The legend of Saint George and the Dragon is said to have been brought to Europe from the Middle East by the crusaders. Whether intentionally or not, it bears some rather obvious parallels to the myth of Perseus slaying Cetus to rescue Andromeda. For this reason, I have chosen to show one last set of paintings by Edward Burne-Jones.
For those of you unfamiliar with the legend, it takes place in a region of Libya, where a dragon was plaguing the kingdom. The citizenry were sacrificing their daughters to the dragon by lottery, and the lot eventually fell on the king’s daughter (Sabra in some accounts). Saint George happens upon her while she is tied to a pole or tree, waits until the dragon appears, and eventually slays it. Here, then, in pictures is the story:
I have refrained from commentary on individual paintings. Readers can parse out the elements of drama and irony for themselves. Simply looking at the pictures and captions is a bit like reading a comic book.
Next week: the beginning of a collection of paintings from our last artist.
PNEUMYTHOLOGY 