Note 8 — Chapter VI · Bird and Serpent Myths
Reading edition
The bird-and-serpent myth is to be found even in the Iliad. When Hector set forth with his heroes to break through the wall of the Achæan camp, an eagle appeared in the air, bearing in its talons “a blood-red monstrous snake, alive and struggling still”. The writhing snake manages to sting the eagle, which immediately drops it.8