This essay glances at the symbolic meanings of the snake or serpent coiled around the staff of Asclepius, as attested by ancient literary sources. It is, mostly concerned only with the single serpent coiled around Asclepius’ staff, not the twin serpent of Hermes’ caduceus. In the ancient world, the serpent was a complex symbol (James, 2011, p.53). On the surface of it there might seem to be an ὄφις (‘serpent, snake’) at Corpus Hermeticum 1.4 but this noun does not actually appear in any manuscript but is an assumed interpolation (Nock/Festugière, 2020, p.7). Brian Copenhaver includes it in his translation (2000, p.1), yet it does not feature in either Marsilio Ficino’s Latin translation (cf. Latham, 2020, p.3) or the translation by Salaman et al. (2004, p.20), which follows the Ancient Greek’s word order and definitions much more closely than Copenhaver’s translation does (who very often follows Nock’s French rendition). Serpents are mentioned again at Corpus Hermeticum 1.11 in the context of a Creation myth, but that aside, snakes, serpents or dragons are all absent from the other philosophical hermetica (cf. Litwa, 2018), though there is an allusion to followers of the serpent Typhon (Set) in Stobaeus’ hermetic ‘fragments’ (23.53 see also Bull, 2018, pp.114-115).
Writing in the mid first century C.E. Pliny the Elder (29.22.72) explained that the cures obtained from snakes were the reason why they were sacred to Asclepius. Pliny went on to relate that Democritus believed that Asclepius’ snake made it possible for people to communicate with birds. Furthermore, he explained that people kept snakes as pets at Rome, which related to the miraculous legend about Asclepius voyaging to Epidaurus, allegedly in the form of a snake. This was elucidated by the early first century C.E. writer Valerius Maximus (1.8.2) and also the doctor and adherent of Asclepius (Levi, 1979, p.2), Pausanias (3.23.6-7), who wrote during the mid to late second century. In any case, the reason Asclepius’ serpent is symbolic of medicine, healing or even reviving the dead seems to be because the snake sheds its skin, that is, according to an anonymous, undated ancient commentator on a manuscript of Aristophanes’ comedy Wealth (733 in Edelstein, 1998, p.366). This is also supported by evidence from Saint Cosmas, perhaps writing during the early-mid fourth century C.E. in a poem to Gregory of Nazianzenus the Elder (102). ‘The serpent is a symbol of perennial youth. For the serpent is said to shed old age and grow young again. Therefore, since Asclepius renews the human body by his medical skill, they associate him with the serpent.’ (trans. Edelstein, 1998, p.367). The late third century or early fourth century Christian author, Eusebius (Preparation for the Gospel 3.11.26) noted that Asclepius’ snake was a sign of preservation of both the body and soul, again relating it to medicine.
There is a curious parallel between the late second century or early third century C.E. author Artemidorus (The Interpretation of Dreams 2.13) and the second century writer Apuleius (Defence Against Magic 64.5-8), and indeed others. While Artemidorus associated the serpent with a king (βασιλεύς), Apuleius, on trial for practising magic, was accused of having a statuette of Hermes which he also called by the same name (βασιλεύς). In a spirited defence, Apuleius explained (64.5-7) that this king was the eternal Craftsman of the Universe, a tireless worker, the eternal saviour of living beings, the sublime progenitor of the soul, citing and quoting surviving Platonic texts (Letters 2.312e; for this Hermes being identified with Hermes Trismegistus see Plato, Phaedrus 247b-247c also Jones, 2017, p.156 n.120).
Saint Cosmas (Poem to Gregory of Nazianzenus the Elder 102) also associated the serpent with the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer, with Asclepius embodying this group of stars, equating it with the myth as recounted by Eratosthenes (Epitome 6 cf. Hyginus, Astronomy 2.14, 3.15. For a translation of all three and commentary see Hard, 2015, pp.59-64). The first century C.E. author Cornutus (in Edelstein, 1998, p.368) combined the fact that the symbol was a medical attribute yet also a sign of προσοχῆς (‘attention’). Festus, preserved in the writings of Paul the Deacon during the eighth century (On the Meaning of Words 67M) wrote that Asclepius’ serpent was ever vigilant, explaining that dogs were also used in Asclepius’ healing temples (110M), which is also evidenced by Pausanias (2.27.2). Artemidorus (2.13) explained that the serpent stood for wealth and possessions, because it keeps guard over treasure. Alan Watts argued that Asclepius’ serpent (albeit in the form of the caduceus: the twin serpent) was two fold, one of poison, the other of healing (1959, p.79), and that according to Gnostic belief there are three kinds of people: the pneumatic, psychic and the hylic (pp.160-161), this last kind being essentially materialistic (cf. Lazzarelli’s commentary on Asclepius 7 in Latham, 2020, p.144). Artemidorus (2.13) also equated the serpent with numerous other deities, including Asclepius, but also Zeus, Demeter, Kore, Hecate and others.
Other symbolic meanings of the serpent Artemidorus (2.13) related included time, because the serpent sheds its old age and becomes young again. Artemidorus equated this with the turning of the seasons of the year. Later authors such as the sixth century writer John Lydus (On the Months 3.39.4 see also trans. Hooker, 2017, p.35 n.17 for alternative interpretations) and the late fourth century or early fifth century author Servius (On the Aeneid 5.85) both associated the serpent with ancient Egypt, the οὐρηβόρος serpent eating its own tail was symbolic of the year. (For different hermetic parallels see Bull, 2018, pp.302-303). This is corroborated and explained further still by the fifth century author Macrobius (Saturnalia 1.19.15- 1.20.5) who discussed the symbolism of Asclepius’ serpent in terms of the Zodiac and other meanings, such as embodying well-being, at considerable length. J.S.M. Ward (1926, p.63) wrote that when the serpent is depicted as holding its tail in its mouth (οὐρηβόρος), ‘it becomes an emblem of the Ancient of Days, the Almighty. In this aspect it is God the Father, the Creator, but as the circle it further represents Brahm[a] the Incomprehensible, the All-embracing. Thus in itself it is the ‘Trimurti’ the Three in One, and it is also the One Incomprehensible, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End… Thus it is shown in Hindu temples shading Vishnu from the rays of the sun while he sleeps, and the same idea was carried forward into Buddhism, for Buddha is similarly depicted shaded by the five-headed cobra [cf. p.256]. As the emblem of the Preserver, it is the link and the balance between birth and death…’ Christian H. Bull (2018, p.346) points out that the two serpentine legs of Abraxas are often shaped like a Greek omega.
Perhaps the most blatant example of οὐρηβόρος in popular culture as being a Luciferian symbol is in Roman Polanski’s controversial movie The Ninth Gate (1999) when Lena Olin’s character seduces Johnny Depp’s character only to reveal her tattoo, a mark of belonging to the Order of the Silver Serpent. Alan Watts, in his discussion of mythology and ritual practices in Christianity (1959) explained that the serpent in Christianity is Lucifer (p.52), but that the symbolism is involved and complicated, containing of layers of interpretation. For example, one interpretation of the serpent in Hebrew, in the Holy Bible could be translated as ‘The Shining One’ (Ward, 1926, p.63). Equally, an interpretation of the symbol of the serpent, rooted in Hindu mythology, is that it is symbolic of wisdom and perseverance (p.30). This symbolic viewpoint also ‘corresponds fairly closely with the Brahmin teaching of the descent and ascent of the Divine spark in man. If these being so, we can perceive that once the key to the allegory was lost, the serpent would cease to be divine and become the Tempter, the Evil One. In a similar way… Set, who at first was at least coequal with Osiris and quite as good, became in time to be regarded as evil, because he represented darkness. There, too, we find the serpent as the symbol of evil…’ (p.64).
Regarding this point Alan Watts wrote, ‘In the myth of Osiris, [whose name means] ‘he who springs from the returning waters’, the body of God - slain by Set the Evil One - is found within a giant tamarisk or pine tree which had been cut down and used for the central pillar of the Palace of Byblos. Attis, son of the virgin Nana, died by self-sacrifice under a pine tree. Gautama the Buddha, son of Māyā, attained his supreme Awakening as he sat in meditation beneath the Bo Tree. Odin learned the wisdom of the runes upon the World-Tree, with a spear cut from the same Tree.’ (Watts, 1959, pp.158-159). Furthermore, Watts pointed out that ‘the problem of Lucifer, who should have remained the symbol not of ‘deliberate malice’ but of the necessary ‘dark side’ of life, of shadow, revealing light by contrast, of darkness as the Light-Bearer [Latin: lux + fero]... would correspond to what the Chinese call yin and yang, the dark, negative, and feminine aspect of life, in complementary opposition to the light, positive, and masculine - the two represented together as the interlocked commas or fish, one black and one white, one ascending and one descending. In the West, this same symbol is found as the zodiacal sign of Pisces, and the two opposed fishes are a common motif of early Christian gems - Christ himself being the ascending fish.’ (pp.82-83).
Alan Watts emphasised that the tree of knowledge of good and evil under which the serpent sleeps calls to mind Yggdrasil of Norse mythology with the worm Nidhug beneath its roots (Watts, 1959, p.79 cf. Ward, 1926, p.64). Watts also discussed a curious symbolic parallel with Kundalini yoga, the ‘tree’ being the spinal cord, the flowering plant, at the top within the head is the thousand petalled lotus sahasrāra, with the emblem of the sun beneath the dome of the firmament: man being a microcosm of the universe, an archetype. At the root of the tree are the sexual organs, ‘there sleeps the serpent Kundalini entwined about the phallus. So long as the serpent remains at the root of the tree, asleep, man is ‘fallen’… his divine consciousness is asleep.’ (Watts, 1959, p.80). In Hindu mythology, the serpent has a dual role, corresponding to two movements in the eternal spectacle, one where God (Vishnu) sleeps, and dreams that he is the multiplicity of human beings, the other where God awakens and realises his divinity. ‘Downward in its roots, the serpent is the divine One asleep, enchanted by his own spell; upward the sun lotus, the serpent, is the same divine One disenchanted, free from the illusion [māyā: darkness] that he is divided…’ (p.80). Watts did, however, add an important caveat: ‘a sexually self-conscious culture such as our own must be aware of its natural tendency to see religion as a symbolising of sex, for to sexually uncomplicated people it has always been obvious that sex is a symbol of religion. That is to say, the ecstatic self-abandonment of nuptial love is the average man’s nearest approach to the selfless state of mystical or metaphysical experience. For this reason the act of love is the easiest and most readily intelligible illustration of what it is like to be in ‘union with God’, to live the eternal life, free from self and time.’ (pp.104-105).
In conclusion, the serpent, indeed Asclepius’ serpent is a complex symbol. It may symbolise the renewal and preservation of life through the science of medicine, or even practising a holistic well being lifestyle. This interpretation of Asclepius’ symbol survives today in the World Health Organisation’s logo.
Another interpretation could be that Asclepius’ serpent is to do with stellar mythology, astrological interpretations (especially in Macrobius’ Saturnalia), or even the sign of Pisces through comparative religion. Again, though mostly secular, this interpretation of Asclepius’ serpent survives today as the logo for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this polysemous symbol is its paradoxical treatment in Judeo-Christian texts and the classical world, as the serpent that tempted Eve. Ward (1926, pp.63-64) noted that, ‘Students of the Bible will do well… to bear in mind that the opening chapters of Genesis are undoubtedly not an historical statement, but a mystical and allegorical story… The Garden of Eden… was never on the physical plane, but in the stages of life before matter is reached, and the whole of these chapters is an allegorical account of the descent of the spirit so that it might acquire experience… […] …There is a deeper and more complex meaning in this dual character of the serpent which can only be mentioned in passing. Evil is… the opposite of good, and is as necessary for the training of man as good. Hence the Tempter likewise serves God and enables us by bitter experience to learn the needful lessons, and so, when our long journey is ended, we shall find that evil is an illusion and ‘The Enemy of Mankind’ was really its greatest friend, and is in truth the Wisdom of God manifesting itself forth in a strange but necessary disguise.’ The serpent, in this context, symbolises Divine Wisdom.
Word count: 2,197.
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