A Universal Symbol

Long before humans knew of dinosaurs, different races and religions around the world were imagining horrific dinosaur-like creatures that existed in the mysterious places of the world: the air, the oceans, the dark forests and caves, the mountains. They have held different meanings in different cultures and places: in China, as Liz and Eric mentioned, they came to represent protectors of the home and family; in European history they were regarded as fearful beasts that would crush ships at sea and devour the crew members; and in American literature we see dragons as intelligent beasts that either attack or assist humans in struggles of good and evil. How did we come to invent such fearsome creatures when their appearance looks like nothing in this world? What idea gave rise to this recurring symbol that we now call the dragon?

To answer that question we look at what all these different types of dragons among separate cultures have in common: power and mystery. Regardless of whether they are characterized as benign or malignant, dragons are universally attributed with great power, so much so that they are often feared. They also have a very mysterious, other-worldly quality about them because they are so unlike anything else we know of. And down through the ages of the world, humans have always been unable to explain certain aspects of the universe around them, so it makes sense that dragons came to represent the Unknown, powerful and mysterious – things “that would otherwise be too terrible to recognize” (Blackwood 663). This explains why a symbol with so many different origins is still universally recognizable.

In this way, dragons and the grotesque very much connect us to civilizations around the globe, as well as time periods long ago. Even now, when scientists have explored much deeper into the natural world and we know that dragons, in a physical sense, exist only in architecture or works of art, this icon is used repeatedly. And the Christian Church, which denies the existence of these and other unnatural creatures that were so commonly found in the older religions of places like Greece and Egypt, hosts a plethora of these creatures in its structures’ facades. The newer religion cannot help but draw upon common symbols of the past. For example, the foliate heads found on St. Frideswide’s tomb in Christ Church Cathedral hark back to “Jove the wielder of lightning” in mythology, whose symbol is the same oak leaf found on the carvings (Blackwood 665). What makes this relationship all the more likely, in spite of its ‘blasphemous’ nature is the fact that Frideswide, who prayed to remain a virgin all her life, had a suitor who “was struck down by a lightning bolt” (Blackwood 665). Does this mean that the church believes in the power of mythological gods? Probably not. But they recognize the power of the symbols of that mythology, using the oak leaf to quickly and easily describe an important aspect of this particular saint’s life.

Here at U.T., I believe that all these grotesque symbols evoke the same emotions that they did hundreds and thousands of years ago, but how much more would they represent if we knew the history behind the symbols and the civilizations that used them? A dragon may still evoke a sense of awe and power, but my appreciation for them has already been expanded by reading everyone else’s posts about the different possible meanings behind them. So while the grotesque symbols around campus may have been placed as protectors, or warnings, or even curiosities, I hope that they will also be for us a source of inspiration to learn more about the past, the civilizations around us, and the great Unknown that is still out there.