Note 856 — Chapter VII · THE MAKING OF A GOD.

Phot. s.v. ἥρως ποικίλος. After Christian days the notion started by the Olympian religion that the snake was bad was strengthened by association with the ‘old serpent’ of Semitic mythology. Mr R. C. Bosanquet kindly drew my attention to a curious survival of the belief that a bad soul takes the form of a snake in the account of the life and miracles of the fifth century saint, St Marcellus (Boll. Acta Sanctorum 1-3, vol. LXIII. of the whole series, pp. 259 and 267). It was related that a certain matron of noble family, but bad character, died and was buried with great pomp. ‘Ergo ad consumendum ejus cadaver coepit serpens immanissimus frequentare, et, ut dicam clarius, mulieri, cujus membra bestia devorabat, ipse draco factus est sepultura.’ St Marcellus subdued the snake by striking it thrice with his staff and putting his prayer-book on its head. To the present day among the Greeks an unbaptized child, who is not yet quite human (Χριστιανός), is sometimes spoken of as a snake-monster (δράκος) and is apt to disappear in snake form. For the δράκος see Abbott, Macedonian Folklore, p. 261.