as: celestial dragons, they supported the heavens; spiritual dragons, who controlled the fall of the rain; earth dragons set the coarse of rivers; and subterranean dragons, they guarded hidden treasures and precious gems. The eastern and western dragons were both seen in totally different perspectives (Richman).
Even though the western and the eastern dragons were saw in different ways, they have the same physiology. The dragon is warm blooded and its tempurature is regulated internally, like a mammals; so it is able to adapt in many different climate and can maintain activities in both day and night. The dragon mostly has wings (mostly western dragons) and its bones are hollow so it will be lighter and can fly with ease. It the dragon was real, then it would be the largest flying creature on earth, so its body structure is much different than a normal reptiles, for the dragons that have wings the wing bone fits in or on its broad shoulder, which holds the muscle that move the wings. Every bone in the dragon’s body is hollow so it can be able to fly. Dragons are very powerful. Their muscles form around its wings, for a powerful and quick flight. The muscles are also on its legs, tail, and jaw; giving them power to be able to hunt and keep trespassers out of its territory. Though with so much muscle, the dragon can not run at all, but makes up for it in flight. The wings of a dragon are based on the hand of a five-fingered mammal like monkeys and humans, the dragons have lengthened thumbs and four fingers as its wing. All the fingers, not including the thumbs, are connected to each other with a leathery membrane like a bat’s wing. The beginning of the membrane is located at the bottom of the back, close to the thighs and is connected along the side of the stomach to the bone of the wing. This gives greater surface to the wing to help it maneuver well and fly faster, The dragon’s body is covered in scales. The dragon doesn’t usually have scales on its stomach and neck., this is mainly from burrowing underground. To protect its stomach and neck, it uses its saliva and precious stones and places them on the tender spots, with the saliva acting as a glue. The scales themselves are shaped like a jagged tear, with two long sides and two shorter and a fifth side that is connected to the longer sides, and is attached to the skin. The dragon is able to lift is scales (like a cats when it is scared) to clean or groom itself. In their regular position, the scales overlap one another and fit perfectly to enable confertible movement. Dragons come in many different color schemes. Blues, which range from dark blue to silver to mother of pearl; red, which ranges from copper to dark red to a black red; and green, which includes every imaginable color in the world including shades of green, yellow, dark brown, emerald green, and burnished gold. A dragons main coloring is varied from one main color like a blue dragon would have scales with bright blue and others with dark blue, so the scales are always different. Dragons are said to be able to breath elements like fire ice and acid. Breathing these elements are directly linked to its food, so if it is hungry it can not breath anything (D.R.A.G.O.N.S).
Dragons are not just a myth, but they were looked at through the stars. the stars of the dragon are called Draco(Draco). Draco is the eighth largest constellation. It covers one thousand square degrees in the sky and it has no bright stars like the big dipper (Magrudee). There are fifteen stars made up in draco. There are many stories to how the constellation of Draco became to be. One explains that the dragons that was fighting with the titans. Toward the end of the war the dragon confronted the goddess Athena. She grabbed it by the tail and hurled it into the sky. It stuck to the dome of the heavens and became twisted in knots by the motion of the sky, since the dragon was stuck in the cold regions, it was unable to untie itself and become free. It froze in the sky. This is only one of the many stories of how the constellation of Draco became to be (Draco).
Today people know dragons as only a myth, a never was and never will be. The dragon only lives in art and books just as it did in the past. Some people still believe in dragons though, and it is the same as the eastern and western dragons. We still have a perspective of the dragons being good or bad. Most of the dragons today are bad, but in a few books you can see a dragon getting the good fortune. The people who think they are not real still have the imagination of actually meeting a dragon either they think it is evil and it takes everything they own, or they think it is good and trades with them or becomes their friends. They only think this in their heads though, since dragons are not real.
Dragons are one of the oldest myths and it gradually evolved through the ages from a snake like creature to a winged beast with more or less a bad attitude. They are known as not real today, but hey who knows that for sure? They did seem to have magical powers.

[LostDragon]

I like! Even learned something - didn't know the egyptians thought dragons fought with the moon! Pretty cool!

Thanks for sharing Shaw!