Amphisbaena

The amphisbaena (, , or , plural: amphisbaenae; ) is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The name of the creature is alternatively written amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amfivena, amphivena, or anphivena, and is also known as the "Mother of Ants". Its name comes from the Greek words ', meaning "both ways", and ', meaning "to go".

Mythology

According to Lucan, the amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from the Gorgon Medusa's head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand: in ''Pharsalia'' (IX, 719), the Roman poet names it along with other serpents that Cato's army encountered in Libya. Amphisbaena fed on the corpses left behind. Although it is a legendary creature, it has been referred to by various Greek and Latin authors, scientists as well as poets: Nicander, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Isidore of Seville and later Thomas Browne, the last of whom debunked its existence ( book three chapter XV). Modern poets are John Milton, Alexander Pope, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred Tennyson, Aimé Césaire, A. E. Housman and Allen Mandelbaum.

Appearance

These early descriptions of the amphisbaena depict a venomous, dual-headed snakelike creature. However, medieval and later drawings often show it with two or more scaled feet, particularly chicken feet, and feathered wings. Some even depict it as a horned, dragon-like creature with a serpent-headed tail and small, round ears, while others have both "necks" of equal size so that it cannot be determined which is the rear head. Many descriptions of the amphisbaena say its eyes glow like candles or lightning, but the poet Nicander, the first to speak about it, described it as "always dull of eye". He also wrote: "From either end protrudes a blunt chin; each is far from each other." Nicander's account seems to be referring to a group of real lizards what is today called the Amphisbaenia, after the legendary creature, because their tail truncates in a manner that vaguely resembles the head.

Habitat

The amphisbaena is said to make its home in the desert.

Folk medicine

In ancient times, the supposedly dangerous amphisbaena had many uses in the art of folk medicine and other magical remedies. Pliny notes that expecting women wearing a live amphisbaena around their necks would have safe pregnancies (''Naturalis historia'' XXX, 128); however, if one's goal was to cure ailments such as arthritis or the common cold, one should wear only its skin (''Naturalis historia'' XXX, 85): lumberjacks suffering from cold weather on the job could nail its carcass or skin to a tree to keep warm, while in the process allowing the tree to be felled more easily.

By eating the meat of the amphisbaena, one could supposedly attract many lovers of the opposite sex, and slaying one during the full moon could give power to one who is pure of heart and mind. ^{rimary reference needed/sup>}

Origins

In ''The Book of Beasts'', T.H. White suggests that the creature derives from sightings of the worm lizards of the same name. But it is the other way around. These creatures are found in the Mediterranean countries where many of these legends originated.

The Códice Casanatense (), a Portuguese book describing the areas the Portuguese had visited, includes an illustration of the flora and fauna of India. One of the animals shown is a two-headed snake (conjoined twin snakes), with one head on each end, much like an amphisbaena. The image is captioned, "''two headed snakes of India are harmless''". It is possible a sighting of an animal like this was the origin of the amphisbaena, or that the Greek mythological creature is used, as well as others, to literarily embellish the description of an exotic country.

In literature and other media

In Parmenides's poem there seems to be an allusion to the amphisbaena. Mortals are said to "stray two-headed, for perplexity in their own breasts directs their mind astray".

In Dante's '' Inferno'', the amphisbaena is listed as one of the types of reptiles that torment thieves in the seventh bolgia.

In John Milton's ''Paradise Lost'', after the Fall and the return of Satan to Hell, some of the fallen angelic host are transformed into the amphisbaena, to represent the animal by which the Fall was caused, i.e. a snake.Paradise Lost, 10.524

Amphisbaena appears in some editions of the tabletop roleplaying game ''Dungeons & Dragons''.

Amphisbaena has appeared in several video games as an enemy or boss monster, including ''La-Mulana'' and '' Bravely Second: End Layer''. A creature called Amphisbaena appears in the games '' Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'' and ''Portrait of Ruin'' but bears little resemblance to other renditions of the creature, appearing as an eyeless 4-legged reptile with the upper body of a human woman sprouting from its long tail instead of a double-headed serpent.

In the 1984 animated film '' Gallavants'', an amphisbaena (called a "Vanterviper" in the film) appears as a minor antagonist. The two heads, a red one named Edil and a blue one called Fice, frequently disagree and argue, and sing a song about their miserable plight.

The amphisbaena is mentioned in ''The Last Wish'', from ''The Witcher'' series by Andrzej Sapkowski, while protagonist Geralt of Rivia recalls past events. The amphisbaena was endangering the region of Kovir until the beast was slain by Geralt's hand.

Amphisbaena is referenced in ''RWBY'', an animated web series created by Monty Oum, in the form of an evil creature called Grimm. Of the different Grimm, the amphisbaena appears to be the King Taijitu, a two-headed snake or serpent. The king's name references the taijitu, a symbol or diagram in Chinese philosophy representing '' Taiji'' in both its monist and dualist aspects. The Grimm's coloration visually symbolizes the taijitu, with one head and body section black and the opposite side white.

The amphisbaena appears in the ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' episode "Battle Nexus: New York". This version is one of the known champions of the Battle Nexus. Big Mama had Michelangelo and Meat Sweats compete to feed each of its heads in order to satisfy the amphisbaena. They managed to work together to pull it off.

Brandon Sanderson's novel '' Skyward'' has a character whose name is Arturo Mendez. His call sign is amphisbaena.

''Beyblade'' has a character named Enrique whose bit beast (ancient spirits contained within spinning tops) is named Amphilyon. It takes the form of a medieval amphisbaena with bat wings.

The primary antagonist of '' Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree'', Messmer the Impaler, is conjoined with a winged amphisbaena.

Use as a Proverb

The amphisbaena appears also in the saying "to the amphisbaena, Perseus is good" which can have various meanings depending in the connotation in which it is used. However, one main meaning lies in the connection between Perseus and the creation of the amphisbaena. Though created out of the violent murder of Medusa by Perseus, it shows that the creation will always see the creator in a positive light.

See also

* Amphisbaenia
* Polycephaly
* Ouroboros
* Double-headed serpent
* Pushmi-Pullyu

References

Bibliography

* Coxon, A. H. (2009), ''The Fragments of Parmenides: A Critical Text With Introduction and Translation, the Ancient Testimonia and a Commentary''. Las Vegas, Parmenides Publishing (new edition of Coxon 1986),
* Hunt, Jonathan (1998). ''Bestiary: An Illuminated Alphabet of Medieval Beasts'' (1st ed.). Hong Kong: Simon & Schuster. .
* Levy, Sidney J. (1996). "Stalking the Amphisbaena", ''Journal of Consumer Research'', 23 (3), Dec. 1996, pp. 163–176.

External links

* {{cite EB9 , wstitle = Amphisbæna , volume= I , page=774 , short=1

Theoi Greek Mythology : Amphisbaena

Monsters in Greek mythology
Legendary serpents
Mythical many-headed creatures
Medusa