Anguiped

TheAnguiped(Latin:angui,'snake';ped-,'foot') is a kind of divinity that is often found on magicalamuletsfrom the Greco-Roman period, and is characterized by having serpents for legs.

Coin ofIndo-GreekkingTelephosdisplaying an anguipede with limbs ending in lotus blossom (obverse).

Anabraxasstone with one rendering of an anguiped at top.

Indian anguiped, aVyalaYaksha.

Abraxas,the most common kind of Anguiped, is depicted as a creature with the head of aroosterandsnakesfor legs, symbolism thought to be ofPersianorigin. Sometimes inscribed below isIao,a form of theTetragrammaton– the four letters used to represent the name of the God ofJudaism.Such amulets, as well as the repeated usage of the nameIaoin magical papyri, curse tablets, gems, and other amulets, provide evidence of syncretic cults combining elements of Judaism with paganism. In theTalmud,people who turned away from Judaism to such cults are referred to asminim– often translated as "heretics"or"apostates".

In Graeco-Roman art, bothTyphonand thegiants(after around 380 BCE)are often conventionally depicted as anguipeds. A common religious motif inRoman Germanyand easternGauldepicts an equestrianJupiterriding down an anguipedal giant.

See also

• Snake-Legged Goddess

Further reading

• Barrett, Caitlín E. (2015)."Plaster Perspectives on 'Magical Gems': Rethinking the Meaning of 'Magic'".Cornell Collection of Antiquities.Cornell University Library.Archived from the original on 2015-05-26.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)byInternet Archiveon 26 May 2015.
• Frazer, J. G.(1898).Pausanias's Description of Greece. Translated with a Commentary by J. G. Frazer.Commentary on Books VI-VIII. Vol. IV. Macmillan – via Internet Archive.
• Gantz, Timothy (1996).Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources.Johns Hopkins University Press.Two volumes:ISBN978-0-8018-5360-9(Vol. 1),ISBN978-0-8018-5362-3(Vol. 2).
• Hanfmann, George M. A.(1992)."Giants".InN. G. L. Hammond;Howard Hayes Scullard(eds.).The Oxford Classical Dictionary(second ed.).Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-869117-3.
• Merkelbach, Reinhold; Totti, Maria, eds. (1990–1992).Abrasax: Ausgewählte Papyri Religiösen und Magischen Inhalts(in German). Westdeutscher Verlag.
• Nagy, Á.M (2012). "Daktylios pharmakites. Magical Healing Gems and Rings in the Graeco-Roman World". In Csepregi, Ildikó; Burnett, Charles (eds.).Ritual healing: magic, ritual, and medical therapy from antiquity until the early modern period.Firenze: SISMEL edizioni del Galluzzo.ISBN9788884504432.