Re: Dinos and Mythology

[Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com>]

David Krentz <ddkrentz@charter.net> wrote:

>  There are many creatures throughout the various traditions of mythology that 
> are 'reptilian' in nature.  Dragons, Basilisks, Wyverns ,
> Tarasques, Ki-rin, etc. Also, various sea creatures like Leviathan and 
> Jormungandr etc also seems to be built on the reptilian model.  I
> know there have been some attempts to link mythological creatures to fossil 
> evidence -like the Griffon and Cyclops- but is it entirely
> reasonable to assume that some of these creatures were 'inspired' by dinosaur 
> bones?  One can only imagine what an ancient chinese
> farmer would think of a giant sauropod neck within close proximity of a 
> theropod skull.



The sea monster ('ketos') of Greek mythology bears an astonishing
resemblance to a fossil skull...


http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSAO&Volume=5&Issue=2&ArticleID=9

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/dictionary/Dict/ASP/dictionarybody.asp?name=Hesione





Cheers

Tim