. The serpent symbol, and the worship of the reciprocal principles of nature in America . at serpentine structure of Abury, in England, that the serpent was held in great veneration by the ajicients,who considered it as the symbol of the Deity, and an emblemof eternity. As such it has been variously expressed on an-cient sculptures and medals in various parts of the were also constructed in the form of that animal, andcalled Dracontia ; and Stukeley supposes that an allusion ismade to a similar temple, in the following passage of Pau-sanias : In the road between Thebes and Glisas
. The serpent symbol, and the worship of the reciprocal principles of nature in America . at serpentine structure of Abury, in England, that the serpent was held in great veneration by the ajicients,who considered it as the symbol of the Deity, and an emblemof eternity. As such it has been variously expressed on an-cient sculptures and medals in various parts of the were also constructed in the form of that animal, andcalled Dracontia ; and Stukeley supposes that an allusion ismade to a similar temple, in the following passage of Pau-sanias : In the road between Thebes and Glisas, you may seea place encircled by select stones, which the Thebans call theSerpenVs Head. < And the same author mentions another circle of stones onthe river Chimarrus ; Est e lapidibus septum, periboloslithon.^^f Stukeley adds, that dracontia was a name among * Consult the chapter on The Symbolism of Temples, in my work on theAboriginal Monwnents of New York Smithsonian Contributions to Know-ledge, vol. ii. f Hoares Ancient Wiltshire, vol. ii. p. 67. SERPENT TEMPLES IN EUROPE. 233. 234 AMERICAN RESEARCHES. the first learned nations for the very ancient sort of temples ofwhich they could give no account, nor very well explain theirmeaning upon it. And Deane conceives, that the ^olianPython, which Media passed in her flight from Attica to Colchis,as described by Ovid, ^oliam Pitanem Iseva de parte reliquit,Factaque de saxo longi simulaelira Draconis,* was no other than a serpentine Quotations from an-cient authors, generally understood as referring to structuresof this character, might be greatly multiplied, but they wouldbe only interesting as going to establish their antiquity.{See Note Q, at end of Chapter.) Fig. ^2, which is copied from Mr. Deanes work on Ser-pent Worship, is not strictly accurate in all of its details,but sufficiently so to answer the object of its introduction. Itis a plan of the Great Serpentine Temple of Abury, tem
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