I still think that the human mind could appreciate the beauty of something dangerous from a very early stage. Look at the South American cultures and the Jaguar.

I reckon as soon as there was a campfire to sit around of an evening, the view would have been admired. I don't think that asthetic appreciation is a thing we moderns have a claim to inventing. That view just seems like we're trying to put ourselves above the ancients in a cultural way.