ZEUS: The Serpent God

http://gnosticteachings.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=5470

The Serpent in Greek mythology is also related to Zeus. In the earliest recorded forms of Zeus, he would present himself as a serpent. And in the form of the serpent, Zeus, the Father of the Gods, gave birth to Dionysus. Dionysus as you know is the God of wine, the God of ecstasy. And he is a very controversial figure, because Dionysus also is a duality. Dionysus is the God who provides ecstasy, but his ecstasy is dual. Being the child of the serpent, he reflects the duality of his father, the serpent. So the influence of Dionysus can be either positive or negative.

We also have the sacred python of the Greek mysteries, the Great Serpent, who pursued Leto when she was pregnant with Zeus' children. Python was this great serpent, the child of the God, as well. Leto escaped from Python and had her children Apollo and Artemis, who we discussed in a previous lecture. Apollo of course is the God of the Sun, the God of Light, and Truth. He went back to kill the Python, and after killing the Python in that very place he established the Oracle, which was his famous temple. The Priestesses of that temple were called ‘Pythonesses.'

The symbolism here is again the duality of the serpent. The negative serpent which has to be conquered by the hero, and upon being conquered, that same serpent empowers the hero.

We see this also in the Goddess Athena, whose symbol in her later worship was the serpent. Athena empowers the hero to descend and conquer Medusa, who is a serpent-headed Goddess. So we see the positive / negative influences of the serpent.