Literary Monster

When Chrysorroi says:” This is the house, the abode of a man-eating dragon. Don’t you hear the thunder? Don’t you see the lightning? He’s coming! [...]If you conceal yourself in a hiding place and take care, with luck you will live.”(46).  The use of rhetorical questions here indicates the situation's obviousness and direness. The questions serve as a reminder to tell him to hide. Furthermore, this implies that the ‘dragon’ brings thunder and lightning, since right after Chrysorroi asks Kallimachos the questions, she follows up with, “he’s coming!”(46). This also introduces a sense of unease and fear to the readers. Chrysorroi is afraid of the dragon, which is evident in the fact that her surroundings' prior descriptors in this passage are fearful, even after the dragon’s death.

To summarize, a frightening creature whose arrival is accompanied by lightning and thunder is about to return. Kallimachos, a mere human, may not escape his possible death and save Chrysorroi. This is supported by Chrysorroi ushering Kallimachos to hide. She does not think he will live even if he hides. This is indicated by ‘with luck’(46). 

There are many descriptors for what accompanies the dragon’s arrival and what it does, but none for its physical appearance. The only descriptor is ‘man-eating,’ which is not exclusive to dragons but generally not characteristic of a human(46). Only monstrous creatures such as werewolves, vampires and zombies feast on humans. It qualifies as a monster regardless of its appearance. When Kallimachos attempted to slay the dragon in its slumber with all his might, his sword did not even wake it, and he was only able to kill the dragon when he attempted again with its sword(48). This implies the dragon is otherworldly since a regular weapon cannot hurt it. A normal person would be injured or wake up from the impact of a sword strike, but it kept sleeping as if nothing had just happened. The fact that the dragon remained in slumber means that the strike from Kallimachos did not impact it much, which proves its bodily strength and supernaturalness. Furthermore, there are also many instances where Chrysorroi refers to the dragon as a beast. Additionally, when Chrysorroi urges Kallimachos to hide from the dragon, she mentions that ‘he is the offspring of a man-eater’ and that the dragon has ‘boundless strength’(46). Fonseca refers to it as’ the absolute lord of the castle, the cruel monarch who holds Chrysorroi prisoner, is none other than a dragon(Fonseca).’ But that’s not necessarily true. Everything else has supporting evidence, but the dragon’s physical appearance is unclear. From the description, it can only be implied that it is a monster.

The appearance of it does not matter; a greater emphasis should be placed on what the dragon did, which is truly what makes it a monster. Consider Bisclavret, a lais, written by Marie De France. A man transforms into a werewolf and hunts for a few days consecutively. He was betrayed by his wife upon telling her his secret, so he was forced to remain a wolf since she hid his clothes. But he does not hurt anyone during that process and continues to act like a human. Except when he sees his ex-wife and the man she married instead. In Kallimachos and Chrysorroi, it is unclear if the dragon is a dragon, but it has otherworldly attributes and tortures Chrysorroi, making it monstrous. Medieval stories are not always purely stories; the author could convey certain messages or values, such as cultural norms. The difference in how monsters treat women may indicate differences in Byzantine and old French culture. The dragon abused Chrysorroi by limiting her food and water and cruelly suspending her from the ceiling by her hair. As a result, he was slain by Kallimachos. Bisclavret chewed off his wife’s nose in wolf form after she betrayed him. His wife and the knight she married instead were punished. In Kallimachos and Chrysorroi, the lack of physical description of the dragon could make it easier for readers to imagine it as a man abusive towards his wife. The dragon consumed all of Chrysorroi’s nation’s citizens, animals and even her parents due to her refusal to marry him. After he lures her away, he proceeds to abuse her. He then faced punishment. So, in a way, this story may be telling Byzantine men not to abuse their wives. In Bisclavret, his violence toward his wife was not punished since she betrayed him first. This may be saying that punishing disloyal wives in old France was acceptable.