Dragons in Culture

Well, might as well discuss this topic considering it has been percolating in my head for a while.

Dragons. The mere word springs forth images of large reptilian beasts, some winged, some not. Some benevolent, others malevolent, etc.

But what exactly is the dragon, and why is it so tied into our cultures and subconscious?


Dragons originally are split into two categories: Eastern and Western.

The Western dragons of England and the Medieval times are usually the winged, hoarding dragons, capturing princesses, and being in a desire for power, superiority or looked upon as wicked demon serpents.

The Eastern dragons of Asia are more divine and benevolent, usually being more serpentine in appearance with snake-like bodies, no wings and not usually able to be approached by any specific mortals. They are associated with the elements of nature: rain, clouds, thunder, and so on...

But even beyond the two most well known, it has been stated in history channel shows that the concept of a Dragon has occurred in cultures that had no way to have contact with one another.

When we think of fantasy, dragons is one of the first things that usually comes to mind. But why? is it this superior creature that has some sort of regality to it, an epicness and/or otherworldly aspects.

There are also many mythical creatures that enter our mind when we think of fantasy or science fiction: Gryphon, Medusa, Basilisk, Siren, Titan, Fenrir, Anubis, and so forth.

So I mostly leave the question up to the comments. What do you think is so popular, so engrained in us to have such a greater fascination and love of dragons than any other creature in mythology?