ABSTRACT
It is customary to tell the history of mankind, including that of the emergence of civilisation, with reference to the objects or productions of consciousness—the developments in technology, the emergence of writing, the creation of surplus, new class structures, trading relationships, and so forth. The world of nature, as it emerges instinctively with the psyche of mankind, is violently attacked. The hero embodies the emergence of a higher form of consciousness or a higher personality. There are numerous myths concerning the struggle of the transition to a different stage of consciousness from the world of nature to civilisation, the most common being heroic battles against ferocious animals, the archetype of which is the dragon. Stemming originally from Persian origins the Roman versions show Mithras looking over his shoulder at Sol, the sun-god, and killing an exhausted bull who is being tortured by other wild animals.
