Sofia Perez
I have always been in love with paradoxes, from simple ones like Jumbo Shrimp, to the deepest philosophical questions of human nature, to the poor life- or death, or both- of Schrödinger’s cat. Recently I have invited a new conundrum into my heart’s library of contradictions: ethnoherpetology, which is the study of the human relationship with serpents. It’s hard to draw a start and finish line on this one, but I would say it begins roughly with the representation of Satan as a snake, and has led to my fascination with the use of snake venom in medicine. For centuries the relationship between humanity and these cold-blooded creatures has been steeped in mythology, religion, morality, and fear. Now I seek to ask a simple question: is this bad press fair?
Anon, (n.d.). [Online Image] Pixabay. Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-red-and-black-snake-34426/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2022].
Never having played devil’s advocate before, this seemed justified. They are predators, instinctually programmed to murder. Their evil was preordained in the same way pandas were preordained to represent innocence and dogs to represent loyalty. So why now challenge it? On one level, it’s because the way animals are represented in our collective imagination actually matters. It influences which habitats we decide to conserve, how we go about managing conservation, and on a much more basic level, our own capacity for empathy. No creature is inherently evil, and holding such beliefs, even passively, can lead to an unfair bias against some of the most vulnerable species.
“No creature is inherently evil, and holding such beliefs, even passively, can lead to an unfair bias against some of the most vulnerable species.”
Yet the fraught relationship between snakes and people started long before the modern-day notion of “conservation” was even around. First stop: the Bible. In the well-known Genesis passage, God says to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3
Seen as a representation of evil right from the start, but even more so, conveyed as a disguise for Satan, God is said to have cursed the serpent. Not only this, but it’s cursed “above all wild animals” and God declares that “enmity” will be put between humanity and the serpent’s descendents. At first thought, the decision to use a snake- whose legs were taken away so perhaps it was actually a lizard- seems arbitrary.
Nonetheless, such a strong sentiment of evil placed on one creature led me to dig further, where I found some accounts of the tale of Medusa, the simultaneous “terrible Gorgon in Greek mythology” and modern day feminist icon. She started out as a beautiful woman, the daughter of Phorcys and the most gorgeous among all her sisters, who were monsters known collectively as the “Phorcydes”. She was then raped by Poseidon- god of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses- while attempting to worship in the Temple of Athena. Outraged that Poseidon had defiled her temple but unable to directly punish him, Athena took her anger out on Medusa, turning her once-golden locks into snakes.
Anon, (n.d.). [Online Image] Pixabay. Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-door-knocker-11880967/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2022].
Besides being totally unfair, this downfall is a fascinating evolution from beautiful, meek, and powerless to ugly, solitary, frightening, and powerful. It doesn’t take too much digging to see why modern-day feminists had adopted Medusa’s image. Not only does her story serve as a warning to stay away from Poseidon, but the ‘monster’ she becomes after her undeserved punishment is absolutely terrifying.
Without getting bogged down on the feminist analysis of Greek myth and Genesis, another common thread I picked up on between these two tales- no pun intended- is the idea of snakes as the product of injustice. If you read Genesis, the snake only loses its legs after tricking Eve. In the story of Medusa, the snakes represent her anger after she is raped by Poseidon. This seems to suggest a more nuanced kind of symbolism, leaving me wondering how this sense of permanence in response to moral mistakes is attached to the permanence of venom and death that serpents bring.
That said, the extent to which this bad press is fair comes down to what we do as a society with these stories, labeling some animals as ‘good’ and others as ‘bad’ merely because our myths say so. Is it ‘fair’ that snakes are used to depict evil? And who decided history would be spent fearing snakes, worshipping cows, befriending dogs, eating chicken, or making clothes out of sheep hair? What are the implications of these attitudes? Is this depiction always understood as a creative choice rather than an objective reality?
“And who decided history would be spent fearing snakes, worshipping cows, befriending dogs, eating chicken, or making clothes out of sheep hair?…Is this depiction always understood as a creative choice rather than an objective reality?”
Of course though, there is room for complexity in every narrative. Alongside the symbolism of snakes as evil in mythology, there are those who symbolize the good. According to The rod and the serpent: history’s ultimate healing symbol, the snake has served as a medical emblem for more than 2400 years, ever since it was associated with Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine and healing. According to myth, Asclepius learned the art of healing from his father, Apollo, and the centaur Cheiron. He soon became so proficient in using drugs and carrying out surgery that he was worshiped as the founder of medicine. Zeus was worried about this talent, particularly because Aesclepius allegedly had the power to bring back the dead and Zeus worried he would make mankind immortal. Zeus’s solution? Murdering Asclepius with a lightning bolt, subsequently placing him among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, “the serpent bearer”. To honor the fallen healer, Greeks used snakes in healing rituals, regarding them as sacred. This is because their snake venom was thought to have medicinal value and because their skin was a symbol of renewal.
Yes, you got that right. Alongside centuries of anti-snake mythology there has also been a rich symbolic link between medicine and herpetology. Think of a snake shedding its skin, growing into something new. This image of renewal has inspired a whole field to take on a snake-themed logo. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a close look at the caduceus, the staff carried by Hermes in Greco-Egyptian mythology and also found in most doctors’ offices. Snakes were also represented through depictions of Hygieia, Asclepius’ daughter who tended to his temples. Her trademark symbol of a bowl containing medicinal potion with the serpent of Wisdom drinking from it is now an international emblem for pharmacies.
Anon, (n.d.). [Online Image] Pixabay. Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-a-medic-uniform-holding-the-door-of-an-ambulance-8942054/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2022].
This highlights the neglected other half of our original question. Are these uplifting symbols of serpents in medicine unjust? The question applies to other animals as well. Is it wrong to assume dogs and cats are the protagonists of all domestic animals? Is it unfair to portray pandas as harmless giant teddy bears and sharks as ruthless hunters, as in Jaws? To me, the answer to this question is the same as before. The fairness is determined based off what we do about the portrayals of these animals. For snakes, the lean toward negative representation is unfair not because snakes care if we like them, but because what we think influences our efforts to protect them. With such sharp levels of biodiversity loss, this is dangerous.
“The fairness is determined based off what we do about the portrayals of these animals. For snakes, the lean toward negative representation is unfair not because snakes care if we like them, but because what we think influences our efforts to protect them.”
In dipping into the good and evil nature of snake representation, with satanic associations on the one hand and the Caduceus on the other, I began to notice in some places a seductive tango with both sides. One example is from the American poet, Emily Dickinson, whose poem A Narrow Fellow in the Grass is shown below.
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Emily Dickinson, “A Narrow Fellow In The Grass”(1096)
Occasionally rides –
You may have met him? Did you not
His notice instant is –
The Grass divides as with a Comb,
A spotted Shaft is seen,
And then it closes at your Feet
And opens further on –
He likes a Boggy Acre –
A Floor too cool for Corn –
But when a Boy and Barefoot
I more than once at Noon
Have passed I thought a Whip Lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled And was gone –
Several of Nature’s People
I know, and they know me
I feel for them a transport
Of Cordiality
But never met this Fellow
Attended or alone
Without a tighter Breathing
And Zero at the Bone.
In this poem, one of Dickinson’s most popular works, she portrays a snake as quiet but threatening, evoking themes of mystery alongside simultaneous “cordiality” and fear. The snake appears to be both a vehicle of danger and a quiet, unassuming gentleman. It hints at a larger dichotomy within nature between danger and generosity. Perhaps this ambiguity is the closest we can get to what snakes really are to us. There is, as Dickinson states, “cordiality”, but also mystery: Danger, venom, and death beside healing, renewal, and strength.
Now I return to my original question: is the bad press fair? Better questions: Does it help? Should it continue? Are we all collectively responsible? The answers, in their completeness, are naturally more complicated than can ever be communicated in the container of human language, but let’s try.
“There is good and bad, but there is also a place beyond the two where morality doesn’t belong. There is reality and symbolism, but there is also a place where symbols become the reality they are meant to represent.”
There is good and bad, but there is also a place beyond the two where morality doesn’t belong. There is reality and symbolism, but there is also a place where symbols become the reality they are meant to represent. Snakes, ultimately, are really just snakes, just as ants are just ants and giraffes are just giraffes. They are no more good or evil than a flower is good or evil, or a rainbow, or a thunderstorm, or a scorpion. And yes, it really does matter that we clarify this, because if the world doesn’t accept that one predatory species is at the same moral level as a “cute” one, conservation efforts will miss the mark severely. So perhaps this is not such a paradox at all. Snakes were never simultaneously good and bad. They were always neither, and that’s why the bad press- and the good press- they have received was never fair. How could it be? A snake is a snake is a snake, and nothing else.
Thought to Action
- For free, switch your search browser to Ecosia, the search engine which uses the profits produced from your searches to plant trees where they are needed most. Ecosia is currently using its profits to plant trees all around the world, a mission which supports biodiversity, helps to fight climate change, and gives you the chance to make a real difference.
- Plant native trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and herbs in your garden to promote biodiversity locally.
- Using this link, donate to the organization Save the Snakes, whose mission is to “protect snake populations around the world through education and community outreach to create a harmonious relationship between humans and snakes”. This is vital, because snakes are important creatures toward maintaining balance within food webs worldwide. Meanwhile, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 12% of assessed snake species are listed as threatened.
- According to Advocated for Snake Preservation (ASP),“negative attitudes about snakes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation”. Help ASP to change the narrative by following some of the tips suggested in this factsheet from their website:
- Respect and appreciate wildlife from a distance.
- Don’t buy wild-caught animals or collect wildlife.
- Drive carefully, watching for small animals.
- Share positive stories about snakes.
- Coexist, modify your yard.
- Don’t relocate wildlife.
- Say “defensive” or “scared”, not “scary” or “aggressive” when describing snake behavior.
- Don’t use bird nesting.
- Visit and support your local botanical garden, as these are generally used to study and promote biodiversity, as scientists can grow, study, and store plants in their natural habitats.
Bibliography
Reminder: Always fact check!
dailyhistory.org. (2021). Who was Medusa the terrible Gorgon in mythology – DailyHistory.org. [online] Available at: https://dailyhistory.org/Who_was_Medusa_the_terrible_Gorgon_in_mythology [Accessed 23 Oct. 2022].
Interesting Literature. (2021). The Curious Symbolism of Snakes in Literature and Myth. [online] Available at: https://interestingliterature.com/2021/06/snake-serpent-symbolism-in-literature-religion-myth/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2022].
Lewis, R.J. and Garcia, M.L. (2003). Therapeutic potential of venom peptides. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2(10), pp.790–802. doi:10.1038/nrd1197.
Oliveira, A.L., Viegas, M.F., da Silva, S.L., Soares, A.M., Ramos, M.J. and Fernandes, P.A. (2022). The chemistry of snake venom and its medicinal potential. Nature Reviews Chemistry, [online] (6), pp.1–19. doi:10.1038/s41570-022-00393-7.
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