I greatly enjoyed the exchange about the snake in the grass and its evolution as described by Peter Bryant:
>So it seems that by the Renaissance ,if not earlier, Virgil's snake >which in the context of the original poem was merely a dangerous >reptile, has in its long life as as a Latin tag and English proverb >and phrase become conflated with the Biblical"old serpent,which is the >Devil,andSatan"(Revelation.XX.2) to symbolise deceit. In other words I >doubt if Virgil considered the snake to be evil, merely dangerous. > >Peter JVD Bryant >Perth >Western Australia Recently on another discussion list there arose questions about another serpent, the one in Genesis 49:17. This is in the passage where the dying Jacob issues prophecies about his sons. Dan, it seems, is fated to be "a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." Third party ambush! There doesn't seem to be any of this type of manipulation in the classical passages cited by Prof Bryant, just wiliness and hypocrisy. Does this lurking snake ever nip at horse heels in Virgil? I'm not sure the Trojan horse would count! Nancy Charlton ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. You will just prove to everyone that you can't read directions. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body.
