The Good and Evil Serpent (130 page)

The compilers of LSJM suggest that the noun denotes a “burrowing snake” (see Aelian,
Nat. an
. 8.13 [of the second or third cent.
CE])
. Since
means “to be silent,”
⁴³
most likely the name of the snake derived from observations of its silent movement, which is an astonishing feature of how snakes move effortlessly and silently without disturbing thin grass.
⁴⁴

The compilers of LSJM suggest that the noun meant “a kind of snake.” They pointed our attention to Aelian’s
Nat. an
. 6.51, and thought
may be equal to
(= no. 11). We agree and suggest that
, like
, is to be identified as
pseudocerastes persicus
. To preserve the distinction between the two Greek nouns, we suggest “Persian horn viper” for
and “the Persian horn viper” for
.
⁴⁵
Lampe did not find the latter word in Patristic Greek. The name may derive from its color since
denotes “black,” and
can also denote a “black-tailed sea fish.”
⁴⁶

This indeterminate snake probably was revered by Greeks,
⁴⁷
who often kept pet snakes in the home. These snakes killed mice and rats; etymologically, the present noun derives from the appearance of
, “mouse,” or “rat” in its name.