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Once upon a Time in Kiškiluša The Dragon-Slayer Myth in Central Anatolia

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Creation and Chaos
This chapter is in the book Creation and Chaos
98Once upon a Time in KiškilušaThe Dragon-Slayer Myth in Central AnatoliaAMir GilAnTel Aviv UniversityFrom Hittite Illuyanka to Harry Potter’s Hungarian Horntail, dragon-snakes are part of humanity itself. “An adequate account of the develop-ment of the dragon-legend,” writes G. Elliot Smith,1 one of the pioneers of comparative dragonology, “would represent the history of the expression of mankind’s aspirations and fears during the past fifty centuries or more. For the dragon was evolved along with civilization itself.” Almost as popular as the dragon himself are stories about the dragon-slayer, the hero that overcomes the monster.2 Many of the dragon-slayer stories follow a relatively constant narratological structure3 but could be applied to convey different meanings. Most of the heroes must kill the dragon in order to prevent a catastrophe of some sort. Only a few of them get the monster at the first attempt. The hero often fails miserably at first and manages to slay the dragon only with helpers and the special weapons that they provide. Many of these monsters have in common a strong affinity to water—an ambivalent element in itself.4 “ The fundamental element in the dragon’s power,” adds G. Elliot Smith,5 writing on the Egyptian mythological lore, “is the control of water. Both in its beneficent and destructive aspects, water was regarded as animated by the dragon.”Author’s note: This essay is a revised translation of my German article “Das Huhn, das Ei und die Schlange: Mythos und Ritual im Illuyanka-Text,” in Hethitische Literatur (ed. M. Hutter and S. Hutter-Braunsar; AOAT 391; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2011) 99–114.1.G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1919) 76.2.Joseph Fontenrose, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins (Berkeley: Uni-versity of California Press, 1959); Qiguang Zhao, A Study of Dragons, East and West (Asian Thought and Culture 11; New York: Peter Lang, 1992) 119– 41; Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).3.Vladimir Propp, The Morphology of the Folktale (trans. Laurence Scott; Austin: Uni-versity of Texas Press, 1968); Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).4.Zhao, Study of Dragons, 113–14.5.G. E. Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, 103.
© 2021 Penn State University Press

98Once upon a Time in KiškilušaThe Dragon-Slayer Myth in Central AnatoliaAMir GilAnTel Aviv UniversityFrom Hittite Illuyanka to Harry Potter’s Hungarian Horntail, dragon-snakes are part of humanity itself. “An adequate account of the develop-ment of the dragon-legend,” writes G. Elliot Smith,1 one of the pioneers of comparative dragonology, “would represent the history of the expression of mankind’s aspirations and fears during the past fifty centuries or more. For the dragon was evolved along with civilization itself.” Almost as popular as the dragon himself are stories about the dragon-slayer, the hero that overcomes the monster.2 Many of the dragon-slayer stories follow a relatively constant narratological structure3 but could be applied to convey different meanings. Most of the heroes must kill the dragon in order to prevent a catastrophe of some sort. Only a few of them get the monster at the first attempt. The hero often fails miserably at first and manages to slay the dragon only with helpers and the special weapons that they provide. Many of these monsters have in common a strong affinity to water—an ambivalent element in itself.4 “ The fundamental element in the dragon’s power,” adds G. Elliot Smith,5 writing on the Egyptian mythological lore, “is the control of water. Both in its beneficent and destructive aspects, water was regarded as animated by the dragon.”Author’s note: This essay is a revised translation of my German article “Das Huhn, das Ei und die Schlange: Mythos und Ritual im Illuyanka-Text,” in Hethitische Literatur (ed. M. Hutter and S. Hutter-Braunsar; AOAT 391; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2011) 99–114.1.G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1919) 76.2.Joseph Fontenrose, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins (Berkeley: Uni-versity of California Press, 1959); Qiguang Zhao, A Study of Dragons, East and West (Asian Thought and Culture 11; New York: Peter Lang, 1992) 119– 41; Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).3.Vladimir Propp, The Morphology of the Folktale (trans. Laurence Scott; Austin: Uni-versity of Texas Press, 1968); Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).4.Zhao, Study of Dragons, 113–14.5.G. E. Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, 103.
© 2021 Penn State University Press

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Abbreviations xv
  6. Part 1. Creation and Chaos
  7. From Hesiod’s Abyss to Ovid’s rudis indigestaque moles Chaos and Cosmos in the Babylonian “Epic of Creation” 1
  8. On the Theogonies of Hesiod and the Hurrians An Exploration of the Dual Natures of Teššub and Kumarbi 26
  9. Creation in the Bible and the Ancient Near East 44
  10. Searching for Meaning in Genesis 1:2 Purposeful Creation out of Chaos without Kampf 48
  11. Part 2. Monster-Bas hing Myths
  12. The Fifth Day of Creation in Ancient Syrian and Neo-Hittite Art 63
  13. Once upon a Time in Kiškiluša The Dragon-Slayer Myth in Central Anatolia 98
  14. The Northwest Semitic Conflict Myth and Egyptian Sources from the Middle and New Kingdoms 112
  15. Yamm as the Personification of Chaos? A Linguistic and Literary Argument for a Case of Mistaken Identity 127
  16. Part 3. Gunkel and His Times
  17. Chaos and Creation Hermann Gunkel between Establishing the “History of Religions School,” Acknowledging Assyriology, and Defending the Faith 147
  18. Where Is Eden? An Analysis of Some of the Mesopotamian Motifs in Primeval J 172
  19. Babel-Bible-Baal 190
  20. Part 4. Power and Politics
  21. The Combat Myth as a Succession Story at Ugarit 199
  22. What Are the Nations Doing in the Chaoskampf? 206
  23. Part 5. Kampf and Chao
  24. The Combat Myth in Israelite Tradition Revisited 217
  25. The Three “Daughters” of Baʿal and Transformations of Chaoskampf in the Early Chapters of Genesis 237
  26. Part 6. Chaos and (Re)Creation
  27. Chaoskampf Lost—Chaoskampf Regained The Gunkel Hypothesis Revisited 257
  28. Making All Things New (Again) Zephaniah’s Eschatological Vision of a Return to Primeval Time 269
  29. Index of Authors 283
  30. Index of Scripture 290
  31. Index of Subjects 294
  32. Index of Ancient Texts and Objects 325
  33. Index of Words 331
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575068657-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Abbreviations xv
  6. Part 1. Creation and Chaos
  7. From Hesiod’s Abyss to Ovid’s rudis indigestaque moles Chaos and Cosmos in the Babylonian “Epic of Creation” 1
  8. On the Theogonies of Hesiod and the Hurrians An Exploration of the Dual Natures of Teššub and Kumarbi 26
  9. Creation in the Bible and the Ancient Near East 44
  10. Searching for Meaning in Genesis 1:2 Purposeful Creation out of Chaos without Kampf 48
  11. Part 2. Monster-Bas hing Myths
  12. The Fifth Day of Creation in Ancient Syrian and Neo-Hittite Art 63
  13. Once upon a Time in Kiškiluša The Dragon-Slayer Myth in Central Anatolia 98
  14. The Northwest Semitic Conflict Myth and Egyptian Sources from the Middle and New Kingdoms 112
  15. Yamm as the Personification of Chaos? A Linguistic and Literary Argument for a Case of Mistaken Identity 127
  16. Part 3. Gunkel and His Times
  17. Chaos and Creation Hermann Gunkel between Establishing the “History of Religions School,” Acknowledging Assyriology, and Defending the Faith 147
  18. Where Is Eden? An Analysis of Some of the Mesopotamian Motifs in Primeval J 172
  19. Babel-Bible-Baal 190
  20. Part 4. Power and Politics
  21. The Combat Myth as a Succession Story at Ugarit 199
  22. What Are the Nations Doing in the Chaoskampf? 206
  23. Part 5. Kampf and Chao
  24. The Combat Myth in Israelite Tradition Revisited 217
  25. The Three “Daughters” of Baʿal and Transformations of Chaoskampf in the Early Chapters of Genesis 237
  26. Part 6. Chaos and (Re)Creation
  27. Chaoskampf Lost—Chaoskampf Regained The Gunkel Hypothesis Revisited 257
  28. Making All Things New (Again) Zephaniah’s Eschatological Vision of a Return to Primeval Time 269
  29. Index of Authors 283
  30. Index of Scripture 290
  31. Index of Subjects 294
  32. Index of Ancient Texts and Objects 325
  33. Index of Words 331
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