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Coin of Indo-Greek king Telephos displaying an anguipede with limbs ending in lotus blossom (obverse).
An abraxas stone with one rendering of an anguiped at top.
Indian anguiped, a Vyala Yaksha.

The Anguiped (Latin: angui, 'snake'; ped-, 'foot') is a divine property or visual motif that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period, characterized by a human figure with serpent tails for legs.

Abraxas, the most common kind of Anguiped, is depicted as a creature with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, symbolism thought to be of Persian origin. Sometimes inscribed below is Iao, a form of the Tetragrammaton – the four letters used to represent the name of the God of Judaism. Such amulets, as well as the repeated usage of the name Iao in magical papyri, curse tablets, gems, and other amulets, provide evidence of syncretic cults combining elements of Judaism with paganism. In the Talmud, people who turned away from Judaism to such cults are referred to as minim – often translated as "heretics" or "apostates".[1][2][3]

In Graeco-Roman art, both Typhon and the giants (after around 380 BCE)[4][5][6] are often conventionally depicted as anguipeds. A common religious motif in Roman Germany and eastern Gaul depicts an equestrian Jupiter riding down an anguipedal giant.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Merkelbach & Totti (1990–1992).
  2. ^ Barrett (2015).
  3. ^ Nagy (2012).
  4. ^ Gantz (1996), p. 453.
  5. ^ Hanfmann (1992), The Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. "Giants".
  6. ^ Frazer (1898), pp. 315–316, note to Pausanias 8.29.3 "That the giants have serpents instead of feet".
  7. ^ Der Römische Weg (2015). "Jupitergigantensäulen – eine gallo-römische Neuschöpfung" (in German).

Further reading

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Abraxas

left is a round or oval shield." This form was also referred to as the Anguipede. Budge surmised that Abrasax was "a form of the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalists

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The Snake-Legged Goddess, also referred to as the Anguipede Goddess, was the ancestor-goddess of the Scythians according to the Scythian religion. The

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child attendants, probably derived from similar images of Venus Griffin. Anguipede, a Greek mythological figure. Female riding a Centaur. Centaurs are generally

Votive Column of Lisieux

Column with an anguipede located in the present-day city of Arlon, Belgium.

Scythian religion

in modern-day as the "Snake-Legged Goddess," also referred to as the "Anguipede Goddess," so called because several representations of her depict her

Pillar of Yzeures-sur-Creuse

Perseus rescuing Andromeda Mars fighting the giant Anguipedes Minerva fighting the giant Anguipedes This level of the sculptures is the least well-preserved

Nisa helmeted warrior

Remains of another helmeted head were also found, with the design of an anguipede fighting figure on the helmet flaps, all in purely Hellenistic style,