Prompt: Evaluate the extent to which the mythological creatures of various societies represented similar fears. help i have this dbq to write

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Source: Homer, The Odyssey, 4th c. BCE

Circe warned me of two dangerous monsters that dwelt on either side of a very treacherous strait. Scylla, once a beautiful maiden loved by a sea god, was transformed by Circe into a hideous monster because of jealousy. This cave-dwelling monster was twelve feet. in length with six long necks that each possessed a head. Each head had three rows of teeth that devoured anything coming within their reach. Her cave was located on a cliff overlooking the narrow passage of water.

Document 2

Source: A pre-Columbian Chatino stela possibly depicting a nagual transforming into a jaguar. In Mesoamerican religion, a nagual is a human who has the power to shapeshift into an animal, often a jaguar, deer, or bird. .

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Source: Legend of Shakya Yeshe, legend of Tibetan Buddhism, 9th c.

once a great llama named Sakya Yeshe and his attendants were returning to Tibet from China. He carried invaluable copies of sutras given him by the Emperor. Somehow the precious texts fell into a river and were hopelessly lost. The travelers kept on and returned home to their monastery.

When they arrived, they learned that an old man had delivered some sutras to the monastery for Sakya Yeshe. It was the Emperor's gift, still slightly damp but intact. The old man apparently had been a naga* in disguise.

* In the eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, a mythological semi-divine race known as the naga (Sanskrit for “serpent”) took half-human, half-cobra form—although they could shift shapes to fully take on one or the other.

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Source: Sketch depicting The Beast of Gévaudan, France, 1760s. The Beast of Gévaudan is the name given to man-eating animal in the French province of Gévaudan. Attacks were recorded between 1764 and 1767.

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Source: Report from German Captain Ludwig Freiherr von Stein zu Lausnitz, as described by Willy Ley in Exotic Zoology (1959). Von Stein conducted a survey of German colonies in 1913. He heard stories of an enormous reptile called "Mokéle-mbêmbe" alleged to live in the jungles of Cameroon.

The animal is said to be of a brownish-gray color with a smooth skin, its size is approximately that of an elephant; at least that of a hippopotamus. It is said to have a long and very flexible neck and only one tooth but a very long one; some say it is a horn. A few spoke about a long, muscular tail like that of an alligator. Canoes coming near it are said to be doomed; the animal is said to attack the vessels at once and to kill the crews but without eating the bodies. The creature is said to live in the caves that have been washed out by the river in the clay of its shores at sharp bends. It is said to climb the shores even at daytime in search of food; its diet is said to be entirely vegetable. This feature disagrees with a possible explanation as a myth. The preferred plant was shown to me, it is a kind of liana with large white blossoms, with a milky sap and applelike fruits. At the Ssombo River I was shown a path said to have been made by this animal in order to get at its food. The path was fresh and there were plants of the described type nearby. But since there were too many tracks of elephants, hippos, and other large mammals it was impossible to make out a particular spoor with any amount of certainty.

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Source: Stoker, Dracula, 1897. The following excerpt is from Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, which follows the story of vampire Count Dracula. This excerpt is from the character Professor Abraham Van Helsing, leader of a group trying to stop Dracula.
Before we do any-thing, let me tell you this. It is out of the lore and experience of the ancients and of all those who have studied the powers of the UnDead. When they become such, there comes with the change the curse of immortality. They cannot die, but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiply-ing the evils of the world. For all that die from the preying of the Undead become themselves Undead, and prey on their kind. And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the ripples from a stone thrown in the water... But of the most blessed of all, when this now UnDead be made to rest as true dead, then the soul of the poor lady whom we love shall again be free. Instead of working wickedness by night and growing more debased in the assimilating of it by day, she shall take her place with the other Angels. So that, my friend, it will be a blessed hand for her that shall strike the blow that sets her free.