For the first time dragons are mentioned in the most ancient Sumerian culture. In ancient legends, you can find descriptions of the dragon as an incredible creature that does not resemble any animal and at the same time resembles a large number of them. According to ancient Akkadian sources, the dragon has dog paws, a lion's head and the wings of a bird.
The image of the Dragon is present in many myths about the creation of the world. The sacred texts of these peoples compare it with the primordial power of the earth, Chaos, which is trying to enter into a struggle with God. In such battles, forces or gods, who personify order and who maintain balance in the universe, win, and from the monster they create the firmament and the heavenly world:
In all countries, poets talked about this titanic battle. In the legend "Enuma elish", written in ancient Babylon, it is a question of the struggle of the god Marduk with Tiamat, who is the goddess of the primeval cosmic ocean. And in the Vedic pantheon, the god Indra, defeats the dragon Vritra, the Semitic god Baal - the god Yama, the lord of the primordial ocean … The biblical story about Leviathan, who was defeated by the Creator, is also well known.
And the symbol of the dragon is the emblem of warriors on the Parthian and Roman standards, the national emblem of Wales, the guardian, which is depicted on the bow of the ship of the ancient Vikings. The Romans adapted it as a cohort badge, by the way, this is where the modern dragon, dragoons, came from. And it is also a symbol of power among the Celts, a symbol of the emperor in China: his face was called the Face of the Dragon, and the throne was called the Throne of the Dragon.
In medieval alchemy, primal matter (or, to put it another way, world substance) had a designation in the form of an ancient alchemical symbol - a dragon-snake biting its own tail and what is called an ouroboros ("tail eater"). His image was accompanied by the signature “All in One or One in All”. And the Creation was called a circular or wheel.
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In the Middle Ages, in the images of the dragon, different parts of the body were "borrowed" from different animals, and, like the sphinx, the dragon was a symbol of the union of the four elements. One of the mythological plots that was quite widespread was the battle with the dragon: the hero, with the help of his courage, manages to defeat the dragon, take possession of its treasures, or free the captive princess.
Such a plot tries to convey the fact that human nature is dual, as well as the inner conflict between light and darkness and the forces of the unconscious, which can be used to achieve both creation and destruction.
The battle with the dragon symbolizes the difficulties that a person needs to be able to overcome in order to take possession of the treasures of knowledge that is inside, defeat his base, dark nature and achieve self-control. The exploits of Hercules, the liberation of Andromeda by Perseus, the legend of Sigurd (Scandinavia) and his victory over the dragon Fafnir, as well as the battle of St. George with the dragon - all these are just a few examples of this. They all offer advice on how best to combat your own darkness. And although the dragon, like the Egyptian Seth, causes terrible pain, he helps people in knowing themselves.