All 8 Uses of
serpent
in
The Iliad by Homer - (translated by: Pope)
- Straight to the tree his sanguine spires he roll'd, And curl'd around in many a winding fold; The topmost branch a mother-bird possess'd; Eight callow infants fill'd the mossy nest; Herself the ninth; the serpent, as he hung, Stretch'd his black jaws and crush'd the crying young; While hovering near, with miserable moan, The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.†
Book 2serpent = snake
- High in the midst the blue-eyed virgin flies; From rank to rank she darts her ardent eyes; The dreadful aegis, Jove's immortal shield, Blazed on her arm, and lighten'd all the field: Round the vast orb a hundred serpents roll'd, Form'd the bright fringe, and seem'd to burn in gold, With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms, Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous arms, No more they sigh, inglorious, to return, But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.†
Book 2serpents = snakes
- As when some shepherd, from the rustling trees(110) Shot forth to view, a scaly serpent sees, Trembling and pale, he starts with wild affright And all confused precipitates his flight: So from the king the shining warrior flies, And plunged amid the thickest Trojans lies.†
Book 3serpent = snake
- Round the margin roll'd, A fringe of serpents hissing guards the gold: Here all the terrors of grim War appear, Here rages Force, here tremble Flight and Fear, Here storm'd Contention, and here Fury frown'd, And the dire orb portentous Gorgon crown'd.†
Book 5 *serpents = snakes
- His buckler's mighty orb was next display'd, That round the warrior cast a dreadful shade; Ten zones of brass its ample brim surround, And twice ten bosses the bright convex crown'd: Tremendous Gorgon frown'd upon its field, And circling terrors fill'd the expressive shield: Within its concave hung a silver thong, On which a mimic serpent creeps along, His azure length in easy waves extends, Till in three heads the embroider'd monster ends.†
Book 11serpent = snake
- But upon the signal of an eagle with a serpent in his talons, which appeared on the left hand of the Trojans, Polydamas endeavours to withdraw them again.†
Book 12
- Jove's bird on sounding pinions beat the skies; A bleeding serpent of enormous size, His talons truss'd; alive, and curling round, He stung the bird, whose throat received the wound: Mad with the smart, he drops the fatal prey, In airy circles wings his painful way, Floats on the winds, and rends the heaven with cries: Amidst the host the fallen serpent lies.†
Book 12
- Jove's bird on sounding pinions beat the skies; A bleeding serpent of enormous size, His talons truss'd; alive, and curling round, He stung the bird, whose throat received the wound: Mad with the smart, he drops the fatal prey, In airy circles wings his painful way, Floats on the winds, and rends the heaven with cries: Amidst the host the fallen serpent lies.†
Book 12
Definitions:
-
(1)
(serpent) a snake
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
For less common senses of "serpent", see a comprehensive dictionary.