An expansive collection of primary sources in English translation, O.'s work offers an indispensable resource for researchers and advanced students of mythology interested in gaining access to major as well as less canonical texts that delve into or, shall we say, creep into the realm of snakes, serpentine monsters and dragon-slaying feats in antiquity.
The book opens with a useful and thorough synopsis that presents a quick overview of the common motifs O. was able to extrapolate from the literature on the topic as well as a window onto the tremendous diversity of variations within any given scheme. In isolating significant patterns that characterise the various stories, O.'s methodology is much indebted to the formalist analysis pioneered by the Soviet folklorist Vladimir Propp.
The introduction clarifies the scope and organisation of the work. The book is split into two distinct sections, the first and more extensive treating the portrayal of dragons in the classical world, the second and more compact focusing on the hagiographical renditions of the snake figure from early Christian traditions to the thirteenth century c.e. The widespread range of literature under O.'s scrutiny enables readers to discern which classical motifs were productively redeployed in the hagiographical traditions and which traits the Christian narratives introduced anew in their depiction of the battles between dragons and saints.
In the section dedicated to the classical dragon, O.'s selection includes not just serpents/dragons per se, but also any creature featuring herpetographic elements or sharing characteristics attributable to snakes. Alongside the more renowned stories featuring the serpent Python slain by Apollo or Heracles' encounter with Hera's snakes, readers will enjoy the less obvious choice of mythical monsters displaying a composite nature, such as Medusa with her anguiform mane, Chimaera, whose fire-breathing ability qualifies it as possessing drakôn qualities, and the far less explicitly serpentine Cerberus, often represented on Greek vases with a serpent tail and/or snakes budding out of its body. The treatment of more obscure tales, for example the child-devouring Lamia or the slaying of an African dragon at the hands of the Roman army, testifies to the comprehensiveness of O.'s research and enriches the body of the surveyed material.
While the book's focus rests on what the Greeks termed drakôntes (and the Romans dracones), O. does not shy away from including in his selection kêtê, sea monsters. These are related to the family of drakôntes according the genealogical tree delineated by Hesiod (Hes. Theog. 270, 295 wherein Kêto ultimately sires the whole breed of dragons) and count amidst their number the famous marine creature that Perseus defeated while rescuing Andromeda. Even in the absence of a terminological correspondence between maritime monsters and dragons proper, the sea-monster story type provides a neat model for illustrating the continuity between the classical and Christian dragons, especially if one considers the close resemblance of motifs between Heracles' exploits in rescuing Hesione from the kêtos afflicting Troy and St George's well-known battle against the dragon of Lasia.
In the first part of the book each of the nineteen chapters explores a theme (e.g. Medusa slain by Perseus). For each chapter O. offers a short introduction, a consistent choice of representative sources (for instance, earliest, most balanced, most elaborate accounts, including rationalisations and allegories wherever suitable) and suggestions for further reading. Together with the skilful sequencing of the chapters, the repeated organisational scheme bolsters the ease of reading. In the section devoted to the Christian dragon, O. provides more limited material, but certainly no less engaging stories, among which shine Pope Silvester's fanciful neutralisation of the pestilent dragon dwelling in Rome and the famed deeds of Saints Patrick and George. In contrast to the previous part, the chapters are here arranged chronologically from the earlier to the later traditions.
The translations show O.'s agile command of Greek and Latin and render the original texts meticulously but without coming across as stilted. They make for a charming reading experience, while simultaneously acknowledging interpretative difficulties or translation issues within square brackets. Replete with several succulent titbits of information drawn from O.'s encyclopedic knowledge of anything anguiform, his commentaries aptly illuminate the texts by spinning a dense web of enlightening connections between the ancient sources. Often, O. also references texts contained in the three appendixes on lore from the ancient Near East and India, Norse mythology and modern folktales, thus highlighting in Jungian fashion the universal quality of the snake symbol and perhaps revealing his own folklorist approach to the material. Illustrations, whether black-and-white photographs of original Greek vases or sketches etched out by Eriko Ogden, enhance the book's visual appeal.
The book seems more suitable to an audience which has already had a certain degree of exposure to classical mythology rather than the casual reader. Beginner students of mythology will hardly know the subtle difference between rationalisation and allegorisation (swiftly mentioned on p. 95). O.'s numerous allusions to literature also assume some familiarity with major sources and myths. Although generally clear and occasionally dotted with informal phraseology, the language in the commentaries does resort to a modicum of technical terminology that may elude the full comprehension of the less well-read (the ‘dendritic’ structure of the Lernaean Hydra p. 52 or the ‘saccharine pathos’ of the Laocoon vignette in Virgil's Aeneid p. 138).
Given the focus of the sourcebook on the slaying of dragons, some of the positive aspects typically associated with snakes receive cursory treatment, for example the association of snakes with healing gods and cult practices. After all, the dual nature of the snake, a dangerous yet beneficial creature, is reduplicated by its foremost product, the pharmakon, ambivalently understood as both healing medication and life-threatening poison. In addition, the concept of autochthony, which dragons embody as creatures that spring from the earth, requires some elucidation in the commentaries, especially when O. deals with the birth of the Theban Sown Men from the teeth of the slain dragon of Ares.
Designed as a companion to the almost concurrently released D. Ogden, Drakōn: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds (2013), this sourcebook still deserves to be read as a stand-alone piece presenting expert readers with a rich, thoughtfully sifted selection of sources in translation and in-depth, painstakingly cross-referenced insights into the world of dragons and the champions of humankind, whether they be Greek heroes, Roman generals or Christian saints.
