The Serpent before the Gods: a mythological substratum of the Ancient Mediterranean
by: Archegete Stephanos I
Creeping beings, shedders of skin, cruel poisoners of beasts and men, mysterious enchanting creatures—serpents have been feared and respected since the dawn of time, surrounded by an almost inextricable aura of mystery. The dark roots of their symbolism are lost in the earliest ages, passing through Scriptures, mythologies, cosmogonies, and even folk traditions, and are nearly impossible to be traced back definitively. And yet, Antiquity offers a precious support for understanding this symbol, so mysterious and so feared.
Sea Monsters
The first appearance of Leviathan in Scriptures occurs in Psalm 74, composed between 584 BCE and 520 BCE, during the Exile: “It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.” [1] nThe Hebrew expression used to describe sea monsters here is tannînim, a masculine plural noun derived from tannîn, translated as “sea monsters,” but also as “serpent.” The possibility of translating this lexeme as “serpent” is confirmed by another biblical passage, Exodus 7:9–10, where the prodigy performed by Moses before Pharaoh is described: “When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle (mophet) for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent (tannîn).” [2] In this passage, as is evident, the “serpent” is represented by the masculine singular noun tannîn, while elsewhere [3] the same prodigy is described using the lexeme nahash, which more commonly translates “serpent” in Biblical Hebrew. Through comparison of these verses, it becomes possible to affirm that tannîn belongs not only to the semantic field of sea monsters but also to that of “serpentiform” beings.
Although this identification is, ipso facto, correct, one cannot ignore the importance that sea monsters—often serpentine in nature—held in the Mediterranean world. These beings are grouped, in Greek, under the term kētē (plural of kêtos), later passed into Latin as cetus, as preserved in Servius’ Commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid, where he writes: “cetos, id est beluam marinam.” (Cetus, which is a sea monster) [4] The semantic field of these monsters is difficult to determine, though their defining trait is undoubted: the act of swallowing. Both in Hebrew and Greek culture, the kêtos is an instrument of divine vengeance, sent to devour men who offended God or the gods. The famous episode is that of Heracles, who kills the monster by letting himself be swallowed and remaining for three days in its stomach. [5] The Hebrew tradition possesses a parallel version of this myth in the story of Jonah and the “whale.” Here too, the kêtos appears as an instrument of divine wrath, swallowing Jonah. Yet this case introduces new considerations.
The belly of Jonah’s monster is described as mesûlâ tehôm (path for the abyss), elsewhere used to describe Sheol, the Hebrew underworld. Some exegetes [6] have suggested that Jonah’s swallowing is not a punishment, but a medium through which: “Jonah saw everything that was in the seas and in the depths.” [8] Thus, the kêtos becomes a privileged instrument of knowledge, elsewhere compared to entering a synagogue. [9]Not all swallowing sea monsters, however, are of the same type. The most famous example is Leviathan, already mentioned in Psalm 74. Leviathan is often identified with the tannînim based on Genesis 1:21: “And God created great whales (tannînim)…” [10]
Rashi of Troyes, in his commentary on Genesis, writes: “These are the great fish that are in the sea. According to the aggadah, this refers to Leviathan and its consort; God created them male and female, but then killed the female and preserved her in salt for the righteous in the world to come. For had they been able to reproduce, the world would not have endured.” [11] Another appearance of Leviathan occurs in Isaiah 27, in an apocalyptic context: “In that day the LORD… shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” [12] Here Leviathan has a pronounced soteriological and eschatological value, and some link it to Job 3:6–10. Certain late Aramaic magical texts justify emending yôm (“day”) to yām (“sea”). [13] Zoologically, Leviathan’s characteristics oscillate between serpentiformity and ichthyomorphism.
From Sea Monster to Dragon
As shown, identifying the kêtos (or tannînim) is not simple. In Late Antiquity, however, a linguistic evolution occurred that laid the foundation for what in the Middle Ages would become the “dragon.” A key step was the translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek and later to Latin. In Job 7:12, tannîn was translated into Greek as drákōn, later revised by Aquila into kêtos for a more literal rendering. Jerome similarly replaced Latin draco with cetus. This difficulty stems from the ambiguous identity of the tannîn, situated between fish-like and serpent-like imagery. What is certain is that the medieval “dragon” did not exist in the classical world.
The medieval draco emerges only in Late Antiquity, as testified by Bishop Theophilus, who in the second century proposed an etymology of drákōn from dérkomai (“to stare at”), and even linked it to apodridráskō (“to flee from”), associating the dragon with the fallen angel in Job. [14] This proposed etymology is not certain, but it is significant: it illustrates the shift toward a more moralized, demonized meaning — different from the polyvalent serpent symbolism rooted in swallowing and ambiguity.
Serpentiformity
Regardless of their link to kêtos or drákōn, serpent-like gods and monsters have always been present across classical cultures. From Akkad to Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the serpent is fundamental to the pantheons, myths, and narratives. The myth of Etana [15] introduces one of the earliest serpent–bird oppositions, later reappearing in Egypt and Greece. In Greek mythological literature, the serpent appears frequently in both Homer and Hesiod. In the Iliad, serpents appear nine times, often as divine omens (térata), conceptually similar to the Hebrew mophet of Exodus. One notable example is the omen at Aulis [16], where a serpent devours nine sparrows and their mother — turning the bird-serpent polarity upside down.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, serpentiform monsters proliferate, especially those born of Phorcys and Ceto. Particularly significant is Typhon, described as a “terrible god” [17], challenger of Zeus in a battle often called the Typhonomachy [18], analogous to Seth against Osiris or Tiamat against Marduk in the Enuma Elish [19].
Conclusion
The evidence presented, supported by academic interpretations [20], suggests the existence of a mythological substratum rooted in serpentiformity, manifested in multiple cultures yet always tied to the cosmic tension between serpent-deity and celestial deity. This narrative pattern is fundamental: without serpentiform divinities, celestial pantheons could not have emerged. As in the case of the serpent of Delphi, serpent deities are a pre-cosmic order, on which the celestial gods impose themselves only after a violent confrontation.
Yet these serpent-beings are never truly destroyed — merely banished to the earth’s depths or the abyss. In the classical Mediterranean, the serpent represents a religious order older than the sky-gods, onto which the latter graft their dominion.
A full version of this academic dissertation is available through: https://zenodo.org/records/17621035
Notes:
[1] Psalm 74, Holy Bible, New International Version, Biblical, Inc, 2011
[2] A.A.V.V.., The Bible, Exodus 7, 9-10
[3] A.A.V.V.., The Bible, Exodus 4, 3
[4] Servius, Commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid, 3,3
[5] D. Ogden, Drākon: dragon myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, p. 118
[6] Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer 10, another en. translation available on https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.10.1?lang=bi&with=Commentary ConnectionsList&lang2=en
[8] ibid.
[9] A. Angelini, Dal Leviatano al Drago: mostri marini e zoologia antica tra Grecia e Levante, Il Mulino, Bologna 2018, p.129
[10] A.A.V.V., The Bible, Genesis 1,21, en. Translation by https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/kj/01/1.htm. The hebrew noun is added by the author.
[11] Rashi of Troyes, quoted text, available in English on https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.1.21?lang=bi&with=Rashi&lang2=en
[12] A.A.V.V., Holy Bible, Isaiah 27,1,
[13] O. Wikander, Cosmological Snake-Charming and Leviathanic Panic in an Ancient Near Eastern Setting, in «Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft» vol. 122, pp. 265-271
[14] Theophilus, Ad Autolico 2,28
[15] Ancient Near Easter Texts relating to the Old Testament (ANET), ed. J.B. Pritchard, Princeton 1969, p.114
[16] Homer, Iliad, B vv.302-332
[17] Hesiod, Theogony, vv. 306-307
[18] M. L. Sancassano, Il serpente e le sue immagini, Edizioni New Press, Como 1997, p. 77
[19] W. Porzig, Jlluyankas und Typhon, in Kleinasiatische Forschungen 1 1930, pp. 379-386 and J. Bottéro/S.N. Kramer, Lorsque les dieux faisaient l’homme. Mythologie Mésopotamienne. Paris
1989, pp.602-679
[20] C. Bonnet, Typhon et Baal-Saphon, in E. Lipinski (curated by): Phoenicia and the east mediterranean in the first millennium B.C., Studia Phoenicia 5, Leuven 1987, pp. 101-143