Asp is the modernanglicisation of the word "aspis", which inantiquity referred to any one of severalvenomous snake species found in theNile region.[1] Thespecific epithet,aspis, is aGreek word that means "viper".[2] It is believed thataspis referred to what is now known as theEgyptian cobra.[3]
Throughoutdynastic andRoman Egypt, the asp was a symbol of royalty.[4] Moreover, in bothEgypt andGreece, its potentvenom made it useful as a means of execution for criminals who were thought deserving of a more dignified death than that of typical executions.
In some stories ofPerseus, after killingMedusa, the hero usedwinged sandals to transport her head to KingPolydectes. As he was flying over Egypt, some of her blood fell to the ground, which spawned asps andamphisbaena.[5]
According toPlutarch, the Egyptian queenCleopatra, in preparing for her own suicide, tested various deadly poisons on condemned people and concluded that the bite of the asp (from the Greek word aspis, usually meaning anEgyptian cobra in Ptolemaic Egypt, and not theEuropean asp) was the least terrible way to die; the venom brought sleepiness and heaviness without spasms of pain.[6] Some believe it to have been ahorned viper,[3][7] though in 2010, German historian Christoph Schaefer andtoxicologist Dietrich Mebs, after extensive study into the event, came to the conclusion that rather than enticing a venomous animal to bite her, Cleopatra actually used a mixture ofhemlock,wolfsbane andopium to end her life.[8]
Nonetheless, the image of suicide-by-asp has become inextricably connected with Cleopatra, as immortalized byWilliam Shakespeare:
With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate
Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool
Be angry, and dispatch.
- —Cleopatra, Act V, scene II
- Antony and Cleopatra
Othello also famously compares his hatred forDesdemona as being full of "aspics' tongues" in Act 3, Scene III of Shakespeare's playOthello.
Thehypnalis is alegendary creature described in medievalbestiaries. It is described as a type of asp that kills its victim in their sleep.[9] "Cleopatra placed it on herself (at her breasts) and thus was freed by death as if by sleep."[10]
Whether Cleopatra used a snake as the instrument of her suicide has been long debated. Some favour the idea that she choseC. cerastes, but its venom is insufficiently potent, rapid and reliable. A more plausible candidate is theEgyptian cobra or 'asp' (Naja haje).
The venomous reptile commonly known today as 'Cleopatra's asp' is a Cobra (Cerastes cornutus)
| Stage adaptations |
|
|---|---|
| Opera |
|
| On screen | |
| Related | |
