history and Origin of Dracula essays

history and Origin of Dracula essays What is a vampire? Webster's Dictionary defines on as "in folklore, a corpse that becomes reanimated and leaves its grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping persons." The Encyclopedia Britannica says that "the persons who turn vampires are generally wizards, suicides, and those who come to a violent end or have been cursed by their parents or by the Church. But anyone can become a vampire if an animal (especially a cat) leaps over the corpse or a bird flies over it." Among the specialists the most intriguing definition is written by Scoffern who said " The best definition I can give of a vampire is a living mischievous and murderous dead body." This is a strange and contradicting , but so are vampires. Religion plays a large part in the human society not only as a source of hope and belief, but as an explanation of events that happen and for what purposes they happen. During the reign of pagan beliefs many areas of the world formed their own superstitions and beliefs in the supernatural. As the people were conquered by other lands or moved, many beliefs became intertwined and developed into most of the superstitions that we know today. In Ancient Greece, tragic stories are full of the most horrifying blood-letting, but the closest one gets to a vampire is the Emusa, or Lamia, a demon that had a tangible body but not one made of human flesh and blood. The Lamia is said to be a real woman. A queen, who was paid visit by Zeus, king of the gods, became pregnant with child. Zeus's wife Hera did not like this and took the child in anger. In her grief the princess left her castle and roamed the woods. Soon she was known for attacking mothers and their children while traveling. Other Ancient Greek demons and vampires include the Maniae (horribly deformed people), the Larvae (spirits that persecute children), the Mormo (a hideous female spirit), the Gilo (night wandering phantoms), and the Stirges (in one form the appeare...