Basilisk (cockatrice) and its symbolism in the general and south Slavic context
The paper deals with the genesis of the image and the symbolism of one of the most striking figures in the imagined medieval bestiary - basilisk, and its related mythical animals - cockatrice, serpent's king, abraxas, both in the general and South Slavic context. An analysis of written...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2018/0350-08611801155B.pdf |
| Summary: | The paper deals with the genesis of the image and the symbolism of one of the
most striking figures in the imagined medieval bestiary - basilisk, and its
related mythical animals - cockatrice, serpent's king, abraxas, both in the
general and South Slavic context. An analysis of written sources, from
antiquity to medieval and early modern epoch, the folk tradition, as well as
artistic representations, show that basilisk and its related forms, emerged
through joining the elements of the snake / dragon and the cock / bird.
Although essentially ambivalent, they had essentially positive symbolism by
representing the driving force and activity, the overcoming of opposites, the
establishment of integrity, and the complexity of human nature and cosmic
synthesis. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and
Technological Development, Grant no. 47016: Interdisciplinarno istraživanje
kulturnog i jezičkog nasleđa Srbije. Izrada multimedijalnog portala Pojmovnik
srpske kulture and Grant no. 177029: Srednjovekovne srpske zemlje (13-15.
vek): politički, privredni, društveni i pravni procesi] |
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| ISSN: | 0350-0861 2334-8259 |