The Good and Evil Serpent (150 page)

38
. See esp. the articles collected in
Les syncrétismes dans les religions de l’antiquité
, ed. F. Dunand and P. Lévêque (Leiden, 1975).

39
. See the illustration in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 273–306.

40
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, pp. 217–83, and VIII.2, p. 382.

41
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, pp. 491–500, 518.

42
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 379–82.

43
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 373–76.

44
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 422–27.

45
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, III.2, pp. 490–503.

46
. See illustration no. 5 in Leipoldt and Grundmann, eds.,
Umwelt des Urchristentums
, and the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 107–26.

47
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 110–12, 120–25.

48
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, pp. 376–79.

49
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, p. 606.

50
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 89–93.

51
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, IV.2, pp. 32–47.

52
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 655–60.

53
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 527–28.

54
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 148–52.

55
. Consult Cumont,
Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des Romains
.

56
. A. D. Nock, “Sarcophagi and Symbolism,” in
Essays on Religion and the Ancient World
, ed. Z. Stewart (Oxford, 1972) vol. 2, pp. 606–41; see esp. p. 606, n. 2 (the article originally appeared in 1946).

57
. H. Merguet,
Lexicon zu den Reden des Cicero
, 4 vols. (Jena, 1877; reprinted in Hildesheim by Olms, 1962). Also see K. M. Abbott et al., eds.,
Index Verborum in Ciceronis Rhetorica
(Urbana, Ill., 1964).

58
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 594–98.

59
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 480, 484–85.

60
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 707, 716, 726–27, 747, 749–52, 754–55, 761.

61
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 717, 719, 757.

62
. See the photograph in
Encyclopédie Photographique de l’Art
, vol. 3, p. 166. This is the best copy of the Athena that loomed so large in the Parthenon. Also see
EAA
5 (1965) 1018.

63
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 723.

64
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 724.

65
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 748.

66
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 748, 763.

67
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 728, 753, cf. 754.

68
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 729, 730.

69
. I am grateful for the superb assistance I received from the staff at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Maria Zamanou of the museum is writing a PhD dissertation on the first appearance of the snake in Greek culture. The Varvakeion Athena is no. 129 in the museum.

70
. See the illustration in
LIMC
, VII.2, p. 275.

71
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, III.2, pp. 364, 370. Note the reconstruction of the Erechtheum by L. Pallat; an upraised serpent is shown. See
EAA
8 (1973) Plate 59. Also, two serpents are shown coming out of a circular object; see
EAA
8 (1973) Plate 60. Note also the depiction of Hercules fighting a large serpent (“Tempio di Efesto” in Athens) Plate 65, (and the depiction of gods [?] fighting anguipede Titans [?] in the Theater of Dionysus; Plate 66:2). Also in Athens (in the “Monumento di Lisicrate”), a serpent is shown biting a man; Plate 69.

72
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, III.2, p. 430.

73
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, III.2, p. 477.

74
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, IV.2, p. 660.

75
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, p. 332.

76
. See the photograph in
EAA
6 (1965) 484.

77
. See the photograph in
EAA
6 (1965) 1087. Gina Salapata of the School of History, Philosophy and Politics in Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand, is writing an article on the image of the snake drinking out of a bowl. Her study scans the Greek world from prehistoric times to the Roman period.

78
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 98–101.

79
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 791.

80
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 793.

81
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 786.

82
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 794–806.

83
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, p. 562.

84
. See the photograph in
EAA
6 (1965) 5, 11.

85
. See the color photograph in
EAA
6 (1965) opposite p. 30. Note the bust with a serpent on the left chest;
EAA
6 (1965) 199.

86
. It dates from the sixth century BCE and is from Samothrace. The scene was part of one side of a stone chair. See the photograph in
Encyclopédie Photographique de l’Art
, vol. 3, p. 135.

87
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, p. 19.

88
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, pp. 94–109.

89
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, p. 92.

90
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, p. 455.

91
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, IV.2, p. 248.

92
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, p. 577.

93
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, pp. 673–719.

94
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, p. 306.

95
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, p. 51.

96
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VI.2, p. 16.

97
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, p. 186.

98
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, p. 418.

99
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 159–70.

100
. See A. M. Roveri, “Qadesh,”
EAA
5 (1965) 583–84; see the photograph of Qadesh standing on a lion and holding a serpent in her right hand (p. 583).

101
. See M. J. Vermaseren,
Cybele and Attis: The Myth and the Cult
(London, 1977); see illustration nos. 38, 25, 26, and 53.

102
. See Vermaseren,
Cybele and Attis
, illustration nos. 16, 53, and 77.

103
. The silver patera is in Milan. See the photograph in G. M. A. Hanfmann,
Roman Art: A Modern Survey of the Art of Imperial Rome
(Greenwich, Conn., 1966) p. 222:144.

104
. See the photograph in
EAA
2 (1959) 250. The “Arca di Kypselos” shows a mul-tiheaded hydra and also an anguipede and winged “god;” see
EAA
8 (1973) Plate 186.

105
. Aelian,
Nat. an
. 16.42. For the Greek and English translation, see Aelian,
On the Characteristics of Animals
, ed. A. F. Scholfield (LCL; London, Cambridge, Mass., 1972) vol. 3, pp. 318–19.

106
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 432.

107
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VII.2, pp. 540–41.

108
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 355–56.

109
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, pp. 559–61.

110
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, p. 428.

111
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, pp. 429–30.

112
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, V.2, p. 429.

113
. Aelian,
Nat. an
. 10.25: serpents that have “beneath their chin” a beard (into Tifv iirerivnv aïitoîç yévEiov). For the Greek, see Aelian,
On the Characteristics of Animals
, vol. 2, p. 318.

114
. For the Greek text and English translation, see Edelstein and Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, pp. 364–65. A similar report that suggests a shared tradition is found in Nicander,
Theriaca
, 438–57; see Edelstein and Edelstein,
Asclepius
, vol. 1, pp. 363–64.

115
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, p. 134.

116
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, II.2, pp. 421–22.

117
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, pp. 527, 538. Also see the photograph in
EAA
2 (1959) 170.

118
. See the photograph in
Encyclopédie Photographique de l’Art
, vol. 3, p. 3:C. The serpent is upraised, rather proudly, and has five curls. His skin is marked by dots within circles.

119
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, pp. 531, 546.

120
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, pp. 784, 792.

121
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, III.2, pp. 206–08, 210, 212–13, 16–17.

122
. See the illustrations in
LIMC
, VIII.2, pp. 22–23.

123
. For the Greek and an English translation, see Cicero,
De Natura Deorum
, ed. H. Rackham (LCL; London, Cambridge, Mass., 1979) pp. 98–99.

124
.
Nat. d
. 327.

125
. Note, for example, how Virgil refers to the Chimera in Lycia that Aeneas must defeat
(Aeneid
6.288, 7.785).

126
. In the Schloessinger Collection of lamps one can see “a hybrid male with a club.” The iconography looks to me more like a Giant with anguipedes; see R. Rosenthal and R. Sivan,
Ancient Lamps in the Schloessinger Collection
(Jerusalem, 1978) p. 29:92 (description and photography).

127
. In Rome and on Trajan’s Column one can see serpent-demons aligned with Roman soldiers (EAA 8 [1973] Plate 94:LXXVII).

128
. Translation mine. For the Latin (and another English translation), see Lucretius,
De rerum natura
, ed. C. Bailey (Oxford, 1947) vol. 1, pp. 478–79.

129
. James Elkins,
The Poetics of Perspective
(Ithaca and London, 1994).

130
. Aelian,
Nat. an
. 11.17. For the Greek and English translation, see Aelian,
On the Characteristics of Animals
, vol. 2, pp. 382–83.

131
. Translation mine; for the Greek, see Edelstein and Edelstein,
Asclepius
, p. 367.

132
. See B. C. Farnoux, “Mercurio,”
EAA
4 (1961) 1031–35.

133
. A. L. Frothingham argued that the caduceus can be traced back to the fourth millennium BCE; see Frothingham, “Babylonian Origin of Hermes the Snake-God, and of the Caduceus,”
American Journal of Archaeology
, Second Series 20 (1916) 175211; for more recent research, see J. T. Bunn, “Origin of the Caduceus Motif,”
JAMA
202.7 (1967) 163–67.

134
. See the discussion and drawings in R. Ferwerda, “Le serpent, le noeud d’Hercule et le caducée d’Hermès, sur un passage orphique chez Athénagore,”
Numeen
20 (1973) 104–15; see esp. p. 113. Also see the drawing in Jung et al.,
Man and His Symbols
, p. 154.

135
. See the photograph in
EAA
4 (1961) 1035:1227.

136
. See the Roman art depicting a caduceus with serpents facing in different directions. It is associated with Hermes and is a piece of fabric. See the photograph in
EAA
5 (1965) 1021.

137
. See the references cited in LSJM, p. 1991.

138
. Thus, Hermes dwells in the region often also associated with Hades, Pluto, Demeter, and Persephone. Demeter is depicted with the serpent known as the Python; the other chthonic gods are symbolized as snake-like or accompanied by a snake.

139
. See the photograph in
EAA
4 (1961) 8. In the illustration in
EAA
4 (1961) 10, the caduceus has two entwined serpents who rise and face each other. This is the usual iconography for the caduceus.

140
. J. L. Henderson, “Ancient Myths and Modern Man,” in
Man and His Symbols
, p. 155.

141
. I am thinking in particular of the Indian concept of the transmigration of the soul, which profoundly influenced Plato. Long before the writing of the Fourth Gospel, so-called Greek ideas also influenced Indian thought and culture:
dyaus pitar
derives from
deus pater
, which is Greek for “God, Father.” Perhaps we should not think only about Greece or India influencing each other, but also about a common ancestor, the unknown and anonymous culture that poured into Greece through the Achaeans and into India through the Aryans of the second millennium BCE. See the fascinating discussion by H. Zimmer in
Philosophies of India
, ed. J. Campbell (New York, 1956); see esp. pp. 25–31, 311–12, 89 (note by Campbell).