Home›Serpents›Associated WithBrowse ByAssociated WithThis page groups mythical creatures by the idea or figure they symbolize. Wikipedia notes that "in Christian art, animals carried symbolic meanings, where, for example, the lamb symbolized Christ, a dove indicated the Holy Spirit, and the classical griffin represented a guardian of the dead." Browsing by associated-with lets a visitor find every creature carrying the same symbolic meaning.FactsLearn MoreAssociated WithSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedGreat snakes and snake-beings, collected by body-form as the comparative folklore indexes collect them. The serpent carries opposite values between traditions, so the group is a shape and not a meaning. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedEuropean: the basilisk descends from a Latin natural-history report - Pliny's serpent of Cyrenaica - and lives in books and bestiaries rather than in any cult. 3Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedGreek: the Hydra of Lerna is a many-headed water-snake killed by Herakles as the second of his labours. 4Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedHindu: nagas are serpent beings of waters, treasure and the underworld who receive cult, and they appear in Buddhist and Jain narrative as well as Hindu. 5Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedNorse: Jormungandr, the Midgard serpent, encircles the inhabited world and is Thor's adversary at Ragnarok. 6DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedMythical Creatures 1Learn MoreThe Serpents This group holds mythical serpents, the great snakes and snake-beings that recur across the world's mythologies as figures of chaos, wisdom, fertility, guardianship or cosmic threat. The serpent is one of the most widespread and charged symbols in religious imagination. The browser will find the serpent figures the atlas gathers. The entries describe each creature's mythological role, noting the very different meanings serpents carry between traditions.Associated WithFilter Results3 entriesTraditionAllAncient Greek Religion (1)Hinduism (2)Attested In RegionAllGreece (1)HistoricityAllLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (3)Domain / FunctionAllChildbirth (1)Cosmic order and truth (2)Dance and theatre (1)Destruction and dissolution (1)Fertility and generation (1)Kingship and sovereignty (2)Magic and sorcery (1)Marriage and the household (1)Protection and guardianship (1)Era of Attestation End YearAll400 (1)2026 (2)Era of Attestation Start YearAll1500 BCE (2)1400 BCE (1)GenderAllFemale (1)Male (2)Status Within the TraditionAllThe teaching of one school or lineage within the tradition (2)TheologyAllMonotheistic: one God (2)Polytheistic: many gods (1)Veneration TodayAllActively venerated in a living tradition (2)Historically attested; no continuous cult (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareHeraAssociated With1 entryShivaAssociated With1 entryVishnuAssociated With1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Category: Mythical Creatures2. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books and Local Legendstier 1Stith Thompson, Indiana University Press, 1958B0-B99, Mythical Animals3. Naturalis Historia (Natural History)tier 1Pliny the ElderBook 8, on the basilisk of CyrenaicaView the Source4. The Library (Bibliotheca)tier 1Pseudo-Apollodorus, (various editions)the second labour of HeraclesView the Source5. Encyclopedia of Hinduismtier 1Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008the article on nagas and serpent-worshipView the Source6. Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefstier 1John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2001the entry on JormungandrView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.