I. GREECE.--Whether the learned and ingenious Bryant 1 be correct or not, in deriving the very name of EUROPE from אור־אב (AUR-AB), the solar serpent, it is certain that Ophiolatreia prevailed in this quarter of the globe at the earliest period of idolatry 2. Of the countries of Europe, Greece was first colonized by Ophites, but at separate times, both from Egypt and Phœnicia; and it is a question of some doubt, though perhaps of little importance, whether the leader of the first colony, the celebrated Cadmus, was a Phœnician or an Egyptian. Bochart has shown that Cadmus
If EUROPA be but a personification of the The history of Cadmus is full of fables about serpents. He slew a dragon, planted its teeth, and hence arose armed men, who destroyed
2. The symbolical worship of the serpent was so common in Greece, that Justin Martyr accuses the Greeks of introducing it into the mysteries of all their gods.
Three ingredients in these baskets are remarkable,
2. The honey-cakes marked with the sacred omphalos. These were also offerings made at the shrine of the sacred serpent; for we read in Herodotus, that in the Acropolis at Athens was kept a serpent who was considered the guardian of the city. He was fed on cakes of honey once a month 2. The serpent of Metele was presented with the same food or offering 3.
Medicated cakes, in which honey was a chief ingredient, were at once the food and the offering to the dragon of the Hesperides--SERPENT-WORSHIP IN EUROPE.
Hesperidum templi custos, epulasque draconi
The honey-cake, however, when properly pre-pared, was marked with the sacred Omphalos--a remarkable peculiarity on which it may be proper to make a few observations.
The superstition of the OMPHALOS was extensively prevalent. It entered into the religions of India and Greece, and is one of the most figurative and obscure parts of mythology. The omphalos is a boss, upon which is described a spiral line; but whether or not this spiral line may have been originally designed to represent
Whatever may have been the meaning of this spiral line, which Quintus Curtius calls a navel, one thing is evident, that the omphalos, umbilicus, or navel, was sacred to the serpent-god: for it not only occurs in the mystic baskets of the Bacchic orgies, but was also kept at DELPHI 2, "because," says Pausanias, "this was the middle of the earth." The absurdity of this notion at once refers us to some better reason; but absurd as it is, the same idea seems to have
Near the latter omphalos was a temple of BACCHUS, another of APOLLO, and another of ISIS, to each of which deities the serpent was sacred. The sacred omphalos, therefore, would seem to bear very much upon the adoration of the serpent; and it is a question whether or not it was originally intended to represent a coiled serpent as symbolical of divinity.
The esoteric tradition of the omphalos, according to Diodorus 2, is, that when the infant Jupiter was nursed by the Curetes, his navel fell at the river Triton in Crete; whence that territory was called Omphalos. But this legend is evidently invented from the ambiguity of the word. Bryant derives omphalos from OMPHIEL, "the oracle of the sun 3." Such an oracle would not be unaptly represented by a coiled serpent, a serpent being the most popular emblem of the sun, and also of an oracle.
3. The third feature, and the most remarkable
Pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis.
It is observable that the Christian Ophites, who were of the school of the Egyptian gnostics, kept their sacred serpent in a chest; and the orgies of Bacchus were derived from the same source of Egyptian gnosticism--the mysteries of Isis.
So great was the veneration of the Cretans for their Bacchic baskets, that they frequently stamped the figures of them upon their coins. Nor were these baskets confined to the orgies of Bacchus. They were employed also in the mysteries of Ceres, Isis, and Osiris 2.
The symbol of the "good dæmon" was a serpent, as may be proved from a medal of the town of Dionysopolis, in Thrace. On one side of the coin were the heads of Gordian and Serapis, on the other a coiled serpent 2. Dionysopolis was named from Dionusus, a name which was borne by the Indian Bacchus, who in his own country was called Deonaush.
In the collection of the Earl of Besborough, was a beautiful antique drinking cup cut out of a solid piece of rock crystal, on the lid of which are two serpents, and upon the cup near the rim, the Ophite hierogram in the form of a Medusa's head. Mr. Pownall, in the seventh volume of the Archæologia, proves that this cup was consecrated to religious uses; and supposes
The serpent entered into the symbolical worship of many others of the Grecian deities.
Minerva was sometimes represented with a dragon; her statues by Phidias were decorated with this emblem 1. In plate, p. 85, vol. i. of Montfaucon, are several medals of Minerva; in one of them she holds a caduceus in the right hand; in another, a staff, round which a serpent is twisted; in a third, a large serpent appears marching before her. Other medals represent her crest as composed of a serpent. So that this was a notorious emblem of the
The city of Athens was peculiarly consecrated to the goddess Minerva; and in the Acropolis was kept a live serpent, who was generally considered as the guardian of the place. The emperor Hadrian built a temple at Athens to Jupiter Olympius, and "placed in it a dragon which he caused to be brought from India 1." Upon the walls of Athens was sculptured a Medusa's head, whose hair was intertwined with snakes. In the temple of Minerva, at Tegea, there was a similar sculpture, which was said to have been given by the goddess herself, to preserve that city from being taken in war 2. The virtue supposed to reside in this head was of a talismanic power, to preserve or destroy.
Take away the human face in the centre, with its remaining snaky locks, and you have the Egyptian emblem of consecration, THE SERPENTS AND WINGED CIRCLE; the circle being formed by the bodies of the snakes. The Gorgon is, therefore, nothing more than THE CADUCEUS without its staff. The intimate connexion of this emblem with the serpent-worship, we have already observed: and it is worthy of remark, that the Argives,
Προσηδάφισται κοιλογάστορος κύκλου.
Ἑπρὰ ἐπὶ Θήβας. 501, 502.
The people of Argos had a tradition which indicates their ophite origin also. The city was said to have "been infested with serpents, until Apis came from Egypt and settled in it. To him they attribute the blessing of having their country freed from this evil; but the brood came from the very quarter from whence Apis was supposed to have come. They were certainly Hivites from Egypt 2."
The breastplate and baldrick of Agamemnon, king of Argos, exhibited the device of a triple-headed serpent 3. His brother Menelaus, king of Sparta, was similarly distinguished by a serpent upon his shield. The Spartans, as well as the Athenians, believed in their serpentine origin, and called themselves ophiogenæ.
The serpent was sacred to Æsculapius and Hygeia, as a symbol of health; but how he came to be a symbol of health is not very satisfactorily explained. It is said by Pliny, that the flesh of this creature is sometimes used in medicine, and that this was the reason of his consecration to "health." Others again inform us, that the
Ovid, (Met. 15, 665,) gives an animated description of this embassy, which is well worthy of attention, as illustrative of the deification of the serpent.
Incerti quid agant proceres, ad templa petiti
Conveniunt operosa Dei: quaque ipse morari
Sede velit, signis cœlestibus indicet, orant.
Utiliter: populosque juves TUA SACRA colentes."
The god having passed through the temple and city, arrives at the port:
When the vessel entered the Tiber, the whole city of Rome was poured out to meet the god:
These spirited lines alone, without any other
Jupiter again metamorphosed himself into a dragon, to deceive Proserpine. These, and all other similar fables in mythology, are founded upon the deception of Eve by a SPIRITUAL BEING, who assumed the form of a serpent.
Dragons were sacred to the goddess Ceres; her car was drawn by them.
They were symbolical also of the Ephesian Diana, and of Cybele, the mother of the gods,
Of all the places in Greece, Bœotia seems to have been the most favourite residence of the Ophites. The Thebans boasted themselves to be the descendants of the warriors who sprung from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus. "The history of this country," says Bryant, "had continual reference to serpents and dragons; they seem to have been the national insigne at least of Thebes. Hence we find upon the tomb of Epaminondas, the figure of a serpent, to signify that he was an Ophite or Theban 2." In like manner the Theban Hercules bore upon his shield the sacred hierogram by which the warriors of the Cadmian family were distinguished--"As he went, his adamantine shield sounded . . . . . . . . in a CIRCLE TWO DRAGONS were suspended, lifting up their heads 3."
At Thespiæ, in Bœotia, they worshipped Jupiter Saotas; the origin of whose worship is thus related: When A DRAGON had once laid waste the town, Jupiter directed that
But the most celebrated seat of Ophiolatreia in Greece was at DELPHI. The original name of this place, according to Strabo, was PYTHO; supposed to be so called from the serpent PYTHON, slain there by Apollo. The connexion of such a legend with the place, and the derivation of its original name from the serpent Python, which is thought to be the PETHEN of the Hebrews, might well induce the learned Heinsius to conclude that "the god Apollo was first worshipped at Delphi, under the symbol of a serpent." Hyginus 2 says, that the dragon Python formerly gave oracles in Mount Parnassus--"PYTHON, Terræ filius, draco ingens. Hic ante Apollinem ex oraculo in motile Parnasso responsa dare solitus erat." The same says
The public assemblies at Delphi were called Pythia. These were doubtless, originally intended for the adoration of Python 4. Seven days after the victory of Apollo over Python, the Pythian games were instituted, on the seventh day of which, an hymn called Paean was sung to Apollo in honour of his victory 5. Hence the expression of Hesiod--ἕβδομον ἱερὸν ἦμαρ--which so singularly corresponds with our Sabbath.
When the priestess of Apollo delivered her oracles, she stood, or sat, upon a tripod. This was a name commonly given to any sort of vessel, seat, or table, supported upon three feet. The tripod of the Pythian priestess was distinguished by a base emblematical of her god. It was a triple-headed serpent of brass, whose body,
Athena us calls this tripod, "the tripod of
According to Gibbon, the serpentine column was transported from Delphi to Constantinople, by the founder of the latter city, and set up on a pillar in the Hippodrome 2. He cites Zosimus, who is also cited by Montfaucon on the same subject: but the latter thinks that Constantine only caused a similar column to be made, and did not remove the original from Delphi. It is most probable, however, that Gibbon is right 3.
This celebrated relic of Ophiolatreia is still to be seen in the same place, where it was set up by Constantine; but one of the serpents' heads is mutilated. This was done by Mahomet the second, the Turkish conqueror of Constantinople, when he entered the city. The story is thus related by Leunclavius:--"When Mahomet came to the Atmeidan, he saw there a stone column, on which was placed a three-headed brazen serpent. Looking on it, he asked, 'What idol is that?' and at the same time, hurling his
This traditionary legend, preserved by Leunclavius, marks the strong hold which Ophiolatreia must have taken upon the minds of the people of Constantinople, so as to cause this story to be handed down to so late an æra as the seventeenth century. Among the Greeks who resorted to Constantinople were many idolaters of the old religion, who would wilfully transmit any legend favourable to their own superstition. Hence, probably, the charm mentioned above, was attached by them to the Delphic serpent on the column in the Hippodrome; and revived (after the partial mutilation of the figure) by their descendants, the common
Lucian 2 says, that "the dragon under the tripod spoke 3." This was, very probably, the
At DELOS, the next place in rank after Del-phi for an oracle of Apollo, there was an image erected to him "in the shape of a dragon 2." Here there was likewise an oracular fountain, called Inopus. "This word," remarks Bryant 3, is compounded of Ain-opus.; i.e. Fons Pythonis:" dedicated to the serpent-god Oph. Fountains sacred to this deity were not uncommon.
In Pausanias (lib. ix. 557) we read of a fountain near the river Ismenus at Thebes, which was placed under the guardianship of a dragon. Near this place was the spot where Cadmus slew the dragon, from whose teeth arose the Ophiogenes, the builders of Thebes. It is probable, therefore, that instead of being sacred to Mars, as Pausanias affirms, this fountain was sacred to the serpent-god, called Mars in this place, because of the conflict between the Ophiogenes. A conclusion the more probable from the fact, that the Ismenian hill was dedicated to Apollo. The whole territory was (we may say) the patrimony of Oph--all the local legends confirm it 2.
There were many other oracles of Apollo besides those of Delphi and Delos, but of inferior
In corroboration of these remarks, we find that one of the builders of the temple of Apollo, at Delpi, was Trophonius.
Pausanias informs us, that whoever would inquire an oracle of Trophonius, must previously (in a small temple near his cave, dedicated to THE GOOD GENIUS) sacrifice to APOLLO, SATURN, JUPITER, JUNO, and CERES. Now it is remarkable that each of these deities had some connexion with the mythological serpent. APOLLO was pre-eminently the solar serpent-god; and is, therefore, first to be appeased. Apollo I take to be no other than OPEL, (Oph-el) PYTHO-SOL, whose name occurs so frequently in composition with the names of places as Torophel, Opheltin, &c. SATURN was married to OPS; under which disguise is concealed the deity OPH. JUPITER changed himself into a serpent twice, to deceive Rhea
But we may approach even nearer to the deduction which I would draw; namely, that the serpents in the cave were the real gods of the place, by recollecting two fables which we have before considered: the stupefaction and ultimate death of the priest who intruded upon the privacy of the dragon of Metele; and the conversion
We have already seen that the Argives and Spartans were Ophites, and that from the celebrated temple of Æsculapius, at Epidaurus, the sacred serpent was conveyed to Sicyon. In addition to these facts, we learn from Pausanias that Antinoe, the foundress of Mantinea, was guided to that place by a serpent, from whom the river, which was near the town, was called Ophis 2. The first prophet of Messene was said to have been Ophioneus; from which we may infer, that the first colony which introduced religious rites into Messenia was Ophite. A similar colony was established at Epidaurus Limera, in Laconia, under the auspices of a sacred serpent brought from Epidaurus, in Argolis 3. Statius 4 describes a serpent, the object of religious reverence at Nemæa:--
This is the serpent which slew the child Opheltes. Statius goes on to describe him:
Terrigenæ erigitur serpens------
Agricolæ, cui cura loci et sylvestribus aris
Pauper honos.
The "pauper honos" was occasioned by the drought then raging, when the scene described by the poet took place. It was in search of food that the serpent sallied from the sacred grove when he saw and slew the sleeping child.
Bryant 1 assures us that Opheltes, or rather Opheltin, is the name of a place, and not of any person: and that this place was nothing more nor less than an inclosure sacred to the god OPHEL, the serpent-solar deity. Hence the legend respecting the serpent.
It will be shown in a subsequent chapter, that such inclosures were frequently formed in the shape of a serpent. If such was the form of "Opheltin," the fable explains itself. It means nothing more than that human victims were immolated at this shrine of OPHEL.
Of all the islands in the neighbourhood of the' Peloponnesus, Crete was most celebrated for its primitive Ophiolatreia. Here the Egyptians first established those religious rites which were called by the Greeks the mysteries of Dionusus or Bacchus. The Cretan medals were usually impressed with the Bacchic basket, and the sacred serpent creeping in and out. Beger has written a treatise on these coins: the following is a description of three which he has engraved.
1. A Bacchic basket, with the sacred serpent. On the reverse, two serpents with their tails
6. We see, then, that serpent-worship very generally prevailed through Greece and its dependencies. Memorials of it have been preserved in many coins and medals, and pieces of ancient sculpture; and the only reason why we have not more records of this superstition is, that it was superseded by the fascination of the Polytheistic idolatry, which overwhelmed with a multitude of sculptured gods and goddesses the traditionary remains of the original religion.
There are, however, some few reliques of sculpture which bear interesting testimony to the worship of the serpent. Engravings of three
No. 1 represents a TREE encircled by a SERPENT; an altar appears in front, and a boy on horseback is seen approaching it. The inscription states this to be a monument dedicated by Glycon to his infant son Euhemerus.
No. 2, an equestrian approaching an altar at the foot of a TREE, about the branches of which a SERPENT is entwined. A priestess stands by the altar.
No. 3. In the centre is a TREE with a SERPENT enfolding it. To the right of the tree is a naked female, holding in her hand a chalice under the serpent's mouth, and near her a man in the attitude of supplication to the serpent. On the left is Charon leading Cerberus towards the tree.
These are perhaps funeral monuments, and the serpent emblematic of the MANES of the departed, as Montfaucon would lead us to believe. But the third sculpture (in spite of Charon) seems rather to allude to the annual custom at Epirus of soliciting the sacred serpent for a good harvest. The narrative is in
divination by serpents. This superstition was sometimes resorted to by the Greeks, but was more common among the Romans: both of them borrowed it from earlier nations. For, the same word in Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek, which denotes "divination," denotes "a serpent." "Nachash"--"alahat 1"--οἰωνίζεσθαι--have the same double significations. The Greek word, according to Hesychius, is derived from οἰωνὸς, a snake; "because they divined by means of a snake, which they called οἰωνός."
This is a coincidence which implies that Ophiomancy was the first species of divination: as it ought to have been, since Ophiolatreia was the first species of idolatry.
A remarkable instance of Grecian Ophiomancy occurs in the divination of Calchas at Aulis in
In mentioning this anecdote we may remark, that the scene of the transaction was in Bœotia, one of the most celebrated loci of Ophiolatreia; and that Calchas, the soothsayer, acquired the gift of divination from APOLLO, or in other words, was a priest of the Ophite god.
II. EPIRUS.--l. Following the Ophites from Greece into Epirus, we find that their traces, though few, are decisive. In this country, we are informed by Ælian 2, there was a circular grove of Apollo enclosed within a wall, where sacred serpents were kept. At the great annual
The idea of divine incarnation in a serpent must have appeared reasonable in that country to enable Olympias to invent the story of her son Alexander's dracontic origin. The queen was extravagantly fond of the Bacchanalian mysteries, at which she officiated in the character of a Bacchans. It is said by Plutarch 3, that she and her husband were initiated into them at Samothrace, when very young; and that she imitated the frantic gestures of the Edonian women in traversing the wilds of Mount Hæmus. When Olympias celebrated the orgies of Dionusus, attendants followed her, carrying Thyrsi encircled with serpents, having serpents also in their hair and chaplets.
4. The island of Samothrace was the Holy Isle of the ancients, and celebrated for the worship of the CABIRI, the most mysterious and awful of all the gods, whose name, even, it was
"CABIRI" is, evidently a noun in the plural number, of which the singular is to be found in "CABIR." Now CABIR is probably a compound word, whose component parts may be CA-AB-IR. If so, the interpretation is easy, CA-AB-IR resolving itself at once into CA or CHA, domus 1; AB or AUB, Pythonis; IR or UR, Lucis vel Solis. "CABIR" will therefore mean "the temple of the serpent of the sun 2;" and "CABIRI" will bear the same signification, either as denoting more than one such temple, or a temple dedicated to two deities, AUB and the SUN.
I leave, therefore, to the candid consideration of the reader, the probability of the derivation which has been assigned to the word "Cabiri." Between the religion of Samothrace and that of the Thracian continent, there was a strong similarity, or rather union. The great prophet of this common religion was Orpheus, who resided
The priestesses of the superstition of Dionusus were no longer Pythonesses or Oubs, but Bacchantes: and many other innovations mark the decline of Ophiolatreia before Orpheus succeeded (but in succeeding lost his life) in uniting it to the sun-worship. III. ITALY.--We come now to the traces of Ophiolatreia in Italy.
Many representations of warriors with the serpent on their shields, may be seen on the Etruscan vases, discovered on the estate of Canino in Etruria, which is supposed to have been the ancient Vitulonia 4. Jerome Colonna attributes the name of Opici to the people of Campania, from a former king
He mentions them again in his panegyric on Ruffinus and Honorius. Some of his lines are highly pictorial; such as:
Serpentumque vago cœlum sævire volatu.
Ruff. lib. ii.
Prudentius and Sidonius Apollinaris also mention them.
The bearers of these standards were called draconarii; and it is not improbable that hence might have been derived our own expression of "dragoons," to designate a certain description of cavalry, though the original meaning of the word is altogether lost. This word we have borrowed from the French, who received it probably from the Romans.
From Campania the Ophites passed into Latium,
The Marsi who settled at the lake Fucinus are said by Virgil, Æn. vii. 750. to have been "charmers of serpents," which is tantamount to calling them Ophites.
Montfaucon 3 has an engraving from a silver medal of Lepidus, on which is a tripod:--"A serpent of vast length raises itself over the vase, twisting his body into a great many folds and
Ophiomancy prevailed among the Romans, when Ophiolatreia had decreased through the influence of time and civilization. The accidental sight of a serpent was sometimes esteemed a good 1, and sometimes a bad omen. The death of Tiberius Gracchus was denoted by a serpent found in his house 2. Sylla was more fortunate in his divination from a serpent which glided from beneath an altar, while he was sacrificing at Nola: as also was Roscius, whose future successful career was foretold, from his being found, when an infant, sleeping in his cradle, enfolded by a snake. In each of these cases Haruspices were sent for, who interpreted the omen. A serpent was accounted among the pedestria auspicia, and is alluded to by Horace, lib. iii.
Terence 1 also considers it in the same light--
Si per obliquum, similis sagittæ,
Terruit Mannos.
Introit in ædes ater alienus canis,
Anguis per impluvium decidit de tegulis.
The Sardinians also, as we are informed by De Lacepede, domesticated the serpent, as an animal of auspicious omen. This notion may have reached them either from Italy or Africa.
IV. NORTHERN EUROPE.--The Romans being, comparatively, a modern people, had not among them those strong traces of Ophiolatreia which we have observed in Phœnicia, Egypt, and Greece. But if we now follow the northward march of the sacred serpent from the plains of Shinar, we shall find that he entered deeply into the mythology of the tribes who penetrated into Europe through the Oural mountains. Of these, the Sarmatian horde, as being nearest to the seat of their original habitation, first claims attention.
1. SARMATIA. From Ouzel 1 we learn that the serpent was one of the earliest objects of worship in Sarmatia. He cites Erasmus Stella de Antiq. Borussiæ. "For some time," says this author, "they had no sacred rites; at length they arrived at such a pitch of wickedness, that they worshipped serpents and trees." The connexion between serpents and trees we have had occasion to notice more than once. They
The Samogitæ (Muscovites) partook of the same superstition 1. They worshipped the serpent as A GOD; and if any adversity befell them, concluded that their domestic serpents (which, like the people of Pella, they kept in their houses,) had been negligently served. From Muscovy we may follow the same superstition into Lithuania, the modern Poland. These people, we are informed by Guaguin 2,
In Koch (De cultu Serpentum, p. 39: a valuable, though short and superficial treatise,) we read the following passage: That these wretched idolaters offered sacrifices to serpents, Jerome of Prague (teste Sylvio de Europâ, c. 26.) saw with his own eyes . . . . . . Every householder had a snake in a corner of his house, to which he gave food and offered sacrifice, as he lay upon the hay. Jerome commanded all these to be killed, and publicly burnt. Among such as were brought out for this purpose, one was found larger than the rest, which, though often thrown into the fire, could not be consumed." The serpent-worship of the Lithuanians is also noticed by Cromer 1 who charges the Prussians likewise with the same idolatry. Guaguin relates an anecdote of a serpent worshipper
The Lithuanians were the last of the Europeans who were converted to Christianity; an event which did not take place until the fourteenth century. Jagello, the last heathen duke, was baptized anno 1386 2. The inhabitants of Livonia were also addicted to this gross idolatry, and carried it to a barbarous length. It is said that they were accustomed to sacrifice the most beautiful of their captives to their dragon-gods 3. The same custom we have observed to exist at Whidah. 2. SCANDINAVIA. The second great northern
Among the Ophites of the north, the most conspicuous were the Danes, who exhibited the sacred dragon upon their royal standard. Pontanus 2 alluding to it, expresses himself thus:--
Et loco propugnat sanguinolenta DRACO.
But this custom, so commonly observed by the Ophites, would not have pre-eminently distinguished the Danes as worshippers of the sacred serpent, had there not been discovered a sacrificial vessel of their primitive idolatry, which is at once a confirmation of their superstition, and a key to its mysteries. It is, indeed, a most valuable interpreter of the Celtic faith, as it respected the tradition of the fall of man, and an eloquent index to the religion of the Druids. This relic of idolatry is the celebrated horn found by a female peasant, near Tundera 1, in Denmark, in the year, 1639. It is of gold, and embossed in parallel circles, of rude workmanship. These circular compartments are seven in number, and in five out of the seven circles, the figure of a serpent is seen in various attitudes.
But whichever be correct, (and for our theory it matters not which,) it is evident that the figures have a sacred signification, either as connected with the religious rites, superstitions, or fables of the original possessors. Now we know, from unquestionable authority, that not only did Ophiolatreia prevail throughout the whole of this and the neighbouring countries, but also that the tradition of the serpent in paradise was preserved in the mythology of Scandinavia, with an accuracy equal to that of the Greeks and Phœnicians. Hence it matters not, whether THE HORN be descriptive of the fall of man, of the Ophite rites of the
The Lombards also cherished the same superstition,
1. V. WESTERN EUROPE. 1. BRITAIN. Our British ancestors, under the tuition of the venerable Druids, were not only worshippers of the solar deity, symbolized by the serpent, but held the serpent, independent of his relation to the sun, in peculiar veneration. Cut off from all intimate intercourse with the civilized world, partly by their remoteness 2, and partly by their national character 3, the Britons retained their primitive idolatry long after it had yielded in the neighbouring countries to the polytheistic corruptions of Greece and Egypt. In process of time, however, the
In a poem of Taliessin, translated by Davies, in his Appendix, No. 6, is the following enumeration of a Druid's titles:
I am a SERPENT"--(Gnadr.)
From the word Gnadr is derived "adder," the name of a species of snake. Gnadr was probably pronounced like "adder" with a nasal aspirate.
The mythology of the Druids contained also a goddess CERIDWEN, whose car was drawn by serpents. It is conjectured that this was Grecian CERES; and not without reason, for the in-creasing intercourse between the British and
The following translation of a Bardic poem, descriptive of one of their religious rites, identifies the superstition of the British Druids with the aboriginal Ophiolatreia, as expressed in the mysteries of Isis in Egypt. The poem is entitled,
In the second part of this poem is the following description of the sacrificial rites of Uther Pendragon.
This is a most minute and interesting account of the religious rites of the Druids, proving in clear terms their addiction to Ophiolatreia:
The GOLDEN HORNS, which contained the drink offerings, were very probably of the same kind as that found in Tundera, in Denmark, and described in a preceding page of this chapter: a probability which confirms the Ophiolatreia of the DANES, argued in the same section from historical documents. And conversely, the existence of the Danish horn proves that in the mysteries of Druidical worship, the serpent was a prominent character.
The god to whom these offerings were made and whose sacrifices were here celebrated, was BELL; perhaps the BEL of the Babylonians, and the OBEL of primitive worship; the architype
The learned Celtic scholar, from whose translation the above poem is taken, explains it in these words:--"These ceremonies are performed at a public and solemn festival, whilst the sanctuary, or assembly of priests and votaries, invoke the dragon king. The place of consecration is on the sacred mound, within the stone circle and mount which represent the world, and near the consecrated lakes 1. At this time
The sanctity of the serpent showed itself in another very curious part of the superstition of the British Druids, namely, in that which related to the formation and virtues of the celebrated anguinum, as it is called by Pliny, or gleinen nadroeth, that is, snake-stones, as they were called by the Britons. Sir Richard Colt Hoare
These, we are informed by the Roman naturalist, were worn about the neck as charms, and were deemed efficacious in rendering their possessors fortunate in every difficult emergency. He records an anecdote of a Roman knight, who was put to death by Claudius for entering a court of justice with an anguinum on his neck, in the belief that its virtue would overrule the judgment in his favour. The word anguinum is obviously derived from
This singular superstition was still extant in Wales and Cornwall in the time of Camden, as we find from the following passage in his Britannia, page 815. "In most parts of Wales, throughout all Scotland, and in Cornwall, we find it a common opinion of the vulgar, that about Midsummer-eve it is usual for snakes to meet in company, and that by their joining heads together and hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which the rest by continual hissing blow on till it passes quite through the body, and then it immediately hardens, and resembles a glass ring, which whoever finds will prosper in all undertakings. The rings thus generated are called gleinen nadroeth; in English, snake-stones." They are small glass amulets, commonly The anguinum continued to be venerated in Cornwall in the time of Dr. Borlase, but the tradition of its formation was somewhat different from the above. "The country people have a persuasion, that the snakes here breathing upon a hazel wand, produce a stone ring of a blue colour, in which there appears the yellow figure of a snake; and that beasts bit and envenomed, being given some of the water to drink wherein this stone has been infused, will perfectly recover of the poison 1." These charms were usually called "glains;" and, according to Davies 2, "were some blue, some white, a third sort green, and a fourth variegated with all these colours, but still preserving the appearance of glass. Others again were made of earth, and only glazed over." The "egg" of which Pliny speaks was only an envelope, the interior and real glain being either a circle or a lunette: the latter referring
Analogous to this is the superstition of the Malabarians, who venerate the Pedra del Cobra, or serpent-stone, which the Brahmins persuade them is taken from the head of the hooded serpent,
The superstition of the anguinum prevailed also in Scandinavia, as we learn from Olaus Magnus: "Creduntur (sc. serpentes) veterum relatione, lapidem flatu suo gignere 2." Between the religion of the Druids and that of the Scandinavians there was a strong similarity, though not in every respect an identity. The same sacrificial rites to the dracontic god, and the same circular temples, may be observed in Britain and the Scandinavian countries 3; and a branch of the same idolatry flourished
An obelisk near Dundee, is very remarkable. It is plain on every side but one, on which is carved the representation of a man on horseback pursuing a dragon. The tradition is that the hero lived on the skirts of a forest where the dragon concealed himself, and preyed upon the human race. Among other victims, he devoured the nine daughters of this chieftain, who thereupon mounted his horse, and plunging into the forest, attacked the monster. The dragon fled before It is possible that this story may also allude to the destruction of an Ophite temple. British Ophiolatreia sunk beneath the unsparing sword of the Romans. But a symbol of the idolatry survived its overthrow; and under the form of "the Dragon standard," not only sustained the nationality of the Welsh, but also became the idol of the Anglo-Saxons. The origin of this standard is curiously though apocryphally explained by Matthew of Westminster. "The brother of the British king Aurelius beheld a vision--a fiery meteor in the form of a great dragon, illumined the heavens with a portentous glare. The astrologers unanimously expounded the omen to signify that the seer would one day sit upon the throne of Britain. Aurelius died, and his brother became king. His first royal act was to cause the fabrication of two dragons in gold, like the figure which the meteor assumed. One of these he placed
In the hands of the standard-bearer of Henry the Third, the dragon was avowedly the harbinger of destruction. In the Welsh campaign, "so great was the indignation of Henry," says Knighton, "that having raised the dragon standard, he ordered his troops to advance and give no quarter." The same, says Matthew of Paris--"animating his troops the marched daily clad in armour, and unfolding his royal ensign, the dragon which knows not how to spare, he threatened extermination to the Welsh." With similar ferocity and with the same terrific standard, he In camp this standard was planted in the front of the king's pavilion, to the right of the other ensigns, and was kept unfurled day and night 1. The dragon was introduced by Henry the Seventh, as a supporter of the royal arms. He brought it from Wales, and it is still the king's crest as sovereign of that principality. It gave place, at the Union, to the Unicorn of Scotland; but the heraldic dragon is as different an animal from the poetic, as the poetic is from the religious, which last was merely a large serpent. 2. IRELAND.--The prevalence of the Celtic superstition in Ireland is marked, even now, by stupendous monuments: but the Druids of this nation assimilated themselves rather to those of Gaul than of Britain. The chief object of their adoration was OGHAM or OGMIUS, the same as the deity OG of Trachonitis. His images were represented as holding in their hands the club of Hercules, surmounted by the caduceus of Mercury, the wings of which were attached to
For the paucity of the remains of the ancient Ophiolatreia in Ireland, we are perhaps indebted to the renowned St. Patrick, whose popular legend may not, after all, be so ridiculous or so groundless as Englishmen and Protestants are accustomed to imagine. It is said, and believed by the lower order of Irish
3. GAUL.--The ancient religion of Gaul, though established by Druids, was not so pure as that of Britain; neither did it retain so strong a hold upon the affections of the people. There was in it more of idolatry, and less of priestcraft; so that when the Romans subjugated the country, the natives passed rapidly into the superstitions of their conquerors. To render this transition the more easy, their primitive religion had already been corrupted by the inroads of Egyptian theology; but at what period or through what channel, is involved in mystery.
This remark of Faber brings to mind the singular connexion of the sacred serpent with agriculture, in the mythology of the Greeks. There we have Ceres, the goddess of corn, sitting in a chariot drawn by serpents. Triptolemus, the founder of the Eleusinian mysteries, was no sooner instructed by Ceres in the arts of agriculture, than he was presented with the dracontic chariot to carry him through the world,
In the Druids, then, we behold some of the first deviators from the faith of Noah; and the purer the druidism, the nearer the truth. The other leading doctrines of the Druids correspond in simplicity with this remarkable opinion: the unity of the Godhead, and the immortality of the soul, being the foundation
But the most curious relic of the religion of the Gauls has been preserved in a piece of sculpture on the front of a temple at Montmorillon in Poitou, of which Montfaucon has given us an engraving 2. It is thus described by this ingenious antiquary--"Over the gate of the temple are eight human figures of rude workmanship, which are probably deities. Of these eight there are six images of men placed in two
GAUL. 277 groups, three and three together . . . . . . . the figures terminating the sides are women. One of them has long hair hanging down before her, and is dressed very like the women now-a-days. She holds her hands on her sides, and wears gloves like those now used. That on the other end is naked, and has TWO SERPENTS twisting round her legs, &c. Now these figures being all clothed, except the last mentioned, in garments apparently of a sacerdotal character, were probably intended to represent the habits of the priests and priestesses of the eight principal gods of the Gauls. For we have other images of the Gallic gods very differently habited from these. We may infer, therefore, that the naked female, with the two serpents, was the priestess of the deity to whom the serpent was more particularly sacred. A conclusion which is rendered reasonable by the fact, that the Ophite deity of the Egyptians was known to the Druids of Britain, and consequently must have been known to those of Gaul. Our inference, thus corroborated, is still farther illustrated by the customs prevalent at the Pythian temples of Epirus and Lanuvium, in which the god was a serpent, and the officiating priestess naked. The chief seat of the Druidical religion, however, was Britain, as the same writer assures us; to which country the young Druids of Gaul were sent for their education 2. 4. BRITANY. Connected with Gaul, if not itself a part of Gaul, is the interesting country of Britany; a country in which the ancient religion of the Celts found refuge when banished from almost every other by the Roman arms. Many vestiges of Ophiolatreia are still visible among the antiquities and customs of Britany. The
But whether this was really the case or not, it is certain that the first inhabitants of Britany were worshippers of the god BEL, whose name may be still recognized in that of the Christian priesthood which has succeeded to his holy places. In the Breton language the word "Priest" is rendered "Belech," which appears to be the same as the Balak of Scripture, who was the priest and king of Moab. It has been already remarked that, in the Ophite religion, it was the general custom to name the priesthood after the god of their adoration. Thus the priestess of OUB was also called Oub; the priestess of PYTHON, Pythia; the high-priest of C’NEPH, Icnuphis, &c. Balak or Belech may similarly indicate a priest of BEL-THE-DRAGON. BEL and the DRAGON are always united, and
Pelletier translates hac as if it were only the conjunction "and:" but it may be the old word "Hac," a snake, which was known to the ancient Persians, and enters into the name "Takshac," of the serpent-tribes of the mountain Tak. General de Penhouët, in his memoir on Ophiolatreia, lately read before the Academy of Nantes, mentions a curious custom which prevailed in the bourg of Sérent in the Morbihan, before the French Revolution, which seems to have been the relic of an Ophite ceremony. This was a procession of the villagers, in which they carried a Gwiber or snake, crying as they advanced, "Let him beware who will of the Gwiber Draig 1, peace to Molac!" The tradition of the
But the most indisputable memorial of the dragon," is to be found in those eternal columns which have stamped his image upon the plains of Erdeven and Carnac, and display to the eyes of admiring ages the remains of a dracontium which must once have covered a territory at least eight miles in length. The description of this temple, which was certainly one of the most stupendous in the world, I reserve for the chapter especially dedicated to the subject of DRACONTIA. Other indications of Ophiolatreia claim our attention which are better suited to
It is extremely probable that these and all similar traditions relate solely to the success of the first Christian missionaries over the votaries of the serpent. But the means by which they effected this desirable change in the religion of the idolaters were perhaps more politic than scriptural; more like the founders of a temporal than a spiritual kingdom. Finding the difficulty
In these customs there are strong traces of Ophiolatreia as connected with the worship of the sun. "The fire in the dragon's mouth," CARNAC, however, is not the only dracontium of Britany. The whole of the department of the Morbihan may be considered as the terra sancta of BEL. Fragments of serpent temples may be seen in many communes, surrounding the great dracontium of Carnac, like village churches about the cathedral of their diocese. Even the islands upon the coasts not unfrequently present some striking memorial of the same prevailing worship. An island in the Morbihan which contains the relics of a dracontium, still commemorates, by its name, its ancient dedication. It is called "the Island of the Monks," probably from having been colonized in remote ages by the Druids who officiated in the dracontium: for I believe there are no remains of any Christian monastery from which it may have derived the appellation. At the western extremity A more minute examination of the antiquities of Britany, assisted by a knowledge of the Breton language, would throw much light upon the ancient religion of that interesting country, which I cannot but think, was, at the least, a modification of that Ophiolatreia which, in almost every region of the world, had its altars, its dragon temples, and its human victims 1. A longer stay in Britany might have enabled me to bring forward many more proofs of its aboriginal worship of the serpent: but the temple of Carnac, which I shall describe in a subsequent chapter, will abundantly establish the argument
183:1 Faber approves this derivation.--Cabiri, vol. i. 180. 183:2 The first inhabitants of Europe are said to have been the offspring of a woman, partly of the human, and partly of the dracontic figure, a tradition which alludes to their Ophite origin. 185:1 Anal. ii. 206. 186:1 Allwood, Lit. Antiq. of Greece, p. 259, derives the name Cecrops from Ca-cur-ups, "The Temple of the Supreme Ca-cur-ops, with the use of the Attic dialect, and by contraction would become Ce-c’r-ops. From the temple he thinks originated the legend of Cecrops, through the common transmutation of temples into deities, in mythological history. 187:1 Bryant, ii. 210, citing Apollodorus. 187:2 Ibid. p. 211, citing Eustathius. 187:3 Macrob. Saturnal. lib. i. c, x. p. 162. 188:1 Apolog. lib. i. p. 60. 188:2 Some of the ancient fathers supposed that the word ευια was an ejaculation of the name EVE; and (the serpent being simultaneously held up) that the whole of the orgies were a celebration of the fall of the first woman. 188:3 Apud. Euseb. P. E. 64. 188:4 Ibid. 62. 188:5 Clemens Alex. cited by Castellan, aped Gronov. 643. 189:1 No. 4. room ix. Egypt. Antiq. in the British Museum. 189:2 viii. 41. 189:3 See "Ophiolatreia in Egypt." 190:1 Philostratus, Vita Apollon. l. viii. c. 15. 191:1 Beauford in Vallancey's Collectan. de reb. Hibern. vol. ii. p. 174. 191:2 Strabo, lib. vi. Pausan. lib. 10. Pindar, Pyth. Ode iv. and vi. 192:1 Pausan. lib. ii. p. 109. 192:2 Lib. v. s. 70. 192:3 Anal. i. 307. 194:1 Archæol. Græc. ii. 383. 9th Edit. 194:2 Montfaucon, i. 164. 195:1 Nicol de ritu Bacch. apud Gronov. vii. 186. 195:2 Ibid. 196:1 Gesner, Hist. Anim. lib. v. p. 84. 197:1 Xiphilin. Rom. Hist. Script. iii. 358. 197:2 Pausan. lib. viii. p. 531. Edit. Hanoviæ 1613. 198:1 Paus. lib. ix. p. 593. 198:2 Virgil, viii. 435. 198:3 Montfaucon, i, 88. 198:4 Paus. lib. v. 304. 199:1 Montf. i. 88. 200:1 Alcmaon also, who was present at this siege, was distinguished by the cognizance of a serpent upon his shield.--Pindar Pythia, 8. 201:1 See ch. i. "Ophiolatreia in Persia." Plate. 201:2 Bryant, Anal. ii. 212. 201:3 Homer, Iliad, A. 38. 202:1 Paus. lib. ii. 106. 202:2 Pausan. lib. ii. 136. 202:3 Montf. i. 180. 202:4 Ibid. 181. 203:1 It must be confessed, however, that this notion made a very strong impression upon antiquity--for "to eat snakes" became a proverb, denoting a man's feeding on what renewed his vigour. 204:1 Paus. lib. ii. 103. 207:1 Pausan. lib. iv. 243. 208:1 Vol. i. 208:2 Anal. ii. 465, citing Pausanias. 208:3 Hesiod, cited by Stukeley, Abury, 69. 209:1 Hoffman, Lexicon. 209:2 Fab. 140. 210:1 Var. Hist. lib. iii. c, 1. 210:2 De defectu Orac. i. 417. 210:3 Bryant, ii. 147. The same is intimated by Hyginus (Introd. Fab.) when he calls Python, "Draco divinus." 210:4 Euseb. P. E. 72. 210:5 Stukeley, Abury, 69, citing Proleg. to Pindar. Pyth. 211:1 ix. 81. 211:2 Lib. x. p. 633. 212:1 Montf. ii. 86. 212:2 Decline and Fall of the Rom. Emp. iii. 21. 212:3 See Gibbon's note. 213:1 Annales Turcici, s. 130. 214:1 Montf. ii. 86. 214:2 De Astrolog. cited by Bulenger de Orac. apud Gronov. vii. 15. 214:3 The words of Lucian are, "At Delphi a virgin delivers the oracle, being a symbol of the constellation VIRGO; and a dragon speaks from under the tripod, because the constellation DRACO appears among the stars." (De Astrolog. p. 544, Edit. Paris, 1615.) This extract from Lucian connects the mythological with the actual serpent-worship at Delphi, identifying the serpent Python, with the polar dragon--the Δράκοντα ἀποστάτην of the Septuagint. For the 215:2 Potter, Archæol. Græc. ii. 283. 215:3 Bryant, i. 257. 216:1 Bryant, i. 256. 216:2 See Pausanias in loc. 217:1 Page 602. Edit. Hanoviæ, 1613. 218:1 Bryant, ii. 162. 220:1 Bulenger de Orac. apud Gronov. vii. 44. 220:2 Alexander, 665. 220:3 Lucian's Alexander the Impostor. 222:1 Allwood, Lit. Antiq. of Greece, p. 182, and Faber, Cabiri, ii. p. 212. 222:2 Paus. 469. 222:3 Paus. 208. 222:4 Thebaid, v. p. 239, Edit. Paris, 1618. 223:1 ii. 185, also i. 117. 224:1 Bryant, Anal. ii. 215. 224:2 Spanheim, 212. 224:3 Strabo, 657. 224:4 Ibid. 746. 225:1 See article on the CADUCEUS in the preceding chapter. 226:1 Gesner, Hist. Anim. lib. v. p. 59. 227:1 Inscript. Antiq. p. 61, &c. 228:1 Dickinson, Delph. Phœnic. 229:1 Homer, Iliad, β. 308, &c. 229:2 Hist. Anim. lib. xi. 2. 231:1 Lucian. Alexander Pseudomant. 231:2 Spanheim, 221. 231:3 Alex. 665. 232:1 Bryant, Anal. i. 122. 232:2 The first syllable may possibly be "ca" or "ga," illustrious. (Faber on the Cabiri, i. p. 28; who does not, however, apply any other meaning to the word "cabiri" than "the mighty ones.") In this case "cabiri" would be "the illustrious ABIRI." 233:1 "Abury, so called from being dedicated to the Abiri, who were the same us the Cabiri." Faber on the Cabiri, i. 210. 234:1 Faber, Pagan Idol. i. 453. 235:1 Page 221. 236:1 Cited by Bryant, ii. 214. 236:2 383. 236:3 Bryant, Anal. ii. 216. 236:4 Archæol. vol. xxiii. 237:1 Ennii Vita, xv. 237:2 Hesychius. 237:3 Salmasius, Not. in Jul. Capitol. Hist. August. Script. 95. 237:4 See Description in Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xv. 239:1 Var. Hist. lib. ix. 16. 240:1 Eleg. viii. lib. 4. 240:2 Spanheim 212. 240:3 Suppl. vol. i. 162. 241:1 Val. Max. lib. i. c. 6. 241:2 Cicero de Divin. lib. i. 242:1 Phormio, Act. iv. seen. 4, 24. 243:1 See Bryant on the Amazonians and Hyperboreans, Anal. vol. v. These were the same people. 243:2 Herod. lib. iv. c. 35. 243:3 Cabiri, i. 208. 243:4 Anal. ii. 206. 244:1 Not. in Minuc. Fel. p. 267. 244:2 The story of Abaris, the Hyperboreans, who made the Palladium of Troy from the bones of Pelops, is that of an Ophite priest. Abaris is probably a compound of AB, and AUR. 245:1 Ouzel, ut supra, citing Sigismund Liber. Comment. in Muscov. 245:2 Ouzel, ut supra. 246:1 De reb. Polon. lib. iii, p. 43. 247:1 De Diis German. c. 29. 247:2 Mosheim, Ecc. Hist. ii. 449. 247:3 Koch, c. 39, citing Trot. Arnkiel. Cymbrische Heiden. Rel. p. 123. 248:1 Hist. Gent. Septentrion. lib. xxi. c. 48. 248:2 Cited by Koch, 39. 249:1 Perhaps Tonder in the Duchy of Sleswick. 251:1 Page 50. 252:1 Milk was frequently offered in libations to the heathen gods *. Apollo had for one of his titles Galaxius, "the milky." A festival called Galaxia was held to him, in which the votaries partook of a feast of barley pulse, boiled in milk. Quære--might not the Romish practice of eating frumenty in Lent have arisen from this custom?
252:2 Koch, citing Olaus Magnus, lib. ii. c. 24; and Hartnochius de reb. Pruss. 252:* Potter. Arch. Græc. i. 213; and ii. 236. 253:1 Milner, Hist. of the Church, iii. 113. 253:2 "Et penitus tote divisos orbe Britannos."--Virg. 253:3 "Britannos hospitibus feros."--Hor. 254:1 Davies' Mythol. of the Druids, p. 116. 254:2 Ibid. p. 122. 254:3 Ibid. p.210. 255:1 Cæsar. Comment. de Bello Gallico, lib. v. c. 17. 256:1 Owen's Dict. Art. Draig. 257:1 Ovid. Amor. lib. ii. Eleg. 13. 258:1 This horn, now a drinking cup, is said to have been originally a musical instrument: but it will still illustrate my theory, for horns are supposed to have been used by the Scalds or Runic priests to call together the congregation to sacrifice. Such horns would probably bear upon them devices appertaining to their religion. Horns were sometimes used for both purposes, being furnished with a cap, and so convertible into drinking cups *. The "golden horns which contained the drink offerings" above described, might thus have been used also as sacrificial trumpets. 258:* Pegge on Charter Horns. Archæol. v. 3. 259:1 The scene of these rites might have been STONEHENGE, which is said by tradition to have been erected in honour of Uther Pendragon. The only difficulty in this conjecture is the mention of "lakes" near the temple. But an attentive survey of the spot has convinced me that a piece of water 260:1 Davies' Myth. of the Brit. Druids, Appendix, No. 11. 261:1 Thoresby's Correspondence, i. 413. 263:1 Borlase, Antiq. of Cornwall, 137. 263:2 Davies' Myth. of Druids, 211. 264:1 Morton, Nat. Hist. of North. c. x. 265:1 Gesner. Hist. Anim. lib. iii. p. 85. 265:2 Hist. Gent. Septent. lib. xxi. c. 48. 265:3 See Ohms Wormius, de Mon. Danor. 268:1 Pinkerton, Lit. Corresp. ii. 426. 270:1 Du Fresne. 271:1 Vallancey, Collect. de reb. Hibern. vol. ii. 174. 272:1 See infra, "Britany." 273:1 Vossius in Cæsar. Comment. lib. vi. p. 223. 273:2 Faber, Pagan Idol. ii. 362. 273:3 Ibid. 365. 274:1 Gen. iii. 17, 18. 275:1 De Bello Gall. lib. vi. s. 16. 276:1 Cradock's Literary Memoirs, ii. 163. The Ophite hierogram also has been recognized in Gaul. A sculpture of the circle, wings, and two serpents, exhibiting a Medusa's face, was found by Simeoni in the sixteenth century, at Clermont, in Auvergne.--Marcel, Hist. des Gaules. 276:2 Suppl. to vol. ii. 249. 278:1 Comm. lib. vi. s. xiv. p. 219. 278:2 Lib. vi, p. 218. 279:1 Persius, Sat. i. i 13. 280:1 Gwiber Draig; i.e. serpent-dragon. 282:1 See Penhouët Archéol. Armoric. passim. 285:1 Arch. Armoric. 289:1 For a description of the sacrificial altar of the temple of Carnac, and for proofs of the barbarous custom of human sacrifices in Britany, I beg to refer the reader to my paper on Dracontia, in the 25th vol. of the Archæologia.
i.e. "As the devil Hac the serpent."
