Symbolism of Snakes in Metamorphoses - Essay Example

Symbolism of snakes in Metamorphoses. Ovid's Metamorphoses has many references to serpents, which are actually snakes. I agree with the statement that snakes are omens for change in Metamorphoses. In Book One, Fable XI, the story of the serpent is a metaphor of a philosophical problem. The serpent might have been a bad character, like a robber, who behaved like a parasite by inflicting his disease of crime upon the people of Parnassus. The hero arrived in the form of Apollo, who killed the serpent Python. He then established the annual Pythian games to commemorate this anniversary. We read that; 'The God that bears the bow, and that had never before used such arms, but against the deer and the timorous goats, destroyed him, overwhelmed with a thousand arrows, his quiver being well-nigh exhausted, as the venom oozed forth through the black wounds; and that length of time might not efface the fame of the deed, he instituted sacred games, 69 with contests famed in story, called "Pythia," from the name of the serpent so conquered. (Riley 27- 28). Apollo also adopted the surname of Pythius. Although Python was evil in its lifetime, it brought good changes after its death. The Pythian games were good because they made the young men hone their skills at competitions. (Riley 28). In Book One's Fable X, the female seer, Ocyrrhoe, predicted that her father, the Centaur Chiron, would be wounded by a poisonous serpent. This serpent was actually a metaphor for a poisoned arrow of Hercules, which penetrated Chiron's foot; '"Thou likewise, dear father, now immortal, and produced at thy nativity, on the condition of enduring for ever, will then wish that thou couldst die, when thou shalt be tormented on receiving the blood of a baneful serpent in thy wounded limbs; and the Gods shall make thee from an immortal being, subject to death, and the three Goddesses shall cut thy threads."' (Riley 72). Ocyrrhoe has used the snake as a bad omen to foretell her father's suffering from the poison. Ocyrrhoe then realized far too late that she had invoked the snake's bad omen upon herself because she said; '"My arts, which have brought the wrath of a Divinity upon me, were not of so much value; I wish that I had not been acquainted with the future. Now the human shape seems to be withdrawing from me; now grass pleases me for my food; now I have a desire to range over the extended plains; I am turned into a mare, and into a shape kindred to that of my father. But yet, why entirely For my father partakes of both forms."' (Riley 73). She transformed into a mare. In Book Three, Fable II, Cadmus met the serpent that killed his companions. He slayed the snake and suddenly, a voice spoke to him; '"Why, son of Agenor, art thou thus contemplating the dragon slain by thee Even thou thyself shalt be seen in the form of a dragon."' (Riley 87). The dragon referred to the scaly reptile. It was a prophesy and omen of what his future metamorphosis would be. Later, in Book Four, Fable VIII, Cadmus realized this when he was struck by tragedies. He thought it was due to the curse inflicted upon himself when he slew the serpent. In his depression, he prayed to the gods; '"If the care of the Gods avenges this with resentment so unerring, I pray that I myself, as a serpent, may be lengthened out into an extended Rileyy."' (Riley 145). His request was granted. The serpent that Cadmus encountered in Book Three has been the omen that predicted his transformation and now, looking at himself as a serpent, he entreated his wife, Harmonia, to hold his hand. Cadmus became the catalyst for change in his wife when she too, prayed to become a serpent; '"Why do ye not, celestial Gods, turn me as well into similar serpent"' (Riley 145). Thus, the faithful Harmonia was also transformed into a snake. Ovid, in his omniscient narrator's voice, mentioned that the change was for their own peace; 'Now, too, do they neither shun mankind, nor hurt them with wounds, and the gentle serpents keep in mind what once they were.' (Riley 145). This episode of the double serpent transformations has been mentioned in the text by Simpson. (Simpson 306). In Book Three, Fable II, the serpent is a bad omen for Cadmus' companions who were originally from the Tyrian nation. When they heard the fearsome hissings from the serpent, they froze in surprise. The serpent took advantage of their helplessness and killed them. In Metamorphoses, the serpent is interchangeable with the dragon. For suddenly, Ovid referred to this same serpent as a dragon in; 'The dragon rages, and vainly inflicts wounds on the hard steel, and fixes his teeth upon the point. And now the blood began to flow from his poisonous palate, and had dyed the green grass with its spray. But the wound was slight; because he recoiled from the stroke, and drew back his wounded throat, and by shrinking prevented the blow from sinking deep, and did not suffer it to go very far. At length, the son of Agenor, still pursuing, pressed the spear lodged in his throat, until an oak stood in his way as he retreated, and his neck was pierced, together with the trunk. The tree was bent with the weight of the serpent, and groaned at having its trunk lashed with the extremity of its tail.' (Riley 87). We see how the evil dragon is reverted back in reference to a serpent again at the end. The bad omen of the serpent persisted even after its death. Pallas had come to instruct Cadmus to plant the serpent's teeth into the ground. Men in arms sprouted up from the ground, as if to replace the ones that the serpent had killed. The bad omen continued when these newly born men engaged in civil war amongst themselves. Only a few of these men remained alive after they pledged brotherly peace. (Riley 88). In Book Four, Fable IV, the nymph, Naid Salmacis, fell in love with the youth Hermaphroditus but was jilted by him. She caught him unawares when he was in the water but he struggled so much that she had to hold on to him like a snake. We read that; 'Finally, as he is struggling against her, and desiring to escape, she entwines herself about him, like a serpent which the royal bird takes up and is bearing aloft....' (Riley 135). Salmacis made use of the snake's form to hang on to Hermaphroditus and this might have helped to seal the fate for both of them. It was as if the snake was the bad omen catalyst for metamorphosis as Salmacis' prayers for unity with Hermaphroditus are answered; 'Her prayers find propitious Deities, for the mingled bodies of the two are united, and one human shape is put upon them; just as if any one should see branches beneath a common bark join in growing, and spring up together. So, when their bodies meet together in the firm embrace, they are no more two, and their form is two-fold, so that they can neither be styled woman nor boy; they seem to be neither and both.' (Riley 136). We see how Hermaphroditus has lived up to his name, being transformed by the will of Salmacis and the gods. When Salmacis could not restrain her ardor for Hermaphroditus, she showed that she possessed the masculine trait of forwardness. Furthermore, when she imagined herself to be a serpent grasping Hermaphroditus, she was again exhibiting a male trait since the serpent also symbolized the male reproductive organ. The snake, in its metaphor of the male sex organ, was a symbol to frighten women. (Salzman-Mitchell 33). It was a bad omen when Salmacis used the snake-like form to hold Hermaphroditus captive. Salmacis and Hermaphroditus are forever changed as a later consequence of this action. The serpent has bad connotations in Metamorphoses. In Book Four, Fable X, Perseus boasted to be 'the conqueror of the Gorgon with her serpent locks'.(Riley 151). The serpents on the head of Gorgon are alleged to possess the power to turn men and women into statues of stone. In Book Two, Phoebus Apollo tried to dissuade his son, Phaethon, from taking his powerful chariot for a ride because he knew that it would be a fatal mistake for Phaethon. He instructed his son; 'Neither let the right wheel bear thee off towards the twisted Serpent, nor let the left lead thee to the low Altar; hold thy course between them.' (Riley 50). We meet another symbol of the Serpent here. It has been described as a twisted one to forewarn the treacherous path of deceit that aimed to trick the careless traveler. In Book Two, Fable VIII, the character Ericthonius was a ruler with deformed legs. Coronis told Minerva that when she saw the child Ericthonius, it appeared that '.......and a dragon extended by him.' (Riley 68). This dragon is also commonly interchangeable for the snake. The snake, serpent and dragon were symbols and metaphors to describe the shape of Ericthonius' legs. She actually meant that Ericthonius' legs were looking abnormal. As the poem progressed, we read how he rose above men with normal legs to become a ruler. Thus, the serpent symbol has potency, prophecy and a host of other meanings as we had discussed earlier in this essay. We have mentioned in the various examples, that the serpent or snake or dragon were symbols of impending change. Some of these changes were good while others were bad. We have also seen how the symbol of snake can be only a literary one. The snake has been featured prominently in Metamorphoses and we have seen how it has been the omen for change in many instances. The end. Works Cited. Riley, Henry. The Metamorphoses Of Ovid. Translated Into English Prose. London: George Bell And Sons, 1898. Salzman-Mitchell, Patricia. A Web of Fantasies: Gaze, Image, and Gender in Ovid's Simpson, Michael. The Metamorphoses of OvidBy Publio. USA: Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2001. Read More