Thus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation annexed may have been a large python
- Date of account
- Published 1886
- Source
- Mythical Monsters
- Reference
- Mythical Monsters · selected passage 37
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
Thus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation annexed may have been a large python
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyThus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation annexed may have been a large python. "Lanuvium[144] is, of old, protected by an aged dragon; here, where the occasion of an amusement so seldom occurring is not lost, where is the abrupt descent into a dark and hollowed cave; where is let down--maiden, beware of every such journey--the honorary tribute to the fasting snake, when he demands his yearly food, and hisses and twists deep down in the earth. Maidens, let down for such a rite, grow pale, when their hand is unprotectedly trusted in the snake's mouth. He snatches at the delicacies if offered by a maid; the very baskets tremble in the virgin's hands; if they are chaste, they return and fall on the necks of their parents, and the farmers cry 'We shall have a fruitful year.'"[145]
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis is a historical compilation of unusual-animal reports and argument. Witness testimony, repetition between publications and the author's zoological assumptions all affect independence and reliability.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares morphology, behaviour and setting while keeping misidentification, folklore, exaggeration, error and known animals available as alternatives.
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