1919. The dragon myth did not really begin to develop until an aging king refused to be slain, and called upon the Great Mother, as the giver of life, to rejuvenate him. Her only elixir was human blood; and to obtain it she was compelled to make a human sacrifice. Her murderous act led to her being compared with and ultimately identified with a man-slaying lioness or cobra. The story of the slaying of the dragon is a much distorted rumor of this incident; and in the process of elaboration the incidents were subjected to every kind of interpretation and also confusion with the legendary account of the conflict between Horus and Set. Contents: incense and libations; dragons and rain gods; birth of Aphrodite. Illustrated.