Mythical Creatures

The Very First Dragons & Unicorns

Dragons have always been a common monster in mythology, and the very first one comes from Mesopotamian mythology. His name is Mušḫuššu, but he didn't really look like the dragon we know today. Mušḫuššu had a snake head, a dog-like body, and eagle talons on his paws. He also had a horn on top of his head. He was connected to a Mesopotamian deity known as Marduk. Mušḫuššu was seen either being defeated or as Marduks mount. Mušḫuššu was first seen on a vase, originating in the 21st century BCE. Another earlier example was in Egyptian mythology. There was a giant serpent who is the enemy of Ra and his name was Apep. According to Egyptian religion, he was also referred to as the deity of chaos. 

The first unicorn actually appeared as some sort of stamp. It was more cow-like, but still had the big horn. This stamp appeared in the Indus Valley civilization around 2000 BC. The other earlier appearance of unicorns was from Greek culture. They weren't found in myths and legends, but as an actual animal said to reside in India. The only thing was that this "unicorn" was said to have wings. The unicorn from the writing did have a long horn and looked like a mix between a bull and a goat with wings and a long tail. There was a lot of debate about what this Indian unicorn looked like from other scholars. 

How They Got Popular

Truthfully, there was no event that heavily popularized the start of dragons in religion. Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Christian, and Chinese already had their own stories about dragons to tell. Those religions started spreading to nearby cultures from there. It wasn't until the early 13th century that stories of heroes defeating dragons because extremely popular. These stories started popularizing them worldwide. The tale of Saint George and the Dragon in medieval Europe tells a story of the Christian martyr Saint George slaying a dragon that was terrorizing a village. The story represented the triumph of good versus evil. But this story is a part of a "collection" of brave heroes who fight monsters, such as Beowulf. It was during this time that Europe started colonizing their stories around the world. 

With unicorns, Europe is also how they got extremely popular. It started with paintings and stories on this miniature, white horse with a long horn approaching the Virgin Mary and sleeping on her lap. The story of the unicorn, according to Europeans, says that it'll approach a young, virgin girl. People believed that unicorns had healing powers. Therefore, their horns were used as cups and sought out at high prices. Unicorns were also said to be hunted; represented in a series of artworks about people hunting the unicorn until there was only one. In fact, during their journey exploring the world, Marco Polo tried to describe a rhino; to which people mistook it as a unicorn. This made Europeans surer of their existence because those people saw a real "unicorn". The belief of unicorns in Europe died down in the 1800s. Unicorns never really became popular worldwide until modern cultural diffusion with the help of technology. Unicorns started becoming very popular in the mid-2010s. Series, toys, and artworks have made their existance more well known.

What They've Symbolized Over The Years

In mythology, dragons would usually be represented as evil and powerful creatures; especially in older myths and legends. But as the legend of the dragon got around the world, they symbolized different things like protection and wisdom. The very first dragon, Mušḫuššu, was a fierce mount to the Mesopotamian deity: Marduk. He and his rider would cause chaos all around. Another example are the dragons seen in Persian culture; like that of Azi Sruuara. He was a gigantic dragon the size of a mountain! But he ate horses and humans whole and sprays poison on villages and such. Dragons in Persian culture usually represented bad omens. Unlike other cultures, the dragons of Asia and Chinese culture are actually more helpful towards humanity. They say that four celestial dragons rule their seasons. First there's the Azure Dragon of the East, representing spring, fertility, renewal, and growth. Second, there's the Vermilion Bird of the south representing summer, growth, abundance, and passion. Third, there's the White Tiger of the west, representing autumn, harvest, reflection, justice, courage, and protection. Finally, there's the Black Tortoise of the South, representing winter, endurance, wisdom, stillness, and longevity. Despite their names, they are all dragons in many stories. Dragons have also represented emperors and their powers, as well as their good fortune. 

The very first unicorn in the Indus valley is hypothesized to be the symbol of a powerful clan or tribe. But when unicorns started becoming a popular motif in medieval Europe, they symbolized so much more. Because the myth of the unicorn became related to virgin Mary of Christianity, it symbolized purity, grace and innocence. Their horn, also referred to as the alicorn, is said to have healing abilities to cure any sickness or disease. The fierce wildness of the unicorn symbolized that evil may not corrupt purity. In some cases, the Catholics said that the unicorn was a symbol of Jesus.

I painted the dragon on the walls simply because I absolutely love dragons! I've always found dragons to be very beautiful and cool-looking despite what history symbolizes them to be. The dragon on the wall here represents curiosity and calmness and I'm very happy it turned out that way. As with the unicorn, It also turned out much better than I expected. I painted it because we needed something opposite of the dragon that people would like. 

The Dragon The Unicorn