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Slightly off topic, but does anyone know the history of the concept of a `dragon from the deep'? I ask because I was struck by an ancient (and rare) concept of ahirbudhnyA that appears in Indian literature (the Rgveda). It is usually translated as the `serpent of the deep', but linguistically its Greek cognate is ophis python, which, if I am not mistaken, could refer to the mythological Echidna. The root budhna does literally mean ground (or base), and not deep, in the language, just as the etymological connection would suggest. The serpent is of course a drakaina, so my placement of the question in this thread.