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Article OPHIOLOGY AND SERPENT SYMBOLISM. ← Page 4 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
may possibly have been as convulsed Avith laughter at the joke as Ave heard tell of the Irish Bar at a jest of Lord Norbury , or the Westminster Courts at the facetiae of my Lord Justice of the present day . It Avas no doubt some jolly old Roman toper AA'hose delight Avas in quaffing rich draughts of Falernian or
Chios that first discovered the verbal pun " bibere est A'ivere , " as no doubt in the common pronunciation of the Romans , like the modern Portuguese , no difference Avas perceptible to the ear betwixt the b and v . As these officinal serpents would be considered the attendants , if not the progeny of iEsculapius , this name AVOUIC ! be a fan * pretext for placing them as guardians of
the evening symposium . JEsca , in Latin , signifies all eatables , —food in general ; and lapius is sufficiently near lapsus ( from lambere , to lick ) , to give , as esculent lappers or lickers , a very significant meaning to the proper name . We must descend to the puerilities of all unlettered ages if we want to penetrate their meanings , nor measure their general art by our more cultivated
and learned position . It Avould be difficult to account for a change in the name of the above medicinal god and his kitchen dress from the Greek term AanXriiriog upon any other principle . To recur , however , to its peculiar properties : its fondness for milk would of necessity endear it to a pastoral people , and afford easy means of nomishment ; it put them on a level Avith the children of the household where domesticated , and their presence sanctified the domestic hearth . The line of
Persius" Pinge duos angues : pueri , sacer est locus , " Avas intended to consecrate from desecration places which are now more generally put under the protection of the police ; Avith the introduction of Christianity , and the belief in the serpent as the prime actor in the fall , the whole genus fell into the class of devils ; the previous affections were stifledand the trembling
, votary , influenced by fear alone , and uncontrolled by any softening influence , would interpret the lustre of the eye into the glare of malignity ; the beauty or irridescence of its spots and scales be construed into the corruscence of a demon ; their friendly movements and circling caresses avoided Avith horror as the enticings of Satan , though they had formerly been looked on by the kind
mistress and the playful children as the toying of affection and the glisten of delight . It was not , therefore , Avonderful with such influential yet varied motives that all heathendom , and even wherever that still lingers in the present clay , should haA'e attributed to the entire serpent race exaggerated and supernatural power , and as a consequence have sought by offerings to propitiate , or by charms to A'OL . II . 2 E
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
may possibly have been as convulsed Avith laughter at the joke as Ave heard tell of the Irish Bar at a jest of Lord Norbury , or the Westminster Courts at the facetiae of my Lord Justice of the present day . It Avas no doubt some jolly old Roman toper AA'hose delight Avas in quaffing rich draughts of Falernian or
Chios that first discovered the verbal pun " bibere est A'ivere , " as no doubt in the common pronunciation of the Romans , like the modern Portuguese , no difference Avas perceptible to the ear betwixt the b and v . As these officinal serpents would be considered the attendants , if not the progeny of iEsculapius , this name AVOUIC ! be a fan * pretext for placing them as guardians of
the evening symposium . JEsca , in Latin , signifies all eatables , —food in general ; and lapius is sufficiently near lapsus ( from lambere , to lick ) , to give , as esculent lappers or lickers , a very significant meaning to the proper name . We must descend to the puerilities of all unlettered ages if we want to penetrate their meanings , nor measure their general art by our more cultivated
and learned position . It Avould be difficult to account for a change in the name of the above medicinal god and his kitchen dress from the Greek term AanXriiriog upon any other principle . To recur , however , to its peculiar properties : its fondness for milk would of necessity endear it to a pastoral people , and afford easy means of nomishment ; it put them on a level Avith the children of the household where domesticated , and their presence sanctified the domestic hearth . The line of
Persius" Pinge duos angues : pueri , sacer est locus , " Avas intended to consecrate from desecration places which are now more generally put under the protection of the police ; Avith the introduction of Christianity , and the belief in the serpent as the prime actor in the fall , the whole genus fell into the class of devils ; the previous affections were stifledand the trembling
, votary , influenced by fear alone , and uncontrolled by any softening influence , would interpret the lustre of the eye into the glare of malignity ; the beauty or irridescence of its spots and scales be construed into the corruscence of a demon ; their friendly movements and circling caresses avoided Avith horror as the enticings of Satan , though they had formerly been looked on by the kind
mistress and the playful children as the toying of affection and the glisten of delight . It was not , therefore , Avonderful with such influential yet varied motives that all heathendom , and even wherever that still lingers in the present clay , should haA'e attributed to the entire serpent race exaggerated and supernatural power , and as a consequence have sought by offerings to propitiate , or by charms to A'OL . II . 2 E