The Good and Evil Serpent (157 page)

136
. F. Majdalawi, ed.,
The Noble Qur’an
(Brattleboro, Vt., 1999 [1412]) p. 153. Also see “Tä-Hä” XVI:20.120–21.

137
. See Baudissin, “Die Symbolik der Schlange im Semitismus, insbesondere im Alten Testament,”
Studien zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, Heft 1
(Leipzig, 1876) pp. 279–81.

138
. See esp. K. van der Toorn, “The Theology of Demons,” in
Die Dämonen
, pp. 65–66.

139
. See F. Matchett, “The Taming of Käliya: A Comparison of the Harivamsa, Visnu-Puräna and Bhägavata-Puräna Versions,”
Religion
16 (1986) 115–33.

140
. The translation is by J. M. Baumgarten and D. Schwartz and published in
Damascus Document, War Scroll, and Related Documents
(Tübingen, 1995) vol. 2, p. 29.

141
. In addition to the major works already cited, see E. Georgoula, gen. ed.,
Greek Jewelry
, trans. T. Cullen et al. (Athens, 1999). See especially the following: a volute krater with a picture of a flute-playing Maenad wearing a snake bracelet on each arm (c. 410 BCE; Fig. 98); a pair of solid silver snake bracelets (fifth cent. BCE; Fig. 99); a solid silver bracelet ending with two snake heads with impressive details (fifth cent. BCE; Fig. 101); heavy silver bracelets with a pair of snakes (fifth cent. BCE; Fig. 102); a pair of solid silver earrings with loops in four snake heads (perhaps fifth cent. BCE; Fig. 103); pair of gold serpent bracelets—the serpents have marvelously detailed skins, head, mouth, and eyes (late Hellenistic Period; Fig. 174); gold bracelet with two ornate and sophisticated snake heads (second cent. BCE; Fig. 175); a gold snake ring with exceptional details of eyes, skin, and raised head (first cent. BCE or CE; Fig. 176); gold snake bracelet with amazing details of eyes, head, scales, and undulating tail section (first cent. CE; Fig. 177); Isis and Serapis Agathadaimon with snake bodies (Roman Period; Fig. 178); pair of gold bracelets with long serpent body and tail (first cent. BCE; Fig. 179); gold bracelet with two snake heads, exquisitely crafted with emerald in mouths and glass gems in eyes (first cent. CE; Fig. 184); and a gold Medusa medallion (second cent. CE; Fig. 188).

142
. See D. Fotopoulos and A. Delivorrias,
Greece at the Benaki Museum
(Athens, 1997). Note especially the following: the gold bracelet with a serpent showing artistic and realistic details (first cent. BCE; no. 276); a gold ring in the form of a snake with detailed skin (first cent. BCE or CE; no. 284); gold chain necklace with the head of Medusa (second cent. CE; no. 279); and gold earrings, each with two serpents, boasting sapphires and pearls; from Antinoe, Egypt (fifth cent. CE; no. 366).

143
. In addition to the ones already discussed, see the discussion and photographs in Maulucci,
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples
, pp. 66–67.

144
. For the English translation, see A. C. Coxe
ANF
2.269. For the Greek, see O. Stählin and U. Treu,
Clemens Alexandrinus
(Berlin, 1972) 1.231.

145
. See N. I. Fredrikson, “La métaphore du sel et du serpent chez Aphraate, le Sage persan,”
RHR
219 (2002) 35–54.

146
.
LivPro
12:13; trans. D. R. A. Hare in
OTP
2.394.

147
. See the rabbinic sources collected by H. N. Bialik and Y. H. Ravnitzky and cited under “The Serpent and Sin,” in
The Book of Legends: Sefer Ha-Aggadah
, trans. W. G. Braude (New York, 1922) pp. 20–21.

148
. Archelaus,
The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes
18; trans. S. D. F. Salmond,
ANF
6, p. 191.

149
. I am told it is unpublished. It is on public display on the second floor of the museum that is on the north side of the Acropolis in Athens.

150
. See I. Tetzlaff,
Romanische Kapitelle in Frankreich: Löwe and Schlange, Sireene und Engel
(Cologne, 1979 [3rd ed.]), Illus. 67, Illus. 69, 70; see esp. pp. 99100. The lion defeating the serpent is also featured in the sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye (1833). See T. Flynn,
The Body of Scripture
(1998). In the Museo Arcivescovile in Ravenna is a depiction of Jesus Christ stepping on the heads of both a lion and a serpent. The Fourth Gospel is quoted
(ego sum via veritas et vita)
. See the illustration in G. Scaramuzza, G. Risegato, and C. Sterzi,
Ravenna Felix
(Ravenna, 1968) p. 23.

151
. Aristotle incorrectly thought that large snakes close their eyes by using “the lower lid”
(Part. an
. 4.11 [691a]).

152
. Etana, the first king mentioned in the Sumerian King list, is associated with a myth about an eagle and a serpent. The eagle defeats the serpent and carries Etana up into the heavens. See the discussion in G. S. Kirk,
Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures
(Cambridge, 1970) pp. 125–26.

153
. R. Wittkower, “Eagle and Serpent: A Study in the Migration of Symbols,”
JWI
2 (1938–1939) 293–325; esp. see the numerous photographs. I am grateful to the specialists at the Warburg Institute in London for helping me with my research into serpent symbolism. In his lengthy and erudite publication, Wittkower attempted to show that this symbol migrated. I am more persuaded that seeing an eagle swoop down and pick up a snake, especially a deadly one, was a common experience of humankind and, thus, the image does not have to be traced from the Mediterranean world to the Americas. There is no doubt that the iconography and culture of Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome consecutively influenced symbolism in the land of Canaan and the Bible.

154
. Ibid., photograph on p. 53.

155
. MacCulloch,
ERE
11.407.

156
. In Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem on “Schlangen-Beschwörung” we find again the fear of the serpent:
Dich feien keine Kräfte, / die Sonne gärt, das Fieber Fällt und trifft; / von böser Freude steilen sich die Schäfte, / und in den Schlangen glänzt das Gift. See R. M. Rilke,
Die Gedichte
(Himberg, Austria, 1986) p. 540.

157
. See “Reptiles,” in
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia
(1992) vol. 26, p. 688.

158
. Plutarch,
Alexander
3.1–2(1); as cited by V. K. Robbins in
Ancient Quotes and Anecdotes
(Sonoma, Calif., 1989) p. 2.

159
. The serpent dance by Nijinsky depicts the serpent as the tempter in a choreo-graphically moving fashion. See the erotic and tempting movements of the serpent as pictured in A. Béjart, M. Béjart, and V. Markevitch,
Nijinsky: Clown de Dieu
(Paris, 1973); no pagination, but see the middle of the book. Paul Valéry’s book
Die junge Parze
sometimes appears with a serpent wrapped around a column, and the 1922 edition of Shakespeare’s
Tragedy of Cymbeline
has as a title page a serpent stretched out under a picture of a woman. See the illustrations in U. Ott and F. Pfäfflin, eds.,
“Fremde Nähe”: Celan als Übersetzer
(Marbach am Neckar, 1997) on pp. 281 and 418. The ballet based on Jean Cau, not John Milton, called
Paradise Lost
, depicts the first human’s birth. With the appearance of the Serpent, “Eve” twists seductively so that Adam evidences sexual aggression, until he dances then jumps into a large mouth seen to belong to Eve. See G. Balanchine and F. Mason,
Balanchine’s Festival of Ballet
(London, 1978) p. 410.

160
. H. Breuil,
Quatre cents siècles d’art pariétal
(Montignac, 1952).

161
. See H. Licht,
Sexual Life in Ancient Greece
(London, 1932) pp. 221–22.

162
. Translated by H. Anderson in
OTP
2.563.

163
. This conceptual link between Paul and the author of 4 Mac was pointed out long ago by M. Dibelius in
Die Geisterwelt im Glauben des Paulus
(Göttingen, 1909) pp. 50–51.

164
. R. H. Isaacs,
Animals in Jewish Thought and Tradition
(Northvale, N.J., 2000) p. 42. There is certainly much insightful information summarized, in a popular fashion, in Isaacs’ book.

165
. P. Haupt, “The Curse on the Serpent,”
JBL
35 (1916) 155–62; the quotation is on p. 162.

166
. Buchholz, “Furcht vor Schlangen und Umgang mit Schlangen in Altsyrien, Alt-kypros und dem Umfeld;” “Im biblischen Volksglauben waren Schlangen unrein und umgenießbar” (p. 40).

167
. See esp. Hunger,
Der Äskulapstab
.

168
. See the excellent artwork displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples; it dates from the fourth century BCE.

169
. See R. van den Broek, “Apollo,” in
DDD
²
74–77.

170
. See the marble statue of Apollo with his tripod, around which a snake is curled, in the Beirut National Museum; for a photograph, see N. Jidejian,
Lebanon: Its Gods, Legends and Myths
(a special printing of Banque Aud [Suisse], n.d.) p. 47.

171
. For a discussion and images of goddesses with snakes, see L. Goodison and C. Morris, eds.,
Ancient Goddesses
(London, 1998) see esp. pp. 86, 98, 123–32, 153.

172
. See K. Koch,
Geschichte der ägyptischen Religion
(Stuttgart, Berlin, 1993) pp. 495–96.

173
. Galen,
De simplicum medicamentorum temperamentis et facultatibus
9; see P. Carus,
The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil
(New York, 1996; originally published in 1900) pp. 227–28. Carus’ work is severely dated.

174
. The tripod of three entwined bronze serpents held a golden bowl. The object was taken to Constantinople by Constantine; parts of the bronze column can be seen in the Hippodrome Square before Hagia Sophia. As R. D. Barnett suggested, the Greek work was probably modeled on a Persian prototype, and a “connection of ideas between this group and the Greek votive tripod must surely be presumed.” There seems to be some linkage, since the Elamite snake god does sit on a tripod with two entwined snakes (perhaps a third was hidden from view). Barnett, “The Serpent-Headed Tripod Base,”
ErIsr
19 (1987) 1. Also see B. S. Ridgway, “The Plataian Tripod and the Serpent Columns,”
AJA
81 (1977) 374–79. See the reconstruction of the tripod on p. 163 in Buchholz, “Furcht vor Schlangen und Umgang mit Schlangen in Altsyrien, Altkypros und dem Umfeld.”

175
. Inv. No. 9420. It is bronze, hollow cast, and a protome. It dates from the end of the Archaic Period or the first half of the fifth century BCE. It is 26 cm long. I am grateful to Dr. Elena C. Partida, archaeologist at Delphi, for pointing out this bronze ophidian object. She is the author of
The Treasures at Delphi: An Architectural Study
(Jonsered, 2000). No ophidian objects were found at the area dedicated to Asclepius. No serpents should be expected to be found in or near the Temple of Apollo; he vanquished the python. Serpent realia found in situ at Delphi include the following: a snake ring-handle for a large cauldron (No. 2655), a bronze helmet showing an eagle with a serpent in its claws (no number available), three snakes on Athena’s garment in the frieze of the treasury of Siphnos (525 BCE), a serpent handle for an oinoterion (no number), and another bronze handle with two snakes on the back (No. 4456). A gold Medusa holding two snakes was once part of a chryselephantine statue; see the color photograph in M. Carabatea,
The Archaeological Museum of Delphi
, trans. M. Carabatea (Athens, no date) p. 104, a.

176
. The archaeologist at Delphi, Dr. Elena C. Partida, discussed serpent symbolism at Delphi with me. Virtually no evidence remains; in contrast to Epidaurus, the serpent was not worshipped at Delphi. Apollo slew the evil snake here. There is also no archaeological evidence for the Asclepian cult at Delphi mentioned by Plutarch.

177
. See Herodotus,
Hist
. 8.41. Also see J. A. St. John,
The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece
, 3 vols. (London, 1842 [reprinted in 1971]) vol. 1 p. 83; cf. vol. 1, p. 363 and vol. 3, p. 209.

178
.
HelSynPr
12:31; trans. D. R. Darnell in
OTP
2.691.

179
. I define “the religion of Israel” to be broader than “the theology of the Old Testament (or TANAKH).”

180
. See, e.g., the four silver-gilt Seraphim on the Book of Gospels (1645 CE) in the Monastery of Saint Stephen in Meteora. For color photographs (Monastery of St. Stephen),
The Treasures of the Monastery of Saint Stephen
, trans. D. Whitehouse (Meteora, 1999); see pp. 48–49.

181
. See, e.g., T. M. Provatakis,
Meteora: History of the Monasteries and Monasticism
(Athens, 1991) pp. 7, 10.

182
. Sister Theotekni,
Meteora: The Rocky Forest of Greece
, trans. Mrs. Despina (Meteora, 1986); see esp. pp. 9, 229; on p. 11 a “T,” like a cross, with four flowers and wings, has a serpent curling up it (as if representing Num 21 and Jn 3).

183
. See Aristotle,
Hist. an
. 4.4 (770a); A. L. Peck,
Aristotle: Generation of Animals
(LCL; London, Cambridge, Mass., 1943) pp. 422–423.

184
. Notably, see D. Young, “With Snakes and Dates: A Sacred Marriage Drama at Ugarit,”
UF
9 (1977) 291–314, and R. Coote, “The Serpent and Sacred Marriage in Northwest Semitic Tradition,”
HTR
65 (1972) 594–95.

185
. Eusebius,
PG
(114d); the translation is by Gifford in Eusebius,
Preparation for the Gospel
, p. 125.