In book one of the _Aeneid_, there is a simile describing the Greek
attacker Pyrrhus which compares Pyrrhus to a snake _mala gramina pastus_
(a snake which has fed on evil grasses).
Hope this helps,
Randi Eldevik
On Tue, 28 Apr 1998, Dave McLean/Justine Viets-McLean wrote:
> Hello,
> I am interes
I can't tell you much about where it comes from, but it is a fairly popular
quote in the middle ages - it is even turns up in der wilde Alexander!
Helen Conrad-O'Briain
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Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 11:42:00 -0400
From: Andy Lafrenz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This follows up on Randi Eldevik's comments about the coluber mala
gramina pastus. Actually, the phrase occurs in Book II of the Aeneid, at
line 471. Virgil (Vergil?) uses a snake motif a little earlier in the
same bo
The idea of the 'cold snake' may come from Theocritus, 'Idyll' 15 (The
Adonis Festival): Gorgo and Praxinoe are making their way to the
festival through the crowded streets and, fearing that she may be
trampled, Praxinoe mentions that since childhood she's always been
terrified of "a horse and a co
Before I get to John Geyssen's comment, one point: I thank David
Wilson for correcting my typographical slip from Book 1 to Book 2 of the
_Aeneid_. It _was_ purely a slip of the finger, for I certainly do know
in which book of the _Aeneid_ the fall of Troy is described, and I
wouldn't want an
I wonder . . .wasn't there a religion in the ancient world that worshipped a
snake as the symbol of the evil creator of the world? And isn't the egg
symbolic of the soul? I realize this is fairly pop information, but I do
wonder if it applies. I believe the snake worshippers were called the Opha
I am not sure that anyone has actually answered the original question
of the context of the Latin tag in Virgil's poem. To hope that the
following might be of use to the person who put the question to the
Mantovani.
1. THE ORIGINAL CONTEXT OF "LATET ANGUIS IN HERBA"(Eclogues III.93)
WRHare wrote:
>
> I wonder . . .wasn't there a religion in the ancient world that worshipped a
> snake as the symbol of the evil creator of the world? And isn't the egg
> symbolic of the soul? I realize this is fairly pop information, but I do
> wonder if it applies. I believe the snake worship
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 an
Well, here's one example of how the phrase is currently understood:
"Who has not known the fear of trust betrayed, when a cuckoo is uncovered
in the nest, a viper in the bosom, a snake in the grass?" (Louise Guinness,
reviewing Sophia Watson's novel The Perfect Treasure in Literary Review,
May 199
Learned? I can't vouch for this adjective being applicable to my response;
but of the cuckoo, I believe she means sexual betrayal: to be cuckholded, to
find someone else in your bed with your lover.
As for the viper in the busom, I think this is easily understood; and it
sounds very like Lady Ma
At 21:37 98/05/14 EDT, you wrote:
>Learned? I can't vouch for this adjective being applicable to my response;
>but of the cuckoo, I believe she means sexual betrayal: to be cuckholded, to
>find someone else in your bed with your lover.
>As for the viper in the busom, I think this is easily under
Simon Cauchi wrote:
> Well, here's one example of how the phrase is currently understood:
>
> "Who has not known the fear of trust betrayed, when a cuckoo is
> uncovered
> in the nest, a viper in the bosom, a snake in the grass?" (Louise
> Guinness,
> reviewing Sophia Watson's novel The Perfect Tr
PROTECTED]
From: James Baron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: VIRGIL: Context of "A snake lurks in the grass"
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
At 21:37 98/05/14 EDT, you wrote:
>Learned? I can't vouch for this adjective being applicable to my response;
>but
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