Serpent (mythological symbol)

The serpent as a mythological symbol is a universal archetype found in the belief systems of almost every culture in the world. The word serpent comes from the Latin serpens meaning “snake” or “creeping thing.” The image of the serpent or dragon has been a common element in human myth since the earliest civilizations. In some cultures, the serpent represents wisdom, fertility, or eternal life; in others, it is the embodiment of evil, temptation, or chaos. In the past, the dual aspect of the serpent myth was sometimes present in the same culture. To the Egyptians, serpents were both symbols of divine protection and the mortal enemies of the gods. In India, serpents were worshiped as gods themselves; the Chinese believed two serpent beings created humankind and taught the people writing; tales from Norse legends tell of a giant serpent who wrapped himself around the human world. In biblical accounts from Judaism and Christianity, the serpent was an evil force of temptation who tricked the first humans into sinning against God.

Background

Human civilizations first developed more than 5,000 years ago in the ancient Middle East. During the course of the next millennium, civilizations sprang up in other areas of the world from Asia to Africa to the Americas. While some civilizations may have interacted with each other, most were separated by such a great distance that they were unaware of the others’ existence. Time period, environment, and geography shaped each civilization, giving birth to diverse cultures that developed their own distinct ways of life. Yet, despite these great differences, many cultures share a surprising number of similar elements in their myths and religious philosophies.

For example, many cultures have a common myth of a great flood that destroyed the world in the ancient past. Other shared elements include the tree of life, heroic journeys, or humans being born from the earth. One of the most pervasive symbols found in the world’s mythologies is the image of a serpent. Anthropologists theorize that the shared fascination with the serpent may have come from a primal fear of snakes. To the mammalian ancestors of humans, snakes were deadly predators, and this fear may have remained stored in the human brain as it evolved.

Because snakes live on every continent in the world except for Antarctica, they would have been familiar to prehistoric humans everywhere. Many snakes live in water or burrow in the ground, which may have created an association with Earth or the oceans. When humans looked to the skies, they may have seen the shape of a snake in a rainbow or in the winding path of the stars in the Milky Way. Snakes also shed their skin as they grow, which to ancient humans may have looked like the snake had replaced itself with a new body. This most likely led to the snake’s association with rebirth, immortality, and healing.

Overview

The dual nature of serpents in mythology is evident in the belief system of the first human civilization in ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerian god Ningizzida was considered to be the god of vegetation, pastures, and fields whose yearly journey into the underworld and return to Earth corresponded with the cycle of the seasons. Ningizzida was also seen as a guardian of heaven or the underworld and often depicted as a horned serpent. Ningizzida’s symbol of two snakes entwined around a wooden staff was later adopted by the Greeks as a symbol of the god Hermes. The goddess of writing and grain, Nidaba, was sometimes depicted with serpents growing from her shoulders. Mesopotamian kings also placed images of serpents on the entrances of temples and city gates to act as guardians of the structures.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic first written down about 2000 BCE, the title character sets out on a quest to find immortality. He finds what he seeks in a plant that grants everlasting life. However, before he can return to his kingdom with the plant, an evil serpent swallows it, forever denying immortality to humans.

The Egyptians also used the image of the serpent to represent some of their deities. In one myth, the creator god, Atum, prophesizes that he and the god Osiris will one day return to destroy the world. At that time, they will exist in the form of great serpents. In another myth, an evil serpent named Apophis was said to continually attack the barge of the sun god, Ra, as it journeyed through the underworld at night. Ra’s servant, Mehen, assisted him. He was a snake god who coiled his body around the barge to protect it from Apophis.

The Egyptians were the first culture to use the image of a snake devouring its own tail as a symbol of the eternal cycle of time from death to rebirth. The image, which was used by many later cultures to represent the same concept, was discovered on the tomb walls of King Tutankhamun, who died about 1323 BCE. The Greeks called the image ouroboros, which means “tail devourer.”

In Hindu and Buddhist mythology from India, the nagas were divine beings said to be half-human and half-cobra. The nagas were descended from the Hindu creator god, Brahma, and lived in great palaces beneath lakes, rivers, and the sea. Some were considered equal to the gods, while others were seen as dangerous demons. In one Buddhist myth, a naga named Muchalinda used his cobra-like hood to protect the Buddha from a storm while he meditated.

In China, serpents often took the form of dragons that were viewed as spiritual guardians and symbols of wisdom. In Chinese myth, half-human, half-serpent male and female beings named Fu Xi and Nu Wa created humans and taught the people how to write, make music, fish, and hunt. To the aboriginal peoples of Australia, the rainbow serpent was viewed as a creator deity responsible for providing life-giving water. The deity could take the form of a rainbow or a great snake and was believed to live both in the clouds and under the ground. The Warao people of South America believed a giant snake formed a bridge between Earth and heaven.

One of the primary deities of the ancient Maya of Central America was the feathered serpent, Kukulcán. Kukulcán was later worshiped by the Aztec civilization, where he was known by the name Quetzalcóatl. The Aztecs saw Quetzalcóatl as a wind god and the bringer of rain. In other myths, he was viewed as one of the creators of the universe.

Among most Native American tribes, serpents were viewed negatively and linked with violence and danger. Superstitions in some cultures held that a person who broke tribal customs risked being bitten by a snake. However, some native peoples, such as the Pueblo cultures of the American southwest, thought of snakes as sacred. The Tewa people of New Mexico worshiped the water guardian, Awanyu, a feathered serpent similar to Quetzalcóatl. The Anishinabe people of Canada and the northern United States considered snakes to be powerful spirit animals and used their skins to make medicine bags.

Serpents were also prevalent in Norse mythology where a giant dragon or snake named Jörmungandr was said to be wrapped around Midgard, the world of humans. Jörmungandr, also known as the world serpent, lived in the ocean at the base of Midgard and was so large that he could swallow his own tail in the manner of the ouroboros. According to myth, when Jörmungandr releases his tail, the final apocalyptic battle of Ragnarök will begin. During Ragnarök, Jörmungandr will battle the thunder god, Thor. Thor will kill Jörmungandr but will also die himself from the serpent’s venom.

Midgard was one of the nine realms of the Norse cosmos that resided in Yggdrasil, the world tree. Several snakes were said to live at the base of Yggdrasil, including the serpent Nidhogg who was constantly gnawing at the tree’s roots. Nidhogg represented the forces of chaos and was also said to rule over a section of the Norse underworld where criminals and murderers were punished. Nidhogg is also prophesied to do battle against the gods during Ragnarök. Norse legend says that he will survive the battle to become the primary force of evil in the world.

The most well-known serpent in the Judeo-Christian Bible is found in the book of Genesis, but it is not the only reference. In the creation story told in Genesis, God ordered Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. A serpent appeared to Eve and tempted her into eating from the tree and sharing the fruit with Adam. For their sin, God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and stripped them of their immortality. He punished the serpent by making it crawl along in the dirt on its belly. Christian scholars later associated the serpent of Eden with Satan.

When Moses was leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, the staff he used to part the Red Sea and produce water from a rock was turned into a serpent by God to demonstrate his divine power. In the Book of Numbers, God told Moses to cast a bronze serpent and place it on a wooden pole as a cure for a poisonous snakebite. The image of a snake wrapped around a wooden rod was later used by the Greeks as a symbol of healing and medicine. The symbol, known as the Rod of Asclepius, is still used by the modern medical profession for the same purpose.

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