Glykon, was an ancient snake god | Hacker News Reader

Glykon, was an ancient snake god

en.wikipedia.org

51 pointspyinstallwoes42 comments

My favorite snake deity is Coatlicue, whose epithets include “our mother”:

> Coatlicue is represented as a woman wearing a skirt of writhing snakes and a necklace made of human hearts, hands, and skulls. Her feet and hands are adorned with claws and her breasts are depicted as hanging flaccid from pregnancy. Her face is formed by two facing serpents, which represent blood spurting from her neck after she was decapitated.

Not mentioned: other representations of her with an intact, skeletal face.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cōātlīcue

For me it would be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

I can't go past Nehebkau, not least because of the proto imagery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehebkau#/media/File:Nehebkau_...

Have you seen the dinosaur version? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus

What's fun about the Coatlicue statute, currently located in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, is that the earth deity is on the bottom. This statue is so large that one wouldn't be able to "tip" it over to look. Yet, there it is... a carving on the underside where no one can see it. Of course, the museum has a cast of the image adjacent where modern viewers can look at it. More about this kind of fun stuff is in Claudia Brittenham's book, Unseen Art: Making, Vision, and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica (disclaimer: she's my lovey wife).

I learned about this god from Adventure Time, of all places.

https://adventuretime.fandom.com/wiki/Life

Glykon was a man - no, he was a snake-god-man - or maybe he was just a snake god. But he was still Glykon!

Check out all his majesty!

Oh Glykon, hear my prayer: how do I draw the magic "S" shape..

> As with previous Macedonian snake cults, the focus of worship at the temple was on fertility. Barren women would bring offerings to Glycon in hopes of becoming pregnant. According to Lucian, Alexander had less magical ways of causing pregnancy among his flock as well.

Wondering what they are :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_intercourse ;)

If I had a nickel for every time I've learned about a little-known snake deity with an idiosyncratic origin and methods of worship, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mami_Wata

"Two or three years ago it was just another snake cult, now... they're everywhere."

https://imdb.com/title/tt0082198/characters/nm0167803

It's more than worth reading Lucian's very hostile and satirical account of Alexander and Glycon: http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and...

Know any other interesting accounts of ancient history? Seems you may know a few others!

Alan Moore's deity of choice.

> "The one place Gods inarguably exist is in our minds where they are real beyond refute, in all their grandeur and monstrosity."

Viewers of a certain Ken Russell movie might recall the invocation of one Dionin.

And might be surprised to see a very young Peter Capaldi (of Doctor Who fame)along with a young, Hugh Grant as well.

There are several in Hinduism as well, like Shesha, Vasuki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagaraja

Sounds like a good name for a Rust implementation of Python.

The Old Testament has quite a few references to snakes, serpents, and seemingly dragon-like creatures.

It’s possible these were used as metaphors for other civilisations. Or perhaps they were genuinely fearful of such creatures and wanted their own god to protect them.

It’s one of my hobbies to invent threads that tie all these ancient stories together into an overarching narrative.

one of my favorites is the rainbow serpent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Serpent in australian aboriginal culture. pretty crazy how snakes and serpents are so pervasive in mythology globally.

> The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains, and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is understood to be of immense proportions and inhabits deep permanent waterholes and is in control of life's most precious resource, water. In some cultures, the Rainbow Serpent is considered to be the ultimate creator of everything in the universe

This article reminded me of Paul on Malta, where he was bit by a snake and didn’t die. Maybe the Maltese were Glykon people?

Check out the Lord of Spirits podcast. The hosts use the Book of Enoch, among other ancient texts, to do just what you are talking about.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Glycon_b... certainly looks more like a worm here.

When it comes to gods, what's the difference between a snake and a worm?

No need to invoke the gods - dragons are also worms:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindworm

"Lindworm derives from Old High German lint and orm"

But orm means snake, so it maybe didn't start out as a snake. Etymologically, worm and orm are obviously related, too.

What’s the deeper etymology ?

Some snakes look remarkably like worms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerotyphlops_vermicularis

https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/european-worm-snake-pic...

Funny that there's a worm by Glycera....

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36781660

And then you have the legless lizards which look a lot like snakes, but aren't.

They're well, lizards.

Depends on the coin. There's a lot of styles, some of them are clearly snakes. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=11230773 for example

Just came across a similar name "Glycera" which is a blood worm. Interesting...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycera_(annelid)

I hope it was half as good as the relatively recent snake cult of Syfl and Olly.

That show was crescent fresh.

https://youtu.be/377Qjg0Fxog

somewhat related: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/625764 (2013)

Mojo should be renamed to Glykon

Not to be mistaken for Glycol, god of wine adulteration, that had a large and influential cult within the Italian republic in the late 20th century.

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