Tradition / Region: Armenian mythology
Alternate Names: Arlez, Yaralez (Haralez)
Category: Dog
The Myth
The Aralez are winged, dog-like spirits spoken of in Armenian tradition. They are said to descend from the sky onto the bodies of fallen heroes. By licking the wounds of the dead, they are able to restore life to those whom fate has taken in battle. Because of this power, they are remembered as beings tied to war, kingship, and the hope that a great warrior might yet rise again.
Their most famous appearance is in the tale of Ara the Handsome, the legendary king of Armenia.
Ara was renowned for his beauty and strength, and his fame spread far beyond his kingdom. The Assyrian queen Semiramis, called Shamiram, heard of him and desired him for herself. She sent envoys offering riches and power if he would come to her, but Ara refused, unwilling to abandon his homeland.
Enraged and determined to possess him, Shamiram gathered her army and marched against Armenia. She commanded her soldiers not to kill Ara, but to capture him alive. Yet in the chaos of battle, he was struck down and killed.
When the fighting ended and Ara lay dead among the fallen, Shamiram was filled with grief and fury. She ordered that his body be taken and placed high upon a platform. Then she called upon the Aralez, the spirits who revive the dead. She prayed that they would descend from the heavens, lick the wounds of the slain king, and restore him to life.
It is said that she waited, hoping the winged spirits would come and raise him again, but Ara did not return to the living.
Stories of the Aralez did not end with Ara. In later times, when the noble Mushegh Mamikonian was killed, his relatives placed his body upon a high tower. They believed that if the corpse were left exposed to the sky, the Aralez might descend and bring him back to life, just as they were once called upon for the ancient king.
Because of such beliefs, towers and high places were sometimes linked with the hope that the Aralez might come, for they were thought to travel from the heavens and seek out the fallen who were worthy of resurrection.
Thus the Aralez remain in Armenian memory as sacred beasts of the sky, watchers over the dead, who come only for heroes whose fate may yet be undone.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Aralez (mythology). In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aralez_(mythology)
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive