From a modification, perhaps, of this idea of a tutela- ry genius, in Egypt and other Oriental countries a ser- pent was the common symbol of a powerful monarch. It was embroidered on the robes of princes and blazoned on their diadems to signify their invincible might; and that, as the wound inflicted by them is incurable, so the fatal effects of royal displeasure were neither to be avert- ed nor endured.
The evil spirit in the form of a serpent appears in
the Ahriman, or lord of evil, who, accord- ing to tiie doc- trine of Zo-
Horued Cerastes. (From Egyptian monu- -,,„„fp_ c.^,. meuts.) roaster, nrsi
taught men to sin under the guise of this reptile (Zejidavestu [ed. Kleuk.], i, 25; iii, 84; see Rus, Be Serpente Seductore non Naturuli sea Diaholo [Jen. 1712], and Grapius, De Tentatione Ecte et Chrisli a Diaholo in Assiimpto Cor- pore Facta [Rostoch. 1712]), But compare the opinion of Dr. Kalisch, who {Comment, on Gen. iii, 14, 15) says "the serpent is the reptile, not an evil daemon that had assumed its shape. ... If the serpent represented Satan, it would be extremely surprising that the former only was cursed, and tliat the latter is not even mentioned. . . r It woidd be entirely at variance with the divine justice forever to curse the animal whose shape it had pleased the evil one to assume." According to the Tal- mudists, the name of the evil spirit that beguiled Eve was Sammael (PX520) : "R.Moses ben-Majemon scribit in More (lib. ii, c. 30), Sammaelem inequitasse serpenti antiquo et seduxisse Evam. Dicit etiam nomen hoc absolute usuqiari de Satana, et Sammaelem nihil aliud esse quam ipsum Satanam" (Buxtorf, Les: Talm. col. 1495).
It is of more importance to remark that in the tradi- tions of most pagan nations, which have been embodied in their mythology, the serpent appears as the enemy of man, and a triumph over this enemy is usually de- scribed as the greatest achievement of a popular deity. The Egyptian Horus is frequentlj- represented pierc- ing the head of some terrific serpent with his spear. From this source the Greeks and Romans adopted the fable of Apollo and the serpent Python, which is thus narrated bj' Ovid :
"Of new monsters earth created more ITnwilUnjily, but yet she brought to light I
Thee, Python, too, the wondering world to flight J And the new nations with so dire a sight: So monstrous was his bulk, so large a ."pace Did his vast body and long train embrace. Him Phoebus basking on a bank espied, And all his skill against the monster tried : Though every shaft took place, he spent the store Of hi.-^ full quiver, and 'twas long before The expiring serpent wallowed in his gore." Lok, one of the favorite heroes of the Northern mythol- ogy, is represented as a destroyer of serpents, and a leg- end similar to the classic story just quoted represents him as destroying a monstrous serpent with his hammer
';
SERPENT
583
SERPENT
RepreseDtation of the Temptation. (From a Mexican paint
or mace. The similarity of all these accounts to the scriptural narrative is obvious; but a still more striking parallel has been discovered in the Mexican mythology by baron Humboldt. He says:
"The group represents the celebrated serpent-woman Chinacohiiatl, called also Quilazili, or Toiuicaciluia, 'Woman of our flesh;' she is the companion of Tona- catenetli. The Mexicans considered her as the mother of the human race, and after the god of the celestial para- dise, Ometenetli, she held the tirst ranlc among the divini- ties of Anahual. We see her always represented with a great serpent. Other paintings exhibit to us a feather- headed snake cut in pieces by the great spirit Tezxatli- l)oca, or by tlie sun personilied, the god Tonatiuh. These allegories remind us of the ancient traditions of Asia. In the woman and serpent of the Aztecs we think we per- ceive the Eve of the Sliemitic nations, in the snake cut in pieces the famous serpent Kaliya, or Kalinaga, conquered by Vishnu when he took the form of Krishna. The Tona- tiuh of the Mexicans appears also to be identical with the Krishna of the Hindus, recorded in the Bhagavata-PurA- na, and witli the Mithras of the Persians. The most an- cient traditions of nations go back to a state of things when the earth, coveied l)y bogs, was inhabited by snakes and other animals of gigantic bulk. The beneflcent hiini- uary, by drying up the soil, delivered the earth from these aquatic monsters. Behind the serpent, who appears to he speaking to the goddess ChinacohiuUl, are two naked fig- ures; they are of different color, and seem to be in the at- titude of contending with each other. We might l)e led to 8ui)pose that the two vases which we see at the bottom of the picture, one of which is overturned, is the cause of this contention. The serpent-woman was considered at Mexico as the mother of two twin children. These naked figures are, perhaps, the children of Chiuacohuatl. They remind us of the Cain and Abel of Hebrew tradition."
An extraordinarily clear tradition of the agency of the serpent in the fall has lately been brought to light in the Assyrian tablets, being the story of the water- dragon as read by the late George Smith ( CliuLkean Account of Genesis, p. 91) :