Note 71 — Chapter XIII · THE RELATION OF THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY TO RELIGION.
Oswald J. (Oswald Joseph) Reichel translation
The first of these stories is explained by Macrob. Sat. i. 17, down to the most minute details, in the sense of the cosmical views already given, p. 162, 2, and likewise the story of the slaying of the Pytho, the dragon being taken to represent the heavy vapours of the marshy earth, which were overcome by the sun’s heat (the arrows of Apollo). This interpretation being expressly attributed to Antipater by Macrobius, it appears probable that the first one came from the same source. Another likewise quoted by him, according to which the dragon represents the sun’s course, is perhaps also Stoical. ↑