Heads attached to their serpentine tails are an allusion not only to the well-known tactics of the Parthians (cf. Parad. Regained, iii. 323 f.) but to a trait of ancient Greek mythology; on the altar of Zeus at Pergamos (cf. note on Revelation 2:12) the giants who war against the gods are equipped with snakes (instead of limbs) that brandish open jaws. The amphisbaena of ancient mythology was often described as possessing a headed tail (“tanquam parum esset uno ore fundi uenena,” Pliny: H. N. viii. 35).

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Old Testament