2nd Primary School of Pefka, Thessaloniki

Greece

Class: 5b Teacher: Elsa Lymberi

2010 - 2012

He is considered to be “The Great Martyr” by the Greek Orthodox Church. His chivalric character led to the allegorical legend of his slaying of the great dragon.

The dragon is a universal symbol. It combines the bird and the snake, spirit and matter respectively. In general, it is a beneficial celestial power in the East, while in the West it is chthonic, destructive and evil. These elements exist in this legend as well.

In St. George’s legend the dragon is the guard of a spring. The spring is the symbol of internal knowledge and immortality, the source of life.

Saint George is both a man and a myth. 

 

Let's go back to the years of dragons, kings and princesses.In a small country, there lived a fair king with his wife and their beautiful daughter.All the residents were happy with their daily routines. Until one day…

But let's take the story from the beginning…

…their happiness was spoiled by an unexpected visitor. A dragon with skin tougher than steel appeared and the people locked themselves in their houses. The beast made its nest in a cave next to the only spring of the city and did not allow anybody to get water.

The residents were vainly trying to get near the spring. The dragon was always in the cave, which looked like a filthy swamp, and each time someone got closer he breathed terrible flames of fire. Awful smell and fumes polluted the atmosphere.

The king’s soldiers tried to kill him, but in vain. The dragon got so angry that he started devouring all the animals of the area. The city was overwhelmed by fear and despair.

The king approached him calmly and asked him what he wanted. The dragon said that he was very hungry and the king promised to give him plenty of food every day if only he let the people get water from the spring.

One day the dragon appeared near the walls of the city.

But as time was passing by, his appetite was getting bigger and bigger.Gradually all the hencoops and the stables of the country emptied and the king thought to satisfy the dragon’s hunger with vegetables.

The king kept his promise. His soldiers carried food to the dragon every day.

The dragon got very angry, but he finally accepted on one condition, to have a girl or a boy for his meal every spring.

The king was very sad and desperate, but he was forced to agree after consulting the elders of the council. Besides, the spring was not so close, so they would surely find a solution until then.

No family wanted to sacrifice their child, so the dragon came to the city to get it by himself.

The time, however, went by so fast that nobody realized it and still they had not found a solution.

She was walking firmly and decisively, ready to be sacrificed. The royal family and all the people were crying inconsolably.

While fear and despair were hovering above the city, the princess, nicely dressed, appeared at the gate.

The king, having no other solution, prepared a royal procession to accompany his only daughter on her last trip to the dragon’s cave. There the dragon would enjoy his royal meal.

Suddenly, clatter of horse’s hoofs was heard.

It was Saint George on his white horse. The people, with their eyes turned to the sky, saw the rider approaching the dragon. The princess started running towards the city.

Saint George thrust his spear into the dragon’s body and killed him with a single blow of his lance. Thus the city and the people were saved forever.

 Saint George, after asking God for help, started fighting with the beast. The dragon, trying to scare him, spat flames to the horse’s legs.

Saint George was galloping towards the sky, while all the people, being very happy, were watching him until he disappeared in the clouds. No other dragon ever appeared in this kingdom because it was protected by the Saint.

The spring of water was now free to offer its beneficial attributes to everyone.

This is the end of our story.

The legend of Saint George exists in many religions and symbolizes the conflict between good and evil, light and darkness.

Saint George is very popular and beloved by people, because everybody knows that good and evil exist in each one of us. Saint George is our Superior self who fights with our personality, the dragon , in order to release our Immortal soul.