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English Legends : Saint George

Saint George versus the dragon by Gustave Moreau, around 1880

Traditional origin

The traditional account of the life of Saint George is considered to have originated in the 4th century. According to it, he was born to a Christian family during the late 3rd century. His father was from Cappadocia (now in Turkey) and served as an officer of the army. His mother was from Lydda, Palestine. She returned to her native city as a widow along with her young son.

The youth apparently followed the example of his father in joining the army soon after his coming of age. He reportedly proved to be a charismatic soldier and consequently rose quickly through the military ranks of the time. By his late twenties he reportedly had gained the titles of tribunus (tribune) and comes (count). By that time, George had been reportedly positioned in Nicomedia as a member of the personal guard attached to Roman Emperor Diocletian (reign 284 - 305).

In 303, Diocletian issued an edict authorising the systematic persecution of Christians across the Empire. His caesar Galerius was reportedly responsible for this decision and would continue the persecution during his own reign (305 - 311). George was reportedly ordered to take part in the persecution but instead confessed to being a Christian himself and criticised the imperial decision. An enraged Diocletian proceeded in ordering the torture of this apparent traitor and his execution. After various other tortures, George was reportedly executed by decapitation in front of Nicomedia's defensive wall on April 23, 303. The witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and an unnamed pagan priest to also become Christians; they also joined George in martyrdom. His body was then returned to Lydda for burial. Christians soon came to honor George as a martyr.

Veneration as a martyr

The validity of the above account is considered to be questionable at best. However his veneration as a martyr is considered to have started relatively early. A church in his honor was reportedly built in Lydda during the reign of Constantine I of the Roman Empire (reigned 306 - 337, sole emperor since 324). This church was destroyed in 1010 but was later rebuilt by the Crusaders. In 1191 and during the conflict known as the Third Crusade (1189 - 1192), the church was again destroyed by the forces of Saladin, Sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty (reigned 1171 - 1193). A new church was erected in 1872 and is still standing.

During the 4th century the veneration of George seems to have spread from Palestine to the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire. The 5th century would see his fame reach the Western part of the empire as well. In 494, George was canonised as a saint by Pope Gelasius I (term 492 - 496). However Gelasius included George among those "...whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." This statement would not prevent the creation of several differing accounts about his life, several of them filled with miracles. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the earliest text preserving fragments of George's highly miraculous narrative is in Acta Sanctorum identified by Fr. Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a palimpsest of the 5th century, 'full beyond belief of extravagances and of quite incredible marvels'.

This practice would continue for centuries. In the iconography of Eastern Orthodoxy George has been depicted as a soldier since at least the 7th century. Since the 9th century another popular depiction surfaced: George on horseback as the apparent slayer of a European dragon. This depiction was based on a popular legend of Christian mythology with George as its central figure: 'George and the Dragon'.

The legend of George and the Dragon

It should be noted that the tale found its place in the folk religion of several regions of Europe and Asia Minor so accounts may vary based on local tradition. The tale begins with a dragon making its nest at the spring which provides a city-state with water. Consequently, the citizens had to temporarily remove the dragon from its nest in order to collect water. To do so, they offered the dragon a daily human sacrifice. The victim of the day was chosen by drawing lots. Eventually the "victor" of this lottery happened to be the local princess. The local Monarch is occasionally depicted begging for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon but at this point a traveling George arrives. He faces the dragon, slays it and saves the princess. The grateful citizens then abandon their ancestral Paganism and convert to Christianity.

The account used to be considered factual but this belief has been progressively abandoned. On the other hand few doubt it contains religious symbolism but various interpretations have been suggested. George can be seen as representing Christianity. In that case the dragon probably represents paganism, idolatry and/or the Devil. A variation of this interpretation has George representing any given Christian, the white horse he rides representing the Church, and the dragon representing either the Christian's own sinful desires, or the Devil.

However, secular historians consider the roots of the story to be older than Christianity itself. They note that the origin of the saint is said to be partly from Cappadocia in Asia Minor, and that Asia Minor was among the earliest regions to adopt the popular veneration of the saint. The region had long venerated other religious figures. These historians deem it likely that certain elements of their ancient worship could have passed to their Christian successors. Notable among these ancient deities was Sabazios, the Sky Father of the Phrygians and known as Sabazius to the Romans. This god was traditionally depicted riding on horseback. The iconic image of St. George on horseback trampling the serpent-dragon beneath him is considered to be similar to these pre-Christian representations of Sabazios. So a number of secular historians have suggested that St. George has served as a christianised version of the older deity.

On the other hand, the tale of George and the Dragon is widely considered among secular historians to share a common theme with the ancient Greek myth of Ethiopian princess Andromeda and her savior and later husband Perseus, slayer of the gorgon Medusa. According to this myth, Perseus beheaded Medusa and George his Dragon in a shared theme of decapitation. Perseus' meeting with Andromeda was placed in her native Ethiopia. In several versions, George meets his Dragon in Libya (North Africa west of Egypt). Both locales can be interpreted to represent distant chthonic kingdoms of magic. The saving of the king's daughter is another shared theme as is the reward-bargain exacted by the respective hero of the stories: Possession of the princess for Perseus and the mass baptism of the king's subjects for George.

Another idea is that Saint George is an alternative manifestation of St Michael, the archangel and captain of the heavenly host.

King Edward III of England (reigned 1327 - 1377) was known for promoting the codes of knighthood and in 1348 founded the Order of the Garter. During his reign, George came to be recognised as the patron saint of England. St George's Day is celebrated on April 23rd.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Saint George".