2025-06-03

[public] 422K views, 22.2K likes, dislikes audio only

TED-Ed

Discover the origins of dragon legends, and find out how geological events could have inspired these stories in ancient civilizations.

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From the Chinese Loong to the Filipino Bakunawa, the Scottish Beithir and the Greek Hydra, dragons have inflamed imaginations for millennia. Their ubiquity across world mythology has led many scholars to ponder their possible origins. Could it be that tales of dragons were crafted to make sense of violent weather events? Timothy J. Burbery shares what geomythology has uncovered about dragons.

Lesson by Timothy J. Burbery, directed by Sailesh Gopalan, Lanlan Studios.

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View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-so-many-cultures-have-dragon-legends-timothy-j-burbery

Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-so-many-cultures-have-dragon-legends-timothy-j-burbery/digdeeper

Animator's website: https://www.lanlan.in

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