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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 527540, member: 5833&quot;]The serpent has been a symbol of wisdom across time &amp; cultures.&nbsp; (And in some cultures the owl is the symbol of stupidity.)&nbsp; It seems to me to be a Christian distortion of the Eden story that demonizes the snake.&nbsp; Eve is persuaded to try the fruit of the Tree not of Knowledge, nor of Evil, but of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a new perspective on things that destroys paradise.&nbsp; Suddenly, being naked is evil; ignorance of this concept was truly bliss.&nbsp; The first couple are expelled from the Garden before they can also eat fruit from the Tree of Eternal Life and become rivals.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is obviously not the Rape of Persephone, it is Persephone&#039;s mother Demeter, searching for her daughter, encountering the nymph Arethusa, who is able to tell her what happened to the girl.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9J1MmdoRfxY/WRX3vDme8-I/AAAAAAAAHV4/I33ZrnSGJlwy1fGab9SgOREGVcBf56jwQCLcB/s640/P1110013.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph5.htm#479128841" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph5.htm#479128841" rel="nofollow">http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph5.htm#479128841</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/F6F30773-6A7F-4B16-9749-C0A7B2E52403" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/F6F30773-6A7F-4B16-9749-C0A7B2E52403" rel="nofollow">http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/F6F30773-6A7F-4B16-9749-C0A7B2E52403</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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