The Rogoznica Lake is known colloquially as “Dragon’s Eye” (Zmajevo oko) because of its elliptical shape, and according to legend, it was created after a meteor crashed there.
Although it has no direct surface connection with the surrounding sea, the two are interconnected through cracks and channels in the porous limestone, and a cave called “Dragon’s Ear” (Zmajevo uho). This lake is special in that it contains several layers of water, whose colors have been mixed by a talented painter of nature.
The legend, which gave the Dragon’s Eye Lake its name, tells the story of the terrifying dragon Murin, who was an illegitimate son of the goddess Hera and the god of sea, Poseidon.
The giant monster ruled over the nearby island of Vela Smokvica, protecting its people from bandits and robbers, but in return, it required a blood sacrifice. On the longest day of each year, Murin would be given the most beautiful girl to marry. None of the unlucky girls survived the first wedding night with the dragon, until Aristoles, the great-grandson of the Argonaut Jason, appeared riding the winged horse Pegasus. The glorious hero fell in love with a girl who was supposed to become the dragon’s next wife, and challenged the fearsome Murin to a duel. The brave warrior inflicted a mortal wound on his vicious rival using a spear made by the goddess Athena with the help of Hephaestus and some moon dust. In its death throes, Murin gouged its own eyes with its sharp claws. It threw one of its eyes far beyond the island of Mljet, and the other slipped down to its feet and dissolved the rock it fell on. The sea poured into the hollow rock and created the lake with the symbolic name of Dragon’s Eye. An old folk tale related to Murin says: if two people in love take a swim together, they will have a long, happy marriage, be faithful to each other for the rest of their lives, and their marriage will be blessed with eternal love and healthy children.
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4 сен 2024
