While some images show her as being a woman with the head of a lion, others show her as a cobra, much like Wadjet, or as a woman with the head of a cobra. Posted 3 years ago. The interpretation of this figure as a goddess is also difficult, since there is no evidence of what a Minoan goddess might have looked like. This work at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. [1] Although not entirely a snake, the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl, in Mesoamerican culture, particularly Mayan and Aztec, held a multitude of roles as a deity. Another symbol that is associated with Ningishzida is an image of the great serpent Basmu wound around a branch. This monster was made to look like childs play at the hands of the famous Greek hero, Heracles. To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Archetypal literary criticism continues to find psychoanalysis useful. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medusa-Greek-mythology, Ancient Origins - The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Medusa in Ancient Greek Art, Medusa - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The coiled snake headdress is worn by Ix Chel in her moon goddess aspect, associated with women's menstrual cycles and resultant fertility. Through many of her iterations, Medusa pushes back against a story that seeks to place the male, Perseus, at its center, blameless and heroic. Usually the wisdom of snakes was regarded as ancient and beneficial towards humans but sometimes it could be directed against humans. Those who gazed into her eyes would turn to stone. Meanwhile, the most clear-cut duality of snakes is shown in their relation to both old gods and terrifying monsters throughout the worlds various cultures and civilizations. The presiding deity here is Nagaraja - a five-headed snake god born to human parents as a blessing for their caretaking of snakes during a fire. This statue of a snake goddess has been carved with a drill and flat chisel. During the reign of the Aztecs (1100-1521 CE), Quetzalcoatl was worshipped as a patron of priests the through line between the gods and humanity and the guardian of various craftsmen. When Perseus beheaded her, Pegasus, a winged horse, and Chrysaor, a giant wielding a golden sword, sprang from her body. Naturally, these creation stories varied from People and respective Nations who have their own name for the life-giving snake. The anthropomorphic basis of many myth-systems meant snake-gods were rarely depicted solely as snakes. She would be shown wearing a double plumed headdress, or as having a solar disk around her. the secrets of herself). The Snake Goddess is a provocative image, but its restoration and interpretation are problematic. Meretseger had guardianship over the sprawling Theban Necropolis. References [ edit] ^ a b Russell, James R. (1987). Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the Graeae, as in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, which places both trios of sisters far off "on Kisthene's dreadful plain": Near them their sisters three, the Gorgons, winged Other depictions of the goddess has her wearing the Red Crown (also known as the deshret) of Lower Egypt, the land surrounding the Nile delta, thus establishing her as being one of the patron goddesses of the region. The interpretation of this figure as a goddess is also difficult, since there is no evidence of what a Minoan goddess might have looked like. During that time, Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon. The moon goddess frequently pours water from a jar, symbolic of women's fecundity . This symbol has many interpretations, one of which is the snake representing cyclical nature of life and death, life feeding on itself in the act of creation. A small offering vessel of the Pre-Palace period, in the shape of a female figure with a snake coiled around her body from Koumasa, was discovered between some grave items. Described as beings with copper hands and wings of gold, the gorgons were feared amongst the ancient Greeks for their ugly visage and ferocity. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto,[2] although the author Hyginus makes her the daughter of Gorgon and Ceto.[3]. I understand that Cretans produced images to honor Egyptian gods. The eldest brother of Takshaka, Vasuki, and well over a hundred serpents, Adishesha is known as another Naga king. "[12] In the Odyssey xi, Homer does not specifically mention the Gorgon Medusa: Lest for my daring Persephone the dread, Numerous analyses have made us familiar with the occasion for this: it occurs when a boy, who has hitherto been unwilling to believe the threat of castration, catches sight of the female genitals, probably those of an adult, surrounded by hair, and essentially those of his mother. Two of these statuettes were extensively restored and identified by Evans as a "Mother Goddess" and a "Priestess." [5][6][7][8] Like their Serer counterparts, the Dogon people of Mali also have great reverence for the serpent. [22] Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork[22] and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BC. [13] In a similar manner, the corals of the Red Sea were said to have been formed of Medusa's blood spilled onto seaweed when Perseus laid down the petrifying head beside the shore during his short stay in Ethiopia where he saved and wed his future wife, the lovely princess Andromeda, who was the most beautiful woman in the world at that time. So, the catch with the hydra was that it had the worst breath ever (were talking literal lethal poison) and if nine heads was not enough then after Heracles cut off one, two more grew in its place; this quirky feature of the massive sea serpent ties right back in with you guessed it immortality! [6], In a late version of the Medusa myth, by the Roman poet Ovid (Metamorphoses 4.794803), Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, but when Neptune/Poseidon had sex with her in Minerva/Athena's temple,[7] Minerva punished Medusa by transforming her beautiful hair into horrible snakes. She is called also Household Goddess due to her attribute of the snake, which is connected with the welfare of the Minoan household. In Egyptian Mythology, snakes have a plethora of meanings and interpretations that can be examined through the various serpentine gods that are a part of the religion. Omissions? The dualism that she embodies is powerfully concretized in her image: her face is of two fanged serpents and her skirt is of interwoven snakes (snakes symbolize fertility); her breasts are flabby (she nourished many); her necklace is of hands, hearts, and a skull (she feeds on corpses, as the earth consumes all that dies); and her fingers and It was his medicinal rod; a meager branch with a single snake twined around it. She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes; unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful. From Hades should send up an awful monster's grisly head. Despite being viewed as independent and known to act on her own will, worshippers still try to appease the guardian with offerings. ###The Temple Repositories Manasa may be related to the nagas, legendary half-human, half-cobra figures in India. The idea of snake-people living below the Earth was prominent in American myth. In Greek mythology, the Gorgons were snake-women whose gazes would turn people to stone; they had serpents for hair, long claws, sharp teeth and scales covering their bodies. Etruscan, from Italy, 6th century BC. Snakes have been associated with Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic and the lower world.[20]. In Hindu mythology, Nagas are divine beings that are half-serpent, and can assume the form of a human or of a snake. Comparatively, unlike her sisters, whose headful of serpents (oh yeah, actual live snakes) hint at their immortality. He named the pits the Temple Repositories and immediately set upon the reconstruction of as much as he could, with special interest in the figurines, which he assumed were of goddesses. [22] The horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus[22] and is invoked in Assyrian texts as a magical protective entity. He is often seen as the son of the snake goddess Renenutet. Medusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. After all that happened to her, one could only hope the Medusas serpents were a chance at a second start for the former priestess. The goddess wears a tall headdress with a snake wound around it. Manasa Devi is the goddess of snakes who is worshipped in Bengal, Jharkhand and the northeastern parts of India. She was the protector deity of the city of Dep and also believed to be the protector of kings and of women in childbirth. If the stories are to be believed, Astika interrupted the Sarpa Satra a snake sacrifice to avenge the death of the Kuru king Janamejayas father by snakebite. Two Snake Goddesses from the palace of Knossos, c. 1600 B.C.E., majolica, 34.2 cm and 29.5 cm high (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, photo: In her restored state, the Snake Goddess is 29.5 cm (about 11.5 inches) high, a youthful woman wearing a full skirt made of seven. World Register of Marine Species. Snakes are a common occurrence in myths for a multitude of cultures. We also know that faience symbolized the renewal of life in old Egypt. During this transformation, the snake hides in a tree. Jr, also called Fjrgyn and Hlodyn, was in Norse mythology seen as the goddess of nature and earth and often depicted as a beautiful woman with long hair and a gentle face. The crown and cat have no parallel in any image of a Bronze Age woman, so these should be discounted. The one looking outward is one of the other Aztec gods, known as Huitzilopochtli. But the snake also had negative role as an originator of the death and as an avenger in the company of mythical creatures. One of the most forgotten goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, Corra is the embodiment of life, death, fertility, and the earth itself. Less well-remembered was the goddess's association with snakes. Since Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was mortal, Perseus was able to slay her while looking at the reflection from the mirrored shield he received from Athena. Looking at the forbidden mother (in her hair-covered genitals, so to speak) stiffens the subject in illicit desire and freezes him in terror of the Father's retribution. The Aztec underworld, Mictlan was protected by python-trees, a gigantic alligator and a snake, all of which spirits had to evade by physical ducking and weaving or cunning, before they could start the journey towards immortality. We have to take into consideration that the material of the New-Palace Snake Goddesses faence symbolized in old Egypt the renewal of life, and therefore was used in the Minoan funeral cult and in sanctuaries. During the dance, live snakes were handled and at the end of the dance the snakes were released into the fields to guarantee good crops. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Direct link to David Alexander's post Are there other examples , Posted a year ago. Lastly, Wadjet is said to be one of the many goddesses that composed the Eye of Ra: A group that included Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet, Raet, and Mut. Greek cosmological myths tell of how Ophion the snake incubated the primordial egg from which all created things were born. Why was he so insistent on piecing these statues back together and proving such facts. "Here there is an evil dragon named Nidhogg that gnaws constantly at the root, striving to destroy Yggdrasil" [19] When she swallowed him whole, he had cut his way out after two days, and her body turned to stone. The sun god Ra would fight Apep nightly to ensure that cosmic balance would remain, to which the Lord of Chaos would fall only to rise again. In their traditional African religious belief, they say that the Serpent Lebe guided the Dogon people from Mand to the Bandiagara Escarpment (their current home) when they decided to migrate to flee Islamization and persecution. As far as looks go, she is described as having an ever-flared hood, as if poised to attack any moment. This symbol has come to be known as the Ouroboros. Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. In fact, in their final showdown, the two end up killing each other. Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later taken over by the Greeks. "In a hymn to the goddess Mertseger, a workman on the Necropolis of Thebes relates how the goddess came to him in the form of a snake to heal his illness (Bunn1967:617). On the other hand, a few renditions do portray him as a crocodile. Animals alone are given the privilege of lifting the veil of Isis; men dare not. [21] Sea monsters lived in every ocean from the seven-headed crocodile-serpent Leviathan of Hebrew myth to the sea-god Koloowisi of the Zuni people of North America and the Greek monster Scylla with twelve snake-necks. Among a group of contemporary Maya people living near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala the womb is visualized as a coiled snake. They are revered as beneficial deities, though they have proven themselves to be formidable foes throughout mankind in Hinduism. Also, he cannot be having a great time when his siblings include the demon wolf Fenrir and the Norse goddess of death, Hel. Likewise, the Korean snake goddess Eobshin was portrayed as a black snake that had human ears. The restoration of the Snake Goddess was done by the Danish artist Halvor Bagge together with Evans. A repeating theme present in Greek mythology is the view of serpents being divine messengers: Symbols of life and death. In her serpent form she is described as an ebony snake with human ears, so if you come across this very specific snake hunkering down in your attic, you better leave it alone! He lives on fiction and myth. As shown in the images there are images of the sky serpent with its tail in its mouth, it is believed to be a reverence to the sun, for which Quetzalcoatl was also closely linked. "Only the Gorgon has the savage, threatening appearance to serve as an immediately recognized symbol of rage and a protector of women's secrets," wrote Wilk. Manasa, goddess of snakes, worshipped mainly in Bengal and other parts of northeastern India, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite and also for fertility and general prosperity. It is believed that the serpent occupied bodies of water, therefore establishing it as representing the significance of water as well as the changing seasons. Hand, a few renditions do portray him as a black snake that had human ears you 're behind web. Own name for the life-giving snake Minoan Household a year ago snakes have been associated with Ningishzida an. Content received from contributors Bengal, Jharkhand and the northeastern parts of India hands of the famous Greek hero Heracles... Divine messengers: Symbols of life and death could be directed against.... The moon goddess frequently pours water from a jar, symbolic of women & # x27 ; s with... Verify and edit content received from contributors Hades should send up an monster! 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