Saint George is today one of the main saints in the Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Near East and is also revered by the Muslims as el Khader, the Green one.
His icon typically depicts a knight on horse slaying a dragon with his spear. In the background is often a building and in front of it a woman who is saved from the beast by the hero.
What is going on here?
Christian explanation
A Christian Web site shows the typical icon in the picture and tells
Saint George was a soldier in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian in the Roman Empire, venerated as a martyr.
Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalised in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April.
St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Lod and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organisations and disease sufferers.
In the fully-developed Western version, a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of “Silene” (perhaps modern Cyrene) in Libya or the city of Lydda, depending on the source.
Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, in order to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep,and if no sheep can be found,then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots.
One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears the saint on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays it and rescues the princess.
The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.
Turn back to God
Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalised in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April.
St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Lod and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organisations and disease sufferers.
In the fully-developed Western version, a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of “Silene” (perhaps modern Cyrene) in Libya or the city of Lydda, depending on the source.
Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, in order to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep,and if no sheep can be found,then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots.
One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears the saint on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays it and rescues the princess.
The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.
Turn back to God
The quoted page does not explain from where the "fully-developed Western version" has been adopted but the basic structure underlying the story is representative of the legend in its various Christianized forms.
Andromeda and Perseus Christianized
Saint George and dragon may have pre-Christian origins. The Greeks knew the myth of Andromeda about beautiful Andromeda in distress and the brave Perseus who save her from the sea monster.
From Orlando Furioso. Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré (1832-1883) catched the deep psychological and sexual content of this unforgettable Greek myth that captivates our imagination. The picture is from his illustration of Renaissance period Orlando Furioso where Ludovico Aristoso (1474-1533) uses the theme that has the fundamental structure of "princess and the beast".
Comparing Dore's image with the icon in churches also shows how the process of transforming the Greek legend into a holy history transforms the imagery and details.
Yam at Yafo
Rocks in front of the ancient harbour city of Yafo
Bronze Age Canaanites were quite afraid of the sea and called it god Yam (from which the Biblical Hebrew word for sea). In front of Yafo harbour there are still rocks where waves break into foamy torrents that fishermen in their boats must avoid. Greeks had similar mythological interest to rocks near sea shore in Cyprus where Aphrodite herself was born from the water.
In the Ugaritic poem we have a mythical fight for power amongst the gods
Ba'al Hadad warns Yam that the gods will not allow him to usurp the throne of heaven. In KTU 1.2 iii, he warns:
"From your throne of kingship you shall be driven,
from the seat of your dominion cast out!
On your head be Ayamari (Driver) O Yam,
Between your shoulders Yagarish (Chaser), O Judge Nahar
May Horon split open, O Yam,
may Horon smash your head,
´Athtart-Name-of-the-Lord thy skull!
wikipedia
"From your throne of kingship you shall be driven,
from the seat of your dominion cast out!
On your head be Ayamari (Driver) O Yam,
Between your shoulders Yagarish (Chaser), O Judge Nahar
May Horon split open, O Yam,
may Horon smash your head,
´Athtart-Name-of-the-Lord thy skull!
wikipedia
It is said that in Yafo the Canaanites sacrificed to Yam once every seven years a virgin to the sea monster Yam to keep it calm. (To be honest, I am not sure about the veracity of this information and need to study more the sources). This would have been heard by the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks inspiring the ancient Andromeda Perseus myth.
Myth and reality
Greek myths contain powerful psychological truths used for example in modern psychiatry to describe mental profiles from Oedipus to Narcissus. Also the Christened myths usually contain truths valued by the Church that carries them on in iconography and legends of the saints.
But in the case of Saint George and the Dragon... Perseus and Andromeda cycle there may be more truth to the story than we like. For there is a theory that Phoenicians brought the story to Greece from the Holy Land - where it then returned as Saint George.
The myth and legends of Saint George and the dragon are true in many ways and have several levels of significance although that Anatolian soldier bishop may never have slain a real life dragon to save the damsel in distress.
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